Bringing Her Up the Intercoastal Waterway

by Gabe Silver, JRA Education and Outreach Manager

JRA's new education center at Presquile National Wildlife Refuge, the James River Ecology School, is getting a boat. A 38-passenger, 45-foot, USCG-inspected pontoon boat that was just days ago completed and certified in Hudson on Florida's Gulf Coast. To save on transportation costs and get to know the new vessel thoroughly, two captains and five brave crew volunteered to bring her to Virginia by water. Brought overland a short distance and launched off Amelia Island, FL, the temporarily-named "JRA," she had an 800-mile trip ahead of her to make it to Jordan Point Marina on the James. An overnight drive down I-95 on Friday put us in the position to officially take possession of the noble craft and head north. 

On Monday the evening of Memorial Day, we headed through clear skies and a fair tide some 45 miles south of Beaufort, SC. I can say with certainty that she is a well-made ship, at home in many situations. She handled some rough seas in Charleston Harbor (see Mike Ostrander's Facebook page for a video of that) and has otherwise proven efficient, easily piloted, and comfortable. 

 

I can also report that the southeastern coast of our great nation is a place of extraordinary beauty and diversity of scenery and ecosystems. The James sits a jewel in a long necklace of waterway gems which adorns this border with the Atlantic. In each anchorage and in many places in between, we remarked that this is surely our favorite spot thus far. As Ed Abbey wrote: "This is the most beautiful place on earth. There are many such places."

So for now I will sign off and attend to our progress north, just barely ahead of the tropical storm still swirling in our wake. More to come as we push home towards the James.