We enjoyed our time in Shalimar, including time spent at the Air Force Armament Museum (an Uber ride away), West Marine (3 miles), Publix (1 mile), and a few restaurants (.75 to 3 miles). This weekend, it was time to move on. Owen jumped out of bed* at 6:00 am ready to go, and he was greeted by heavy fog.
* I’m imagining he jumped. I was still sleeping.
The fog lifted enough for us to feel comfortable to leave the dock at around 9:00, so we threw off the bowlines and went on our way. It was still foggy, but radar, the fog horn, and two sets of eyes were our friends.
The fog eventually lifted to reveal a beautiful, sunny, chilly day. Dolphins played in our wake so much today, and we loved every second of it. Does this ever get old? I sure hope not!
This stretch of the ICW has some wide open spaces, some narrow channels in wide open spaces, and some narrow channels in narrow spaces. We went fast when we could to make up some time, and we went slow when we needed to go slow.
Just before 3:00, we peeled off the ICW and headed to Shell Island. There were a few personal fishing boats in the bay, but there was plenty of room for us. We dropped our anchor very near the left of three docks on the island.
We were greeted by a boater from Wisconsin, and that was a nice surprise. He said we picked a great spot. He was right!
After waiting a little while to make sure the anchor was set, Owen dropped the dinghy, and we cruised over to the island. The rickety dock we saw had a private property sign on it. We just beached the dinghy and were on our way.
There’s something special about being in a country of 300,000,000 people and still having a good chunk of pristine land all to ourselves. Shell Island was ours and ours alone for this little while. We walked along the beach as we waited for the sun to go down.
Just a note about this island. Part of Shell Island belongs to the Air Force. They don’t want you on their part, and the signage will tell you where. Also, there are sections along the beach that are roped off with string and small signs to protect a sanctuary area. Dogs and people are not allowed in those areas. Skipper Bob wrote that dogs are only allowed below the high waterline and not on the island at all.
By the time we got back to the boat, all the other boats were gone. Once again, we heard the bugler from the Air Force base. We were able to get our TV antenna to work enough to watch the SEC championship game. The stars were bright. It was a glorious day.
Bowlines Thrown 