Lat 29 53 53 Long 81 18 55; fuel 199 gal; eng 734 hrs
Left St Augustine this morning at around 8:15 am. The goal was to get to Fernandina Beach where we thought we would anchor for the night. When I phoned the City marina last night I was told there was no room at the inn because it was a local shrimp festival this weekend. Brenda phoned again this morning and they had a spot so we took it.
One thing I noticed is that the boaters with fast boats are a lot more polite in North Florida, they slow down before passing so that their wake does not almost turn the boat over. Well, that's most boaters. There were a few today that just flew by and unless you turned into the wake quickly, stuff was being thrown all over the place. In one case, an idiot ran by me and I turned quickly into his wake. Unfortunately, he was coming up on the port side where it was shallower water. Since he was on plane, he really was not too concerned about the shallower water. However, as I turned into his wake I noticed the rapidly decreasing depth and almost ran aground. This was one of several boats traveling together, all traveling fast but separated by a half mile. Could tell they were traveling together because they were constantly chattering on channel 16. The last of the boats radioed me that he was passing and I told him I would slow down so that he could do a slow pass. His response was that I didn't to slow down for him. I told him, I wasn't doing it for him. I wanted him to slow down so I wouldn't get waked. he thought I was an old grouch. Too bad.
The area that we traveled through today reminded me of cottage country along the Trent Severn waterway - lots of tress with the cottages set back a bit from the water with their boats out front.
AS we got close to Fernandina Beach, I came around a corner and was in the middle of the channel and ran aground. Thump and there we were - stuck. I really didn't know where the channel was as I was inside the green buoy. There were no red markers showing that there was a shoal there. I decided to wait until the tide rose a bit and I hoped that some boat with some local knowledge would come by and show me where the channel was. Luckily we were on a rising tide and after about 20 minutes a boat did come by and the channel was a lot closer the green side of the channel than I thought. The channel was very wide. I managed to back out once tide raised the water level and we went on our way.
We finally made the marina and settled in. Took a walk around the city and found that the heart of the shrimp festival was right in the marina area and it was not a little festival. They had all sorts of stands selling cooked shrimp and fish. There is music and tomorrow there will be a craft and art show. Towards the end of the day, there must have been about 20,000 people in the direct marina area. The end of the evening was celebrated with a firework show which was one of the best I have seen in a long time and best of all the fireworks were being set off about 1/2 mile behind our boat so we had a prime seat for the show.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Wednesday and Thursday - April 27 and 28
The last two days have been mainly tourist days and getting some things done on the boat. We decided to stay one more day - Thursday because a cold front was coming in and severe thunder storms were predicted. However, as I write this nothing so far. Yesterday we went to the beach and walked along it. Visited a local craft and food market. Instead of going out to dinner, decided to have a good lunch instead and stay on the boat for the evening.
Today was mostly work around the boat and not much else.
Today was mostly work around the boat and not much else.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday - April 26, 2011
Picked up a car this morning, and Brenda and Linda went shopping at the local outlet mall and they dropped me off at the World Golf Hall of Fame. I spent 6 hours there before I phoned Brenda to pick me up. If you are a golfer it is well worth the visit. The displays are excellent. Two in particular, I thought were really good - one on Bob Hope and the other on Nancy Lopez. Bob Hope was a major contributor to the game through his playing and always Promoting the game. However the display was more than that - it covered his entire life and the time he spent entertaining the troops, his movies etc. Lots of other stuff to see including an area on the British Open, Bobby Jones, and of course area on all the inductees. There are two Canadians in the Hall - Guess who they are>
Came home after that and then went to dinner.
Came home after that and then went to dinner.
Monday - April 25, 2011
Got up this morning and phoned the electronics specialist. Apparently he was located in Jacksonville and was not really interested in coming down to St Augustine. However he did tell me a couple of tests that I could do to see if it was the hardware or software and it would appear to be the software. So we went over to Westmarine and bought a new chip for the chart plotter, inserted it and it worked. It appears that the old chip simply crapped out as I was going along the ICWW.
