We left St. Mary's Boatyard this morning on a rising tide. We had planned on anchoring after about 45 miles, but the anchorage is unknown to us and only recommended by one cruising guide with all sorts of disclaimers about debri on the bottom and swinging space limitations. With the weather forecast to be 20 mph winds today and possible thunderstorms tonight with higher gusts we decided to stop in a known anchorage only about 7 miles from where we started that will put us within striking distance of St. Augustine if we leave in the dark on Tuesday morning and arrive at dusk on Tuesday evening. So we are here in Fernandina Beach, FL. We went into town and walked around. It is a charming town on Amelia Island. There are lots of little shops with interesting items and a couple of book nooks which I love. There are little parks with benches along the street which Moose loves. We are anchored out in a large anchorage with about 15 other boats and dinghy into shore for restrooms/showers and trash disposal. Moose is napping, John is cleaning stainless and I am on the internet.
Tomorrow we will go into town when it is dry and not too rough hopefully. We have some documents to put in the mail. Right now the winds are picking up and it is getting somewhat wavy with rain showers. We will try to get Moose into shore shortly so we can remain on Spunky through the evening and keep watch on the position of the boats around us.
We have had 3 uneventful days down the ICW. Things are getting easier. We made St. Augustine from Fernandina in a day. We were able to catch the current and went through the Bridge of Lions at 4:30 the last opening before rush hour when the bridge does not open for an hour. We took a mooring ball ($20.00 per night) and stayed 2 nights. St. Augustine is a favorite place to stay. It is charming and the city is all lit up for the holidays.
Leaving St. Augustine, we anchored out in a creek just north of New Smyrna Beach named Rockhouse Creek. It was quite windy through the night and since we are not confident of our anchor, John spent the night watching from the cockpit to make sure we stayed put as there were several other boats around. We have received our final documentation papers after the name change and now we have to find a customs office in order to get our "Local Boaters Card" to make our reentry to the USA much easier.
I have been working on our provision list for the Bahamas. We think we will try to stop in Vero Beach to do this big shopping trip and then stop in Stuart for our sail and then head down to Miami to await a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. I am not sure how long all this will take but we will probably be on our way by the end of December.
Although the mornings in St. Augustine were downright cold, the days are warming up nicely as we travel south. Spunky likes the warm weather as well and her engine starts on the first try in the warmer temps. The stratoglass in the cockpit cover rolls up easily as the temps warm up as well and of course I do much better in the warmer days.
Here we aren Titusville, FL. on a mooring ball. They have covered almost the entire free anchorage area in mooring balls. On our way up north, in the spring, this was an open anchorage with no charge to anchor. Now it is $15.00 per night and we dinghy in to use restrooms and showers and laundry. There is a great dog park in the city park next to the marina which is very nice for Moose. He has had two playtimes since we have arrived. We will stay two nights and head for Melbourne tomorrow to get some work done on engine. This afternoon we watched a group of 5 manatees feed on grass floating on the water in the harbor. They are such wonderful creatures-the couch potatoes of the marine world.
Two days in Eau Gallie and we have our new anchor. Now we will have to see if it works. It doesn't quite return to its home spot on the front of the boat easily so John will have to figure that out. The weather has been lovely. We have spotted many porpoises and manatees as well as a variety of birds. I love watching the pelicans dive into the water for fish. They look so graceful until they hit the surface. Then it looks like a car hitting a brick wall.
We arrived at Vero Beach on Wednesday and rafted up with another boat on a mooring ball. Vero Beach, or velcro beach as many cruisers call it since it is so hard to leave, is a wonderful stop. The marina is welcoming to cruisers. The facilities are clean and well cared for. There is a free bus(donations accepted) that stops at the marina and goes all through town. The cruisers use it to shop at Publix, Target, Walmart, West Marine and many other shops. We went into town on two occasions and filled our back packs with groceries, wine/alcohol, and boat supplies