Cruisin’ the Border – Fernandina, FL and St. Mary’s, GA

4/22 – 4/24 – We released the mooring ball and were on our way from St. Augustine before 9:00 this morning. With the low tide, we fit comfortably under the bridge so didn’t have to wait for an opening. We had an easy trip with very pleasant weather and decided to stop at an anchorage in the Amelia River about an hour from Fernandina. We were the only boat in the anchorage.

The next morning we headed out around 11:00 for a short run to Fernandina Beach. We have never stopped here by boat so this was a new experience for us. Our only other visit was by car and then we only stayed a couple of hours. We were unable to get a mooring ball (we learned the secret later – you have to call as soon as the marina opens in the morning and get your name on the list) as we hadn’t called until our arrival. However, there was plenty of room to anchor and the holding was good. After settling in, we dinghied into the marina and paid our money (for 2 days) to land our dinghy. It’s $2/day. We explored the town, had a late lunch and browsed through the shops. This is a very vibrant town – all the store fronts along the main street and several of the side streets are occupied – nothing vacant as we have seen in many towns we have visited.

On our way back to the boat we noticed Dawn Treader in the mooring field. We stopped by and visited with them a while and made plans to meet up with them in town on Sunday for Easter dinner.




The Bridge of Lions just before sunrise, with its lights
reflecting in the water



There was a nice sunrise as viewed from the mooring field

Underway, we were "waked" by several Customs and Border
Control boats.  Seems they were doing some kind of training.

There was lots of traffic at the St. John's River entrance,
including this megayacht



We had a nice sunrise at our Amelia River anchorage



The marina at Fernandina Beach

Lots of interesting buildings in Fernandina, including this church

The main streets are all lined with trees

The Historic Court House



Lots of baskets placed along the sidewalks



... or positioned next to the streets



This town is all about the shrimp



... so you find them everywhere throughout the town

Easter dinner at Gennaro's Ristorante Italiano.
At the back is Ron and Dawn of Dawn Treader
Middle is Ed and JoAnne of Dream Weaver
and, of course, us in front

4/25 – 4/28 – On Monday morning we raised anchor and headed for St. Mary’s. This is another place we have never stopped. It was a short trip from Fernandina, just over the border into Georgia. We had called Lang Marina on the phone and they told us there were plenty of slips. However, when we got there, it took us awhile to reach the dockmaster, Nat, for a slip assignment. To say this place is “laid-back” would be an understatement. The marina is divided into 2 parts (east and west) and he assigned us a slip in the west portion. They don’t have dockhands, so you have to dock without assistance. It was quite breezy, but the wind was blowing in the right direction so we were able to dock and tie up without any trouble. We made arrangements to stay for 2 nights, but later extended to 4 nights. The weather was a little unsettled, with tornado warnings throughout the south. Although Georgia did not suffer like many of the other southern states, we decided to stay put until the weather improved.

We rented a car and drove into Jacksonville. Gerry’s computer had died (would not turn on at all), so off to Best Buy we went. He now has a new computer. We also visited St. Simon’s Island and Brunswick while we had the car. A lot of charm and history in this part of the county.

We really enjoyed our stay, but with the weather forecast calling for fair weather we’ll head out on Friday – but not far – we’re going back to Fernandina for the annual Shrimp Festival for a couple of days.

A calm morning at the Fernandina anchorage just before raising anchor

Lang's Marina, St. Mary's.  It was a loooooong dock.

There was a very nice park next to the marina that included fountains,
gazebos and swings along the waterfront

Gerry checking out the scenery from the waterfront park




A very quiet morning resulted in
several interesting shots -- this is Ms Ruby,
a boat we met on the Illinois River

 



A small cruise ship at the dock

 


Marsh grass and sailboats



Park fountain in the early morning sunlight

Lots of historic buildings in
St. Mary's - Goodbread Inn

Spencer House

Randolph Riggins House

St. Simons Island

It was a windy day -- note the flag flying straight out



St. Simon's Light



Another shot of the light



Lighthouse and museum building



Main Street in St. Simon's -- lots of shops and restaurants



Sunset overlooking the marshland at the Lang Marina



Gerry and his new computer - oh look, he's logged on to
an interesting website !!

 


Going Solo

4/18-4/21 - On Monday we headed for Palm Coast. We stayed at a friend’s dock for a couple of days and Michael and Jana on Second Star parked their boat in front of the home they bought last fall. This was the end of the road for them. One night we all went out for pizza and the next night they grilled steaks and shared some exceptional wine with us while Linda used Jana’s washer and dryer to do laundry. We also did a little last minute provisioning. After that we said our goodbyes with the idea that we’d see them again this summer in Colorado.

The next morning we headed out solo (first time in over 4 months). We had a short run to St. Augustine where we picked up a mooring ball. We spent the afternoon wandering the town and had a late lunch/early dinner. We walked off dinner with a rousing game of miniature golf - we tied. On our way back through the mooring field we found we were next to 2 other boats we’d met in the Bahamas: Dawn and Ron on Dawn Treader and Laura and Graeme on Sweet Chariot. We chatted a bit and then returned to the boat for a relaxing evening.