In the afternoon, the folks from Q's End and ourselves went over to the Lightner Museum which was founded by some guy call Lightner from Chicago. He apparently was a n avid collector of stuff and he encouraged others to collect stuff even if it was match books. He left his collections to the museum and encouraged others to do the same. There were collections of many things, cigar labels, dolls, dresses, crystal, dishes etc - many of them very interesting. The most interesting however was a collection of music machines that operated by themselves. While we were there, we were fortunate to have a demonstration and these machines were amazing to see and hear - operating on paper holes, or huge copper and steel discs.
The museum used to be an old hotel which was constructed by a man named Flagler who also built a number of other hotels and churches in St Augustine. He also built a railway to bring people down from the northeast to Florida for the winter. Of course they stayed in his hotels. By the way, Flagler co-founded Standard Oil with Rockerfeller which now is known as Exxon. He was obviously not short of money to fund his other ventures. In any case, this particular hotel had at one time the largest swimming pool in the world and in 1925, the US women's swimming championships were held in the pool. The existing pool is now long gone but it was a far cry from the swimming pools we know today.
After our visit to the museum we went for pizza and wings at a local restaurant.
In the afternoon, the folks from Q's End and ourselves went over to the Lightner Museum which was founded by some guy call Lightner from Chicago. He apparently was a n avid collector of stuff and he encouraged others to collect stuff even if it was match books. He left his collections to the museum and encouraged others to do the same. There were collections of many things, cigar labels, dolls, dresses, crystal, dishes etc - many of them very interesting. The most interesting however was a collection of music machines that operated by themselves. While we were there, we were fortunate to have a demonstration and these machines were amazing to see and hear - operating on paper holes, or huge copper and steel discs.
The museum used to be an old hotel which was constructed by a man named Flagler who also built a number of other hotels and churches in St Augustine. He also built a railway to bring people down from the northeast to Florida for the winter. Of course they stayed in his hotels. By the way, Flagler co-founded Standard Oil with Rockerfeller which now is known as Exxon. He was obviously not short of money to fund his other ventures. In any case, this particular hotel had at one time the largest swimming pool in the world and in 1925, the US women's swimming championships were held in the pool. The existing pool is now long gone but it was a far cry from the swimming pools we know today.
After our visit to the museum we went for pizza and wings at a local restaurant.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Sunday - April 24, 2011
Will be staying in St Augustine until we get the chart plotter fixed. Had a visit from a Canadian sailboat which we passed along the way a couple of times over a couple of days. Camelot II from Belleville, they were returning from the Bahamas.
Went out for brunch this morning and then we wondered around the town a bit, took a train ride which shows all the sights in old St. Augustine. This city is the oldest continually inhabited city in North America. Founded by the Spanish in the late 1500's as part of their fortress protection for the Spanish ships heading back to Spain loaded with gold and jewelry etc taken from the natives in the New World. Very pretty town and very interesting. Lots of restaurants, and lots of things to see. We went and visited the fort Castillo de San Marcos - and did the tour. Entrance was free because this was National Parks week and the fort is part of the National Park. Want to get over to visit the Fountain of Youth and try out the water, see if it works. This city is the location and it was discovered by Ponce de Leon.
The City changed hands several times form the Spanish to the English to the Spanish and finally tot he US as wars were fought and won or lost as the case may be. St Augustine is also the location of the World Golf hall of Fame so we are going to visit it sometime while we are here.
Later on we had lunch and did some more wandering. They had an Easter Parade so we watched the whole parade. It was quite interesting and obviously had a Spanish motive as does the whole city, no marching bands though.
