Well, we are thoroughly enjoying Florida. Never say “never” in reference to some of my previous posts. I’m writing from the municipal mooring we picked up last night in Saint Augustine and, despite what a good time we are having, we were looking ashore last night and decided that his will be our turnaround point, aka, “bottom”. I know from my first cruise south that it doesn’t get much better than this, at least in the time frame of what we can reach this year. We want to do a lot of exploring and have a leisurely trip north which out weights seeing the Indian River and the Space Center.
We ran from St. Marys down to the St. Johns River in an uneventful day and anchored across from Blount Island. The next day took us to the cove across from the Green Cove Springs industrial park and marinas and featured the first sail of 2015. The next morning, we moved to a mooring at the Green Cove Springs marina for the night to visit Lee and Lynn who long time readers will remember as the couple I cruised in company with my first time on the ICW. Their boat has been hauled for two and a half years and they were on a four day visit to clean the mildew in preparation for bringing her back north in the spring. Note to self: Never haul a boat long term in this climate. Yuck!
The visit included this dramatic sight, an unused space shuttle fuel tank stored on the waterfront. See insert of Dreameagle for a sense of the scale.
The return up the river included a long and relaxing sail at about the minimum speed my patience will allow. We spent two nights at the municipal marina (free docks) for a visit with Dreameagle’s cousin and his wife.
It was cold and blustery day when left so Dreameagle read in the cabin until we were well back into the waterway head south. The sky cleared. It is strange how memory works. I recall so much of the ICW in detail but I had completely forgotten about the remote and beautiful stretches between the Saint John River and St. Augustine. We anchored near shore for a night as remote and peaceful as any we have experienced on the waterway.
The next morning, we took a hike ashore.
Until turned around by this huge puddle that we didn’t wear appropriate footwear for.
The title of this post became doubly appropriate when we rowed back to Strider. All thoughts of a leisurely lunch evaporated when I noticed an inch of scum just above the waterline. The rising sea breeze had put the boat slightly aground. We got off easily enough but, with the falling tide, it was a scene of frantic activity until we were headed south.
We were able to unroll the jib almost immediately and sail a good part of the twelve miles to Saint Augustine in the rising wind. Starting the engine was necessary only as we needed an hour of running time to get the batteries fully charged.
Just before turning in for the night, a rhythmic pounding began as the very hard mooring ball was pulled against the topsides by the tide against wind. I went out and rigged up this fix with a length of shock cord and light line.
This worked perfectly in the fairly light winds. As the launch driver pointed out the next morning, I should have put the bungee cord loop through the shackle instead of the eye to avoid chafing the splice but the eye was all I could reach in the dark.
We’re about to move into a marina around and up the creek on the back side of town (half the price of the municipal marina) and planning to spend a few days here.
We ran from St. Marys down to the St. Johns River in an uneventful day and anchored across from Blount Island. The next day took us to the cove across from the Green Cove Springs industrial park and marinas and featured the first sail of 2015. The next morning, we moved to a mooring at the Green Cove Springs marina for the night to visit Lee and Lynn who long time readers will remember as the couple I cruised in company with my first time on the ICW. Their boat has been hauled for two and a half years and they were on a four day visit to clean the mildew in preparation for bringing her back north in the spring. Note to self: Never haul a boat long term in this climate. Yuck!
The visit included this dramatic sight, an unused space shuttle fuel tank stored on the waterfront. See insert of Dreameagle for a sense of the scale.
The return up the river included a long and relaxing sail at about the minimum speed my patience will allow. We spent two nights at the municipal marina (free docks) for a visit with Dreameagle’s cousin and his wife.
It was cold and blustery day when left so Dreameagle read in the cabin until we were well back into the waterway head south. The sky cleared. It is strange how memory works. I recall so much of the ICW in detail but I had completely forgotten about the remote and beautiful stretches between the Saint John River and St. Augustine. We anchored near shore for a night as remote and peaceful as any we have experienced on the waterway.
The next morning, we took a hike ashore.
Until turned around by this huge puddle that we didn’t wear appropriate footwear for.
The title of this post became doubly appropriate when we rowed back to Strider. All thoughts of a leisurely lunch evaporated when I noticed an inch of scum just above the waterline. The rising sea breeze had put the boat slightly aground. We got off easily enough but, with the falling tide, it was a scene of frantic activity until we were headed south.
We were able to unroll the jib almost immediately and sail a good part of the twelve miles to Saint Augustine in the rising wind. Starting the engine was necessary only as we needed an hour of running time to get the batteries fully charged.
Just before turning in for the night, a rhythmic pounding began as the very hard mooring ball was pulled against the topsides by the tide against wind. I went out and rigged up this fix with a length of shock cord and light line.
This worked perfectly in the fairly light winds. As the launch driver pointed out the next morning, I should have put the bungee cord loop through the shackle instead of the eye to avoid chafing the splice but the eye was all I could reach in the dark.
We’re about to move into a marina around and up the creek on the back side of town (half the price of the municipal marina) and planning to spend a few days here.
