by Ed Bedrossian

Cumberland Island is one of my favorite places in the world and is the southern most barrier island in Georgia.

This trip was the first "sea trial" of my newly completed home built Chesapeake 18, which is an 18' stitch & glue kayak made of fiber glassed okume mahogany plywood known as BS1088. I started out with a Greenland style paddle which I also made based on an article by Chuck Holst.

The put in was at Crooked River State Park at 10:30 AM on Fri. The weather was "drop dead gorgeous" in the 70's with light winds out of the NW. The tide was with us and traveling at about 4 knots. By the time we left the thick fog had burned off and visibility was good. Boat traffic was very light. 

There was very little sea life visible. A few shoals of fish and a couple of ripples were all I noticed. This crossing involved the Crooked River and a winding course through some salt marshes and a takeout on a decent sand beach at Plum Orchard. There is a 20 foot or so portage to get the boats above the tide line and then some hundred yards to the campsites.

Plum Orchard is mainly used for 2 things. Federally sponsored hog & deer hunts and service trips. It is referred to as "Hunt Camp" but not depicted on the official maps. It is the only campsite that has hot showers a stove,  a refrigerator and flush toilets. Sea Camp has cold showers and flush toilets.  What that means is that you can't camp there unless you are on a fed. sanctioned hunt or you are on a service trip, you. I was on the latter sponsored by the Coastal Kayakers with unofficial input form the Coastal group of the Sierra Club out of Savannah.

Service trips to Cumberland Island involve the clearing of trails with lopping shears and bow saws. Since Cumberland Island is a designated wilderness area, power equipment is prohibited.   The encroaching plants are almost exclusively palmettos, so it isn't hard work but you definitely need gloves.

Plum Orchard only has sulfur water. The sulfur rotten egg smell goes away if you boil it. There is also a really beautiful but run down  mansion and some great trails. The ocean is a longish 2+ mile hike. You can expect to encounter ticks, mosquitoes, chiggers, alligators, raccoons, armadillos, myriad wonderful  birds, and Cumberland's famous feral horses. 

After a sunset paddle, I left my Greenland stick too close to the water. It was a full moon and of course the paddle departed with the tide. Don't make this mistake! I would have been well & truly screwed if it had not been for my friends Trish & Jay who happened to have a Jon boat with them. Jay was kind enough to motor back to the mainland and bring another paddle.

By the time Jay was able to make it back, the tide had turned.  The paddle back was against a 4 knot tide in the wrong direction. A steady quartering wind of about 15 knots caused a considerable weather cocking. The wind built the chop up to about 1.5 feet with your occasional chest slapping greenie. The sun was beginning to set and was in my eyes. I was concerned about making it before dark to a take out that I had stupidly NOT turned around to view when I left. I wasn't planning on having to make this paddle back alone.  Fortunately the outgoing tide reveled some sand bars which allowed me to rest & eat a late lunch. A two hour leisurely paddle turned into a 6 hour sprint. 

The tides can run in excess of 4 kt in this area making it impossible to paddle against it and make any progress. There are some pretty big boats that travel the intercoastal waterway that you are obliged to cross so a night crossing would not be advisable. In fact if you are not a reasonably experienced paddler, the whole trip would not be advisable, especially  solo.

Service trips are the only way the NPS is able to keep the trails clear. They are also the only basis under which you are allowed to camp at Plum Orchard (Hunt Camp) unless you are a hunter and manage to get a spot in one of  the NPS sponsored hunts.

Brickhill Bluff is one of the most enchanting paddling destinations in the SE, if you like primitive camping. It is also the only back country kayak accessible campground. You can reserve a back country CG at CI but they don't tell you which one until you check in at the ferry office in St Mary's. They don't open until 9:00 AM. That means you have to time the tides just right in order to be able to get to the put in, load your boat and make the tide. It's my understanding that you can reserve a spot (if you are a kayaker or a canoeist) up to 3 days in advance. Check with the CUIS office for details.