The Adventures of Monk's Vineyard - The Great Loop and Beyond: April 17, Day 296

We were in no hurry to leave this morning as we only had a 3 hour run and we needed to wait for a rising tide to push us along. We finally raised the anchor and headed out around 10:30. Much of our trip today was through industrial areas and we saw many freighters both on the waterway and being unloaded at the docks. We arrived at the downtown Jacksonville area exactly at noon. There was a boat show this weekend and one of the venues was a Coast Guard rescue swimmer demonstration. They had closed off most of the river, but allowed us to get through on the west side.

Our destination today was The Marina at Ortega Landing. They announced at the MTOA Rendezvous that this marina would give you a 2 for 1 deal. In other words, pay for 1 night and stay 2. In addition, they were having a pizza and beer party for any group arriving this weekend. This was too good a deal to pass up. We paid $113 for 2 nights and will use our 2 free nights when we return from our trip on the St. Johns. The marina is very nice. It has a pool and hot tub and a big deck area with lots of tables and chairs. Also, the laundry is free. It is a fairly new place as it was damaged in a hurricane and completely rebuilt.

After settling in we all walked to the local shopping center which is huge and only 2 blocks away. It contained several restaurants, Publix, West Marine and many service related stores. For a cruiser, it just doesn’t get any better than this.

After doing a few chores on the boat, we walked up to the pool area for the pizza party. Plenty of pizza and beverages. We chatted at length with the dockmaster and a couple we had met at the MTOA rendezvous who’d given the presentation on cruising the St. Johns River. They are heading out tomorrow and told us they would keep us informed of any problems they may encounter. (We are on the verge of bug season, but since it was a cold winter they think the bug infestation is a few weeks away. Hopefully we’ll be off the river by then.)

Gerry installed his new antenna and was able to get rid of several of the loose wires that had been hanging around. It is a much “cleaner” looking installation.

Tomorrow we plan on more boat cleaning. Much of the crud from the St. Augustine Marina (bridge demolition) is still with us.

A little side note: Before we bought the Monk, we came to this area and visited with Bill and Ruth and looked at the boat when it was Integrity. They were within a few weeks of finishing up the Loop. We went out with them for a short ride up the St. Johns …. and the rest is history. We ended up buying the boat and are now within 2 or 3 months of completing the Loop ourselves.

It was very peaceful this morning at sunrise. This is a shot of the bridge as seen from our anchorage.

A shot of a freighter and tug as we left the anchorage

Going under the Dames Point Bridge

Along the way we saw the cruiseship Carnival Fascination

A shot of Second Star along with a tug, freighter and a couple of bridges

Approaching downtown Jacksonville

Here's the stadium that's home to the Jacksonville Jaguars

We passed a large cup of Maxwell House Coffee

Passing by downtown -- a pretty impressive city

We passed Jacksonville Landing. With a boatshow in town there was lots of entertainment on the plaza.

This is the Ortega River Bridge. It's a 1920's vintage bridge that, because of its low clearance, has the reputation of being the most frequently opened drawbridge in Florida.