Play It Again, Sam

We extended our reservation in Jax Beach for another month. We called around to check out our options and didn’t have much luck.  It’s the season to do marina renovations at St. Augustine City Marina causing the nearby marinas to be handling their overflow. We called some other marinas in cute places. They are full of boats. It doesn’t take many catamarans to fill up the available wide slips. So, we are happy that we have a slip at all.

There is a wonderful casual seafood spot called Dockside right here in the ‘harbor’. It’s an easy walk and the seafood is good and cheap.

There is also a funky Taco place about a block away. We noticed that it was always packed so, naturally, we had to try it. Also, good food and good prices. 

The weather is better than Virginia, no snow, but it isn’t everything we had hoped for. When the wind dies down and the sun peaks out, the temperature drops. When the wind and rain pick up, the temp goes up too. 

Mike has been focusing on replacing the outdoor calk. It was getting a little discolored and looking a bit shabby. We are on a floating dock with half-length finger docks. So, we can rearrange the boat in the slip and reach most spots from the dock. We tie her closer to the dock on the side that we’re working on. When we need to do the bow, we’ll flip her around and park bow-in. 

We’re getting some spring cleaning done early. It wasn’t the original plan but at least we didn’t have to winterize the boat. Soon, we’ll start planning our return north. We’ll pick some fun spots that we missed on the way down and revisit some old favorites.

Low temp last night was 33 degrees but that is an outlier. The average range we have been seeing is 50s-60s. 

We were here for the tornado watches. 

We did decide to heed the warning and went to the marina office building to wait out the storm. Lots of wind and rain. No tornados for us. 

Something’s Afoot in Cradle Creek

We biked over to a small nature preserve that is nearby. Mike spotted it on our way to Home Depot the other day. We waited for a sunny morning so we could look for birds and other wildlife. Mike wants more practice with his new telephoto lens. It snaps onto his iPhone, in theory, allowing better close up shots. The Cradle Creek Preserve on a Wednesday should be the perfect place to spot a few creatures.

We did see some fun foot prints rather early on. 

No creature sightings other than Sherman. He’s a wonderfully friendly and exuberant labradoodle who also loves looking for creatures in the park. His prints definitely did not match. After Sherman’s March, we didn’t hold out much hope for any sightings.

The trails were lovely. 

We could see the bridge next to our marina from the scenic overlook.

As we approached the end, we heard rustling in the underbrush. Then a creature climbed a nearby tree. We waited quietly and were rewarded with a shy game of peekaboo. 

Mike snuck around while I chatted with our new friend. He was able to get a better shot. 

Success all around.

Finders Keepers

This beauty is just waiting for someone to claim her. There is a For Sale sign on her stern but I’m thinking the price is quite negotiable considering her current location.

I think she is a Ketch but she’s definitely not a “catch”.  She’s missing a few items, like a rudder and a propellor. But, her second mast and both booms are in the sand just a little ways away. Mike and Steve VW now know all about reattaching booms to the mast. So no worries there. Her in-mast furling sails seem to still be inside her masts. 

I don’t know how long she’s been here. Her Florida registration expired at the end of October so she had a home recently. She’s acquired a little local color in the form of graffiti low on her hull that would be difficult to apply if she were anywhere else. The Sheriff’s Department Notice on her also suggests that she’s not new on the beach today. She has blown in from the ocean so I can’t imagine the scenario in which she got out there and then beached here all by herself. I hope no one got hurt.

Total miles south: 662 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 26 degrees warmer.

A New Candidate for “The Windy City”

It has been windy, windy, windy ever since we arrived. The view from the fishing pier has been red flags and sea froth. The wind is in the 20-25mph range and those waves start crashing really far out.

Luna is scheduled to be in Jax Beach for a month. For at least one of the weeks, we’ll go back home to visit. Flights are plentiful and reasonable from Jacksonville to DC. 

We usually like to try a walking tour to get to know a town. The top recommendation for a walking tour around Jacksonville is a walking tour in Fernandina. Oops. Perhaps this jump was ill advised.

On the bright side, the price is much cheaper. We’re getting a monthly rate on a slip that no one wanted at the back of the marina. We have easy access to a boat storage garage and the highway because it’s just a stone’s throw away. The view is a mixed bag - palm trees and construction debris. There are lot of glass half-full vs half-empty items to work with here.