Looking down one of the streets
Went out for brunch this morning and then we wondered around the town a bit, took a train ride which shows all the sights in old St. Augustine. This city is the oldest continually inhabited city in North America. Founded by the Spanish in the late 1500's as part of their fortress protection for the Spanish ships heading back to Spain loaded with gold and jewelry etc taken from the natives in the New World. Very pretty town and very interesting. Lots of restaurants, and lots of things to see. We went and visited the fort Castillo de San Marcos - and did the tour. Entrance was free because this was National Parks week and the fort is part of the National Park. Want to get over to visit the Fountain of Youth and try out the water, see if it works. This city is the location and it was discovered by Ponce de Leon.
The City changed hands several times form the Spanish to the English to the Spanish and finally tot he US as wars were fought and won or lost as the case may be. St Augustine is also the location of the World Golf hall of Fame so we are going to visit it sometime while we are here.
Later on we had lunch and did some more wandering. They had an Easter Parade so we watched the whole parade. It was quite interesting and obviously had a Spanish motive as does the whole city, no marching bands though.
Looking down one of the streets
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Saturday - April 23, 2011
Lat 29 12 24; Long 81 00 82; Fuel 199 gal; eng 727.24
We heard from our friends on Q's End that it was rough getting into St. Augustine City Marina because of the winds and the tidal current in the marina. I checked the tide charts before we left Daytona Beach and found high tide was around 1:40 in the afternoon. Therefore slack water would be around 1:00 to 2:00 pm. While I could not eliminate the effect of the wind, I could minimize the effect of the current by getting there sometime around slack. Since St Augustine was about 55 miles up the ICWW, and we would be traveling around 8 knts, this meant that again we would have to leave around 7:30 to arrive at St Augustine at the right time. In fact we did leave at 7:45 again. Again the morning was quiet - no wind but it built up over the day. The trip was very circuitous as the ICWW wound around lots of shoaling and little sand islands. Had to pay strict attention to our course and where we were going. One of the bridges we passed under had mosaics on each of the pillars of dolphins and matinees - very pretty.
A little further along, a I was about to pass under a bridge, a sculler moved right into the channel in front of me. Fortunately we were under a no wake order in this part of the channel so he was faster than me at this stage. However, he could have been run over if I had been going my normal speed of 8 knots. It is dangerous for people to think they automatically have the right of way because they are not under power. Common sense should tell that I cannot stop or maneuver as easily as them, especially in a narrow channel. However no harm, no foul. The rower was part of club out for their morning row.
Lots of Canadian boats heading home for the summer. Of course when you see the Canadian flag,there is always a special hello.
We continued to travel down the waterway, a just before St. Augustine, my chart plotter went out leaving me to navigate with my paper charts. I don't know shy it went out and I am going to have to get an electronics guy over in St Augustine to fix it, because it is a lot easier to traverse the waterway with an electronic chart in front of you and a lot safer.
Anyways we arrived in St Augustine around 2 and there was little current but a lot of wind. Fortunately we moved right into the slip with little problem even though the wind was on our beam.
Our friends from Q's End were here and we went out to dinner with them and caught up to their adventures in the Bahamas.
We heard from our friends on Q's End that it was rough getting into St. Augustine City Marina because of the winds and the tidal current in the marina. I checked the tide charts before we left Daytona Beach and found high tide was around 1:40 in the afternoon. Therefore slack water would be around 1:00 to 2:00 pm. While I could not eliminate the effect of the wind, I could minimize the effect of the current by getting there sometime around slack. Since St Augustine was about 55 miles up the ICWW, and we would be traveling around 8 knts, this meant that again we would have to leave around 7:30 to arrive at St Augustine at the right time. In fact we did leave at 7:45 again. Again the morning was quiet - no wind but it built up over the day. The trip was very circuitous as the ICWW wound around lots of shoaling and little sand islands. Had to pay strict attention to our course and where we were going. One of the bridges we passed under had mosaics on each of the pillars of dolphins and matinees - very pretty.
