Good-bye to Florida!

Sunset at Fernandina Harbor 

Yesterday in Fernandina was our last day in Florida on the loop.  We have been in Florida for five months.  We have enjoyed the small towns and the water and the welcoming marinas along the way.  We really appreciated being in the keys during January.  What a treat!   I hope we can come back every winter.

Today we left Fernandina twice:  First we left at 9:25 am and went two miles into a fog bank.  Yikes! We turned around and headed back to the marina to wait for a while.  We left again at 10:45 am and had sunny skies and calm water all day.  For most of the trip we were beside Cumberland Island, which we have visited several times.  It is lovely.  We saw walkers, kayakers, and a horse out on the beach.  We had read about crossing St. Andrews Sound, so we hit that at low tide and with no wind.  It was interesting (There's the ocean! There's the end of Jekyll Island!)  but safe and manageable.

We anchored behind Jekyll Island in 8 - 10 feet of water at just past low tide.  We are now in 15 feet.
We are bouncing a bit, but not too badly unless a boat comes by.  Two sailboats are on either side of Aunt Aggie.

 After setting the anchor, we took the dinghy across to Jekyll.  We walked to the beach and had a fun time there.  (It is a sunny day, and we are at the beach!)  To top off my pleasure, there was a class of middle schoolers playing in the water with their teacher and parents watching.  I wanted it to be a Paideia class, but no, they were from Roswell.  They were having a blast.  The best part was that the teacher had a bullhorn and shouted directions at them.  Why didn't I ever think of that?  We sat off a ways and drank a beer.  George remarked that we could probably sell a beer to one of the dads for $20.

Can you see the bullhorn?

Shady walk to the beach. I have not appreciated Jekyll properly.  It is quiet.

                                     

Here is an expanse of beach where we sat. What a state treasure this is!

This is the first time we have anchored out in quite a while.  I love the idea of anchoring - the quiet, the stars, the cost.  Lately, however,  I have not been able to sleep well at anchor.  I am optimistic about tonight. Let's hope all the spring break visitors go home at dark, and the water and wind are calm.  

Current, Shoaling, and Tide - Oh, My!

Ever since George Alexander was a little boy, he has come to Fernandina Beach.  His family had a house on S. Fletcher, and they came every summer.  One of his earliest memories is of knocking on his parents'  bedroom door in the dark, waking up his father, so they could go fishing from the pier.  "Louis," he would hear his mother say.  She knew this little guy was standing outside, ready to go.  They could fish all day for a dollar each.  He has always loved this place, and now we are here! Such a sweet day for us.

When we came under the A1A bridge, we took a photo of the old Down Under Restaurant, where we ate many delicious seafood dinners with big family groups.

The Down Under has seen better days.

When we took our walk around town, this fellow was out in the street.  He reminded me of the dog that's always lying in the road in Dudley, GA.  Everyone knows just to drive slowly around that dog.  

We admired the new restaurants and shops downtown.  We haven't been here since 2013 due to buying Aunt Aggie and starting the Loop.  Some things have not changed.

There is still a shop with koi out front.

The Palace Saloon is still a high point of the tour.  My sister Susan loved to come here and have a 

strawberry daiquiri.  How I wish she were with me today!

Here is the view from our kitchen window of sailboats in the mooring field.  Every year we would walk to the docks

and look at boats and dream of having our own boat.  

Happy Captain!

I was going to tell you all about the current, shoaling and tides that we worked through on our way here today.  Somehow, once we tied up at the marina, all that stress went away.  Let's just say that there was shoaling at many points in the curvy rivers. We read the warnings on Active Captain and moved accordingly and did not run aground.  The current on the St. John's River was powerful, but we were prepared.  The funny part was that we were watching some shoaling before the river and didn't realize we were there until we saw the current.  We left at 11:15 am today to hit a couple of bridges at low tide, so that would not be a big factor.  We had to pay close attention all day.  It was worth all the work.

St. Augustine - Take Two

We had a great time yesterday visiting St. Augustine, Florida.  It is a fun and vibrant city.  The Spanish settled St. Augustine in 1565 and came ashore just a bit north of the current municipal marina.  We were at the marina, which is in the middle of all the action.  Tourists, boaters and school kids of all ages mixed downtown.  We walked through the historic center and out to the fort.  It is all close together.

 A class of fourth graders was visiting the fort, and when we arrived they were rolling down the hill.

Flagler built the Ponce de Leon Hotel in 1888.

Here is the fountain out front, surrounded by stone frogs spitting water. 

 Windows and glass are by Tiffany.

Now the hotel is part of Flagler College.  

I stayed here several years ago as part of an NEH colonial history seminar.  

It was a treat to have such grand accommodations.  Students still have dorm rooms and meals in this building.

After touring St. Augustine, we returned to Aunt Aggie for cocktails and dinner.  We had a perfect night:  The weather had warmed; we listened to our first Jimmy Buffet album, A1A; we watched two sailboats sail into the mooring field across from us.  Such skills!  We felt content and happy to be right where we are.  "Life is just a tire swing," as Buffett sings.

Today we left St. Augustine and moved to a marina below Jacksonville.  We've done some chores this afternoon.  On the river we saw a few boats carrying palm fronds in honor of Palm Sunday.  

Can you see the palm branch attached to the bimini and waving like a flag?