Total miles south: 662 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 26 degrees warmer.

Storm Preparedness

We have some rough weather predicted for the next few days. Lots of rain and gale force winds. We are prepared. 

Fenders on the downwind side. ✅

Spiderweb on the upwind side. ✅

Specialty provisions procured. ✅ Hurray for the local Publix. We are ready to make extra special Old Fashioneds. They’ll be even better than before with a twist of orange rind and an Amarena cherry! 

Total miles south: 662 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 26 degrees warmer.

Jax Beach - Home of the REALLY Short Bridge

We made our jump to Jacksonville, FL. We had to leave Fernandina before dawn to get under our first bridge of the day. We caught it on the rising morning tide. This bridge has the extra complication of sitting next to the Amelia Island railroad bridge. That one is a swing bridge that stays open unless a train is coming. Remember the early morning train in Fernandina? Yep, it wants to cross this bridge right around the time that we wanted to go under. So, we turned on our running lights and got started before sunrise. We were running with the current so that made us fast (for a sailboat). We made it to the bridges before the train did. We used our high powered flashlight to confirm that the tide had not gotten too high to get under the fixed bridge in the same fender system. Once you head into the chute, you gotta do both bridges.

The whole trip today was only about 5 hours of running time. The bridges make it tricky. Low tide comes when it comes. Luckily, you can do some research the day before. We knew that we had three more bridges all spaced about 30 minutes apart just before our final destination. All of them are reported as short (under 65’) at high tide. But, they are 2+ hours from this first bridge so we can’t run them all at low tide. We approached bridge number two around 10 am, right before high tide. It was a no-go but we knew that was going to happen. We anchored and waited for the ebb tide to give us enough room. We had estimated that mid-tide should give us the clearance that we needed. We could see the height board on the bridge from our anchor spot. It took a little longer than I thought but eventually, we got underway and under the bridge.

Bridge number three. The ebb current was strong against us but we made it through with just a bit of whip antenna tinging. The engineers protect bridge supports from wayward boats by creating a fender system to direct boats through without getting too close to the bridge itself. This narrow chute can create stronger current and some odd eddies. The water looked like it was boiling as we approached. It took some extra skill and nerve to steer through but Mike did great.

Bridge number four. The online comments about this fella are all about the strong current. It’s a fun teal green. It has two side-by-side spans and a long chute to run under both. The tide was almost low but the height boards only said 64.5’. We can get under that but it’s less clearance that I was expecting at this tide state, especially considering no one complained about clearance online. We decided to keep going… The current was pushing against us at 5-6 knots. We were traveling at less than 1 knot so we got all of this in slo-mo. The whip antennas were bending over almost completely. The height boards lied a bit AND the current was creating a standing wave under the second bridge. Yikes. It was less than a foot tall but we don’t really have any air to spare up there. Fun fact - the second span is a little shorter(!) than the first. Unfortunately, I experienced quite a bit of tiny debris raining down on me. 

We have the shortest possible light stack on top of our mast. It’s only 3 inches tall. We swapped out the standard 9 inch stack when we switched to whip antennas a few years back. IT IS STILL THERE and it still works. The debris was paint chips from the bridge. That tiny light is a badass.

Green paint chunks from the bridge.

Total miles south: 662 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 26 degrees warmer.

Big Blow Overnight

A strong line of storms came through at the convenient hour of 11pm last night.  We knew big a thunderstorm was possible but we got something different. We were tucked in bed and cozy as the swirl started. It was a strong line of storms with very big wind. Mike got up to peek out and turn on the navigation instruments so he could see the actual wind speed. 

We were on the leeward side of the dock (downwind) so we were being pushed away. As long as your lines hold, you’re gonna be ok. We quickly added some more dock lines to spread out the load. Our big-ship neighbor was still blocking some of the wind for us but we saw 50+ knots on the instruments. The wind-driven waves were crashing over the dock. The salt spray was not exactly refreshing.

