Nov. 16

Fernandina was lovely but it was time to move on in our migration south. We upped anchor and set out for St. Augustine at 0745. The weather seems to be getting warmer as we were in shorts and tees last night. As we entered the St. johns River we spotted a large Navy ship in dry dock there. Below the St John’s river we approached a massive dredge operation. There was a barge being towed with equipment and a fixed dredge with just enough room for us to get by when he lowered his shovel boom.

St Augustine Light

We had a strong following current and were able to make good time as we were able to make St. Augustine by 4:00 PM. We had a little trouble anchoring north of the Bridge of Lions as the wind, current, and bottom conspired to prevent the anchor setting the way we wanted it to. We were anchored just offshore of the old fort and it was a little rolly. There was also a loud rock band playing but we were both so tired that we both went to sleep early.

Nov. 17

Kathleen and I decided to move on rather than stay on the hook at St. Augustine so we pulled the anchor and left through the Bridge of Lions at a 7:20AM opening.

Just outside of Saint Augustine we spotted a large congregation of seagulls and we were happy they chose to roost here and not on our boat ( imagine the cleanup!)

We were pushed along most of the morning by a following current and made it to Matanzas inlet just before high tide. The inlet is famous for shoaling and at a few points the water depth dropped under 8 feet. The channel markers were not where they were on the chart but we honored the markers, rather than the chart and made it through. There is an old Spanish Fort here and on our way back we will have to stop and take the tour.

The ICW passes by a lot of houses and there are a lot of homes with docks. This one home in particular had an unusal boat docked out back.

The rest of the day was uneventful until we were stopped by the local law enforcement. It appeared that they were checking all out of state boats to ensure that the heads were not discharging overboard. The sheriff that boarded us was very pleasant and informed us that Florida law required the Y valve to each head to be tie wrapped in the appropriate position.

A stork doing its thing along the ICW. I wonder if the local law checked his sanitary arrangements?

Even with the stop we made New Smyrna ( just off the Ponce Inlet) and are anchored above Sheephead Cut for the night. Tomorrow we hope to be at Merrit island at Harbourtown Marina off the Canaveral Barge Canal. Last year we were able to witness a space launch from here and it was absolutely spectacular.

New Smyrna Anchorage