The next day we decided to take the trolley car tour of St. Augustine. We’ve been here several times, but never taken the tour. It proved to be quite interesting and, with the very warm weather, a lot easier than walking around. In the evening Michael and Jana drove from Palm Coast and picked us up and we went out to dinner at O’Steen’s Restaurant. This is quite the institution in St. Augustine. It’s been around for years and is famous for its shrimp. It’s a rather small family-type restaurant that serves mostly seafood (however Gerry did have the hamburger steak with onions and said it was the best he’d had in quite awhile). Linda went with the shrimp dinner and proclaimed it excellent. Although fried, it was only lightly breaded and not the least bit greasy – very very yummy. Michael and Jana dropped us off at the marina and we said our good-byes (again).

Back at the boat we made plans for our northbound travels tomorrow.

As we left our anchorage in Daytona there was another Monk 36
in front of us going under the bridge.  It was Prime Time.  They are also
from Maryland.  We saw them at the MTOA Rendezvous, but met
them first last fall at an anchorage in Calabash Creek.

We passed an unusual boat on the ICW.
It had a small dinghy hanging between its 2 hulls.

Second Star heading into their canal at Palm Coast

Monk's Vineyard at the Kipnis dock at Palm Coast.
Thanks Barb and Barry for your hospitality!

Gerry at the dinghy dock at St. Augustine marina with
Bridge of Lions in the background

Gerry trying for a hole in one

Sign at the old fort

Part of the Castillo de San Marcos

One of the oldest homes in the area

Many streets are lined with oak tree canopies

A small part of Flagler College, once the Ponce de Leon Hotel

Sign at the seafood restaurant - yummy food

On the Road Again

4/15 – 4/17 - Even though we really enjoyed the MTOA Rendezvous, it was great to leave the marina and be on the road again. We are still traveling with Second Star and will, until we part company in a few days at Palm Coast where they now have a home. The weather today was cloudy and breezy and we even had a few squalls move through, but the rain didn’t amount to much. We initially were going to stop at Pine Island located just a few miles from Vero Beach, but we reached that anchorage pretty early in the day so we pressed on to Melbourne. By the time we got there we’d been traveling over 8 hours – a relatively long day for us. It was rather windy, but we were well protected and had a comfortable night.

Saturday morning we raised anchor and were on our way by 9:00. We made a side trip up the Canaveral Barge Canal where we bought diesel, got a pump out and had lunch at the Harbortown Marina. They have the cheapest diesel of any place in the vicinity. Even so, it was almost a dollar more today than it was in December when we passed through before. By the time we left the marina and got out of the canal the wind was gusting to 35 and the ride on the ICW was pretty choppy. We dropped anchor in Titusville where there were about 20-30 other boats. As was the case last night, we were pretty well protected and didn’t have much chop or wave action during the night.

On Sunday we experienced one of those days on the ICW where every boater was out and every one of them must have thought they were the only one out there. We were “waked” hard more times than we could count and hundreds of little boats were buzzing around like mosquitoes. Arugghhhhh …… boating in Florida on the weekend. By evening we were exhausted and happily pulled into our Daytona Beach anchorage for the night – southeast of the Memorial Bridge close to the shore in the “no wake” manatee zone. We’ve stayed here twice before and really gave it high marks. While it is right off the ICW, it is reasonably well protected and the “no wake” zone means that, at least, most of the boats slow down when they go through the area. One thing I might mention, is that we’ve seen hundreds of dolphins the past 3 days – as usual though, no good pictures. We even had some playing beside the boat tonight at the anchorage. The weather was cooler which meant we had great sleeping weather. We were happy.

Shortly after leaving the marina, we passed the Ft. Pierce Inlet

We saw lots of osprey on the channel markers



Passed a beautiful wooden sailing vessel



Going up the Canaveral Barge Canal we passed our friends,
Dick and Elle, on Summer Wind. They are officially
now on the "Great Loop"





A family with a child and two dogs were
waving, so we took a picture.



The shoreline along the canal is most interesting.  Very
thick vegetation.

Another shot of the shoreline

Since it was the weekend, there were lots of boats out.
This one appeared to be a little overloaded. 

That's the buildings at NASA you can see in the disance.

Birds are always hanging out at the bridges.  Here's 3 pelicans

... and a few more

The new bridge at Titusville has been completed,
but parts of the old one are still there.

Sunset at Titusville anchorage

The next day (Sunday) we passed by several spoil islands
with Roseate Spoonbill  nesting in the trees.  Unfortunately, we
couldn't get close enough for a picture, but we could
see them through the binoculars. Beautiful bright pink birds.



Looking back as we entered the Haulover Canal



Lots of fishing boats out today.  It was Sunday and the
weather was nice.



We passed by Rockhouse Creek which was loaded with
boats.  We stopped here last fall on our way down and
there was only one other boat.



Second Star and a gazillion other boats in front of us.



Peace, quiet and a full moon rising in the anchorage at Daytona