The boats on the windward side of the docks were getting hammered. Everyone puts their fenders between the boat and dock when they arrive. You tie them to your rails, adjust them to down to dock level and this works great in normal weather. These conditions were tossing the boats around so violently that their fenders bounced out of position and the boats were getting banged directly against the dock. Boats are heavy. The wind and waves were strong. The small crowd of boaters that gathered couldn’t budge the boats more than a few inches before they bumped the dock again. This meant that we couldn’t get their fat, cushy fenders back between them and the dock. We have some skinny, dense fenders that we call our ice cream sandwiches. We were able to wedge them between the dock and one boat. The next boat in need had even less room to work with so we grabbed one of our cheap orange life vests and squeezed it into the gap.

We didn’t get much sleep after that. Even after we had done all that we could for our boat neighbors in need, Luna shivered and clanged in the howling wind for another hour or so. The next morning, we made the rounds collecting our extra fenders and life jackets. Surprisingly, no boats on our dock took more than serious rub marks from the dock.

Some folks leave their boats on anchor near this marina. The two most noteworthy boats didn’t have anyone onboard. One lost containment of its jib and the wind shredded it. That makes a horrible slapping, shredding sound all night until it finally losses enough fabric to be quiet. Another dragged its anchor and was blown toward the dock slowly for a few hours. I felt bad for the boats in her path, I’m sure they got less sleep than we did. It was the middle of the night with driving rain and howling wind. It took a high-powered flashlight to keep track of her. Once the wind eased up, she held fast right in the middle of the channel.  We watched her until she settled to make sure she wasn’t going to crash into the dock or another boat. Then we went to bed.

Mike left his bike outside. It was in the covered cockpit area but there was no hiding from the salty, wind-driven waves. He had to clean all of the salt spray off of it the next day.

Total miles south: 639 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 18 degrees warmer.

Drone Light Show - Amelia Island, FL

A couple hundred lighted drones put on a Christmas Light Show. 

It’s not as noisy as fireworks but there is that drone hum that sounds like a swarm of busy bees. 

The show played Christmas Carols to go with the display. The little fellas would slowly rearrange and change color to create each picture. 

The kids in the crowd were happily and loudly guessing what each image was. Depending on your viewing angle, some were harder to guess.

It was pretty popular and drew quite a crowd plus there was no burning debris to land on anyone. 

Rise and Shine in Fernandina, FL

You won’t miss the 7:30 AM train in Fernandina. The tracks go through town right at the waterfront. Marinas are also, coincidentally, located on the waterfront. The train lumbers through quite slowly but must blow its horn to let everyone know that the sun has come up. This isn’t a big problem for me but some of the crew like to sleep in.

We have a tremendous neighbor on the dock. She’s around one hundred twenty feet long is my guess. She is lovely and blocked the strong NW wind as we docked. What a great lady!

The wind has died down a bit today but it is still in our favor with regard to the Fernandina Paper Mill. What do you think the chances are that we’ll be this lucky for a week? 

There are rumors of a drone show here this weekend. We’ll try to get photos.

Total miles south: 639 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 18 degrees warmer.

The Vibe is Chill but the Weather is Too Chilly

Our little Anchorage in nowhere was calm but chilly and provided a superb sunrise. 

We had two bridges that we wanted to go under and the tide was on the rise so we got an early start. The Little Mud River didn’t have a lot of water this morning but it was enough for us to get through. It was certainly not my favorite conditions, long narrow stretches with twists and turns where the channel doesn’t necessarily stay in the middle as you might expect. You spend more time watching the GPS dot on the chart than seeing the scenery. 

We passed by some favorite stops (Jekyll Island and St. Simon) in favor of getting more miles completed. Our original schedule hit major snags so we’re making it up as we go.

We’re happy to report that the giant, ill-fated freighter, Golden Ray, has been completely cleaned up from St. Simon Sound. In 2020, the area was a mess with this giant behemoth stuck on a sand bar on its side. It was carrying Kia cars, trucks and mini SUVs. All lost. Now the area is free and clear.

Then 

Now  

We’re anchored next to Cumberland Island. Wild horses! They looked up when I neighed at them but it startled Mike so much that he missed the shot. 

Tomorrow we head to Amelia Island and the Fernandina Marina for about a week. This evening we enjoyed Margaritas and Chips & Salsa as the sun went down. It’s still chilly in Georgia.

Total miles south: 634 Temperature tonight vs. Vienna: 6 degrees warmer.