6/24/17 Crossing the Stream and Heading North

I am grossly delinquent in my posting.  Sorry about that, but we have been pretty busy.  We are currently in St. Augustine taking a day off from chores and playing tourist.  Tomorrow we’ll be moving north again.  We plan a night in Jacksonville, then Fernandina Beach.  We’ll be in Brunswick, Ga for 2 nights then on to Isle of Hope and Hilton Head.  We’re planning 5-7 days at Hilton Head before continuing north.

But, let me quickly catch you up.  Yes, we did finally find a weather window to cross back to Florida.  Our 3rd time was a charm.  We planned to leave Marsh Harbor and anchor at Fox Town and then at Mangrove Cay before heading into the Gulf Stream. But as we headed toward Fox Town our plans began to morf.  The conditions at the time were really nice and the forecast was not bad, not great, but not bad either.  We don’t tend to sleep well at anchor and there would be little protection from waves at Mangrove, so we discussed the pros and cons of 2 nights with minimal sleep or 1 night with minimal sleep if we just kept going.  We opted to just keep on going thru the night. So our 3 day crossing turned into 27 hours nonstop.  We arrived in Ft. Pierce around 11 the next morning and crashed.

We spent one night at Ft.Pierce before continuing on to Cocoa Village Marina for just one night.  Finally once we got to New Smyrna Beach, we stopped.  Tim had a replacement heat exchanger for the generator sent to Richard Turner, a long time family friend???, who lives in NSB and we needed time for that repair and much needed maintenance work.  Richard was wonderful even loaning us a truck to use as we ran errands.  When we booked a week at NSB, Tim and I were sure it would be plenty of  time to get chores done and to chill as well.  Huh, no such luck.  We were busy for days straight.  Tim replaced the heat exchanger, changed all the fluids and filters while I cleaned and began the recaulking chore.  Then the real fun- caulking -had to get done. We did manage to get in some fun, enjoying a dinner and brunch with Richard and Melissa and a great lunch time visit with Rob and Kim, friends we met in the Bahamas.

So, now in St. Augustine, we’ve been tourists for a couple days.  We toured the Castillo de San Marcos, the oldest masonry fort in the continental US.  We also toured 2 buildings built by Henry Flagler, a rich oil man and the guy who built the Florida East Coast Railway that allowed easier travel to south Florida, including Key West.  The former Alcazar Hotel, now the Lightner Museum was built in 1888.  It sported the world’s  largest indoor swimming pool at the time.  Completed the same year was the Ponce De Leon Hotel, now Flagler College.  This hotel was even more exclusive than the Alcazar.  If one wanted to stay here, one must pay for the entire winter season.  But this would allow one to dine in a room surrounded by beautiful Tiffany windows.  How cool to be a college student now and to be surrounded by all this beautiful history and art.  Before leaving we also had to take a free tour of the St. Augustine distillery.  Ahhhh, great way to end the day.  Today is a chill day, although the word “chill” isn’t exactly accurate.  It is very warm- high 90s and we’re spending most of the day inside planning out or next week.  We’re finding that weather watching isn’t nearly as important as tide and current awareness.  We have to time our passages through certain channels and under some bridges with high or low tide and the ebb and flood stages.  Tides here can run 5+ feet and currents can flow 2+ knots.  We have to consider these factors when we are traveling through areas that have shoaled and to get under bridges that are just above our height restrictions.  As we pass through large inlets from the Atlantic we can encounter some strong currents that can push us into shoals.  We need to time those crossings when the current is minimal or is in our favor.  I find it is like a puzzle where you have to get all the pieces together just right or it doesn’t fit.  I’ve always enjoyed puzzles, so this will just add to the adventure.  Back at you soon.