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Published: December 9th 2008
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Ft Sumter at Daybreak
On our way to Florida The Trip South - 2008
We arrived at the St. Mary’s River inlet after an overnight trip from Charleston, SC. We traveled out on the Atlantic Ocean, first in a calm but later with following wind and seas, that built to 22 knots and 6-8 feet. Once in the inlet, our first stop was just off the National Seashore at Cumberland Island. This is the first Barrier Island north of the Florida state line. We had made plans to meet up with our Canadian friends, Doug & Sharon, on the Beneteau 405 “About Time”. They had stored their boat in a boat yard in the small Georgia town of St. Mary’s for the summer and had just had her relaunched. We spend two days anchored off the park and enjoyed hiking through the live oak forests and walking the beaches of Cumberland Island. On Wednesday afternoon we shifted seven miles south to the historic town of Fernandina Beach, Florida. We remembered from our stay here in the spring that the anchorage has a 2-3 knot current running through it, so we opted for renting a mooring from the City Marina. We managed to hook on to the mooring ball on
our second attempt, which was pretty good considering the rushing current and the 15 knot wind which was blowing at an angle to the current. Once safely moored we were able to watch other boaters arriving and trying to pick up the mooring pennants. One unlucky boat managed to take seven attempts and lost a boat hook over the side before successfully mooring. Of course there was considerable discourse between the husband and the wife during their maneuvers. Later that evening when the tide changed directions, all of the boats began heading in different directions and we circled the mooring doing continual 360’s for several hours. Finally, we tired of watching the boats circle and turned in for the night.
The following morning we woke before dawn to get an early start for our 62 mile trip to St. Augustine. As the sun began to lighten the sky, it appeared to be rather hazy but visibility was about 2 miles. Along with “About Time”, we dropped the moorings and headed south on the ICW. As we rounded the second point, we were suddenly enveloped in a dense fog. We could barely see 50’ past our bow. After a short
About to Hike Cumberland Island
The Porch at the Ranger Station discussion, we decided to head back to the mooring to see if the fog would lift, which it did about 45 minutes later. We were able to leave for the second time and proceed south. As we neared a high rise fixed bridge to Amelia Island we recorded a current of 4.5 knots pushing us through the bridge. Due to the full moon, the tide was extra high. The bridge that usually has a 65’ minimum clearance was reduced to 62’. Since our mast height is only 59’ we had no problem, but there are many boats running the ICW with heights much nearer to 65’ which would have to anchor and wait for the tide to fall. We made it to St. Augustine just as the sun was setting and anchored just north of the Bridge of Lions.
We decided to spend Friday and Saturday exploring St. Augustine. It is a great down for boaters with a city marina in the heart of downtown, plenty of interesting shops, and great restaurants an easy walk from the dinghy landing. The highlight of our stay was watching the space shuttle launch on Friday evening. We were only about 80 miles
north of the Cape Canaveral launch site. We could see the shuttle streaking through the sky with a fiery tail much like a comet. On Saturday morning we were walking through the main square of the town just as a Pirate Days celebration was starting. There were pirates and wenches everywhere. The people seemed really caught up in acting like pirates.
Our next stop south was Daytona Beach, Florida. It was an all day run from St. Augustine, so by the time we anchored, fixed dinner and cleaned up it was time for bed. The next morning we pushed on. This put us into the very wide but shallow Indian River. We were anxious to get to Vero Beach for the Thanksgiving holiday, so we pushed hard and made 67 miles to Cocoa Beach for the night.
Nancy and I launched the dinghy and picked up Doug & Sharon and we went ashore to walk around the little town of Cocoa. The cruising guide mentioned that the best hardware store on the East Coast was located here. It was easy to find it, since the store took up an entire city block. To Doug and me it was like
going to Disneyland. This was no Home Depot, but an old time hardware store with wood floors and smells of rope, and oil and seemed to have just about any type of household goods or hardware one could want. I managed to find a new portable gas can and Nancy even found some hard to find sink stoppers for the boat.
The following day we arrived in Vero. This is the prime spot for cruisers heading to the Bahamas to provision and to wait for a good weather window to cross over. When we called in to the marina to ask for a mooring ball, we were informed that all the moorings were occupied and that we would have to raft alongside another boat. Double-Wide was assigned to raft with another catamaran named “Bravo-2”. This gave us a chance to meet Graham and Wendy on their PDQ-32. They have been living aboard for several years and have already cruised the Windward Islands as far south as Venezuela and are currently heading to the Bahamas and then on to the Caribbean and possibly across to the Azores. We found many of the boats we had seen at various places along
the coast already here, like “Dream Weaver”, Anania, and Moon River. Also, more cruisers arrived every day.
We decided to rent a car for the weekend, to take care of the big shopping trip and to allow me to go to Palm Beach and apply for my TWIC (Transportation Workers Identity Credential) card. This is a new requirement for people holding a current USCG Masters License. We also managed stops at West Marine and a great local dive shop. I purchased a spear used to hunt for lobsters, which I hope will lead to success once we get to the Bahamas. There were the usual boat projects like changing oil, replacing fuel filters, fixing a dead running light etc. One morning we were invited to breakfast with a local group of former cruisers that call themselves CLODS (cruisers living on dirt). It was a fun meal with plenty of old sea stories and lots of advice on what to see and do in the islands.
Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and warmer than previous days with a predicted high in the low 80’s. The morning was started with a cruisers flea market followed by a “bring a dish Thanksgiving
Pier Along the ICW
Some People Build Unusual Piers Along the ICW dinner” in a meeting room in the park next to the marina. There were about 120 cruisers attending the dinner. The food was excellent with plenty of everything. Dinner began at 1:00 PM and shortly after finishing and talking with friends we went back to the boat along with the crew of “About Time” and cast off the mooring with the plan to head for the Bahamas with an overnight sail to Lucaya, Grand Bahama.
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