St. Marys ferry captain puts faith in ‘Terry The Terrifier’ as Dorian nears

Cumberland Queen II, which normally takes visitors to Cumberland Island, seeks safe harbor
Captain Jeffery Williams walks Tuesday to the Cumberland Queen II at the dock in St. Marys, Georgia’s southernmost coastal city, while waiting out Hurricane Dorian. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Captain Jeffery Williams walks Tuesday to the Cumberland Queen II at the dock in St. Marys, Georgia’s southernmost coastal city, while waiting out Hurricane Dorian. Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Few people are keeping a closer eye on Hurricane Dorian than Jeffery Williams.

He's captain of the Cumberland Queen II, which picks people up from downtown St. Marys, Georgia's southernmost coastal city, and ferries them to the federally protected Cumberland Island.
Williams stopped ferrying people days ago, ahead of Dorian, which could reach Georgia by Wednesday.
The St. Marys native said Tuesday morning he thought Dorian would stay offshore and bring winds of between 30 and 40 mph.
"If that's all we get, that's pretty good," he said.
If it's worse, he said he'll move the ferry up the St. Marys River, which holds the Florida-Georgia line, to tie it to whatever he can in order to keep the vessel safe.

 Captain Jeffery Williams works on the Cumberland Queen II at the dock in St. Marys on Tuesday while waiting out Hurricane Dorian. He might move the boat futher up the St. Marys River for safety to ride out the storm on board. The ferry serves nearby Cumberland Island. A skull the crew calls “Terry The Terrifier” serves as the ferry’s good luck charm.   Curtis Compton/ccompton@ajc.com

Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

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Credit: ccompton@ajc.com

Williams said he’s not as worried thanks to “Terry The Terrifier” – a skull on a rod he puts on the boat before a hurricane to “ward off the storm.” He said he’s put Terry up the last two hurricanes, and the ferry’s still afloat.

"It's been lucky so far," he said.
A welder by trade, he started working on the ferry at age 18.
Now, as a 29-year-old captain, he'll ride the storm out on his vessel with his deckhands – a pair of brothers, 18-year-old Adam Meeks and Gary Meeks, 21.
It'll be their first storm.
Adam Meeks admitted he was "a little nervous."
"I want to get the first experience out of the way," said the younger Meeks, who wants to be a captain someday. "This is the part of boat work people don't know about."