We've learned a new skill:  When we see a big boat gaining on us, coming up from behind, George hails them on channel 16 and says he will slow down, so they can pass us.  Then they say they will pass slowly.  One captain today said, "You won't even know I'm there."  They always thank us.  This keeps us from being waked by bigger boats coming too close and too fast.  

Today we saw a bald eagle swoop three times to catch a fish.  He had it and dropped it, tried a second time, and then grabbed it securely and flew up into a tree for lunch.

St. Augustine, Florida

Here is Aunt Aggie (in the middle) seen from the Bridge of Lions.

Today is sunny and cold and windy.  We left Palm Coast Marina around 9:30 am after visiting with the guys in the office and our friends, Jessie and Linda.  They are going home for Easter, but we hope to meet them again along the way north.  Jessie took off our lines.  We drove the boat from below due to the cold.  There were white caps, but nothing to worry about, according to George.  We did notice that no one else was out on the water.  "Good news," says George.  "There's no traffic.  No boats will
be waking us."
     "Bad news," says Martha.  "Everyone else knows it's too windy to boat today."

There was no excitement on the trip except around red channel marker # 82. (So yes, George was right.)  There was a warning on the chart that shoaling had occurred in the channel.  There were reports from boaters of running aground even in the channel.  So stay toward the red.  We were vigilant as we rounded the curve and hugged the red marker.  We passed the danger spot, but then we came upon two sailboats hard aground.  They were in the channel and stopped.  Could we pass them?  George called one of them, and the sailor asked us to wait and let him move first.  He had been aground and just got freed.  We slowed way down and puttered behind him, and all was well.  The other boat looked uninhabited, but a sailor came out and glared at us as we passed.  We saw Tow Boat US coming up with its lights flashing.  The tow went to the second boat.  We were out of the way by this point.  Later at St. Augustine, just one half hour after we had arrived, Tow Boat US pulled in that sail boat.

Tow Boat US is the red boat in front.

St. Augustine Municipal Marina is a bustling place right in town.  There are trolleys and pirate cruises and lots of tourists walking on our dock.  We walked across the Bridge of Lions to Spencer's grocery and bought fresh meat, cheese, fruit and vegetables.  On the way home we had to wait for a bridge opening.  Here is the Spanish galleon at the end of our dock.  

Lots of folks are walking down to see this ship.

This is a whaling ship near us.

After nap we are going to walk around the historic section and take a tour.  We hope to see Vicki and Mark Hill from Blue Willow.  We saw their boat earlier.  There is a looper boat, another Mainship Trawler, in the slip beside us too.  So lots of social possibilities for us if we can just get moving again.  

We considered staying another day here for the blessing of the fleet tomorrow.  However, we are trying to reach Savannah by April 3, and we like our short travel days.  It's easy to plan on the tide and current if we just go four hours.  So we will be taking off blessing-less.  We'll have to do our own blessing this evening; we have fresh limes.

We're back!

Here is a manatee-decorated bridge just north of Daytona.

We're back on Aunt Aggie!  Yesterday Karen Higginbotham, a good friend from Atlanta, drove George and me to Daytona.  We arrived in the late afternoon and unloaded a van full of computers, clothes, and wine.  Then we walked to eat seafood at the Fresh Seafood Market.  Karen went to visit her brother in Jacksonville after dinner.  We are so grateful to her for giving us her day and transportation.

It was really time to get back on the boat.  We've been visiting children, grandchildren, more family, and friends for a month in Atlanta, Dublin, Greenville, and San Francisco. We had a fun time with everyone.  Life is relaxing as a grandparent and retired person.  Aunt Aggie seemed far away.  

The boat felt like home as we settled in.  We were feeling quite cozy and happy to be back. George was filing, and I was unpacking clothes.  Then I turned on the faucet to get a drink of water.  Nothing. We checked the water tank:  It was half full.  The water pump was not working.  Arghh!  Of course, darkness was falling.  We located and checked the pump and could not see a reason for the lack of water.  We went to the restrooms nearby and took showers before the rains came.  Still, it was a bit of a downer.  (Today we called Edsel, a mechanic in Palm Coast, who promised to deliver a new pump and install it this afternoon.)  

The sun came out at 7:00 am, and we left Daytona, headed north.  We hope to go about 30 miles each day and arrive in Savannah in a week.  It was fun to be moving this morning.  We saw some interesting sights on the ICW.  

This is Tutahaco, a large harbor tug commissioned into the Navy in 1945. It served in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean for almost 30 years.  Now lying on the ICW north of Daytona.

We also drove by miles of state park lands and saw white egrets in the marshes.  Lovely.  The clouds gathered and dissipated throughout the morning.  One highlight in the day was passing Bama Dream, a looper boat, anchored just outside Daytona.  George called Jessie, who reported that they had cinnamon rolls in the oven.  After George said where we were headed, Jessie and Linda decided to join us at Palm Coast Marina.  

This is the mast of an abandoned sailboat, sticking out.  We drove by several 

dilapidated boats today.  This is one reason Florida is considering anti-anchoring laws.

After meeting with Edsel and having a sandwich for lunch, we went for a good walk with Linda and Jessie.  We almost made it back to the marina before a huge storm hit.  We all got soaked, but at least we did get some exercise.  We will go out later for dinner with them too, after the rain stops.  So great to see them and hear their stories of going to the Bahamas.  

It's fun to meet looper friends along the way.