A little further along, a I was about to pass under a bridge, a sculler moved right into the channel in front of me. Fortunately we were under a no wake order in this part of the channel so he was faster than me at this stage. However, he could have been run over if I had been going my normal speed of 8 knots. It is dangerous for people to think they automatically have the right of way because they are not under power. Common sense should tell that I cannot stop or maneuver as easily as them, especially in a narrow channel. However no harm, no foul. The rower was part of club out for their morning row.
Lots of Canadian boats heading home for the summer. Of course when you see the Canadian flag,there is always a special hello.
We continued to travel down the waterway, a just before St. Augustine, my chart plotter went out leaving me to navigate with my paper charts. I don't know shy it went out and I am going to have to get an electronics guy over in St Augustine to fix it, because it is a lot easier to traverse the waterway with an electronic chart in front of you and a lot safer.
Anyways we arrived in St Augustine around 2 and there was little current but a lot of wind. Fortunately we moved right into the slip with little problem even though the wind was on our beam.
Our friends from Q's End were here and we went out to dinner with them and caught up to their adventures in the Bahamas.
Friday - April 22, 2011
Lat2 8 21 47; 80 43 54; Eng 718.38; fuel 118 gal
We left Cocoa this morning at around 7:45, probably one of the earliest starts ever. Said goodbye to our friends on Lazy Dolphin and moved out. Morning was cool and there was no wind. It was really perfect for cruising. Our goal was Daytona Beach, about 70 miles up the ICWW. Lots of bridges but fortunately they were all over 25 feet and many were 65 feet so no problem in going under them. As we passed Titusville, we hear a boat on the radio saying thank you to the marina they stayed in the night before. The boat was Unchained, which we had not heard from since the Port St Joe on the Florida panhandle around November 25, 2010. Unchained is owned by 4 brothers and a cousin from Michigan and they are traveling the Loop together in a 37 foot trawler. Anyways we radioed them and had a bit of a chat as we were going along. Hopefully we will see them in a future port.
Unchained as it leaves Titusville
Lots of bird life along this stretch of the waterway, one island had thusands of birds.
Osprey nest (I think)
We arrived in Daytona Beach at around 3 and the wind had really picked up, actually it was really blowing hard. The Daytona Beach Marina, asked if I wanted fuel and a pump out and we stopped for both. The wind was blowing directly behind us so it was a little work to get in but we made it. We then went to our sip ant the wind was blowing across our beam. Fortunately the the channel was wide so I could make a good turn into the slip. Just had to back up once before we got in. We settled in then went to dinner at local pub. food was good.
We left Cocoa this morning at around 7:45, probably one of the earliest starts ever. Said goodbye to our friends on Lazy Dolphin and moved out. Morning was cool and there was no wind. It was really perfect for cruising. Our goal was Daytona Beach, about 70 miles up the ICWW. Lots of bridges but fortunately they were all over 25 feet and many were 65 feet so no problem in going under them. As we passed Titusville, we hear a boat on the radio saying thank you to the marina they stayed in the night before. The boat was Unchained, which we had not heard from since the Port St Joe on the Florida panhandle around November 25, 2010. Unchained is owned by 4 brothers and a cousin from Michigan and they are traveling the Loop together in a 37 foot trawler. Anyways we radioed them and had a bit of a chat as we were going along. Hopefully we will see them in a future port.
Unchained as it leaves TitusvilleLots of bird life along this stretch of the waterway, one island had thusands of birds.
Osprey nest (I think)
We arrived in Daytona Beach at around 3 and the wind had really picked up, actually it was really blowing hard. The Daytona Beach Marina, asked if I wanted fuel and a pump out and we stopped for both. The wind was blowing directly behind us so it was a little work to get in but we made it. We then went to our sip ant the wind was blowing across our beam. Fortunately the the channel was wide so I could make a good turn into the slip. Just had to back up once before we got in. We settled in then went to dinner at local pub. food was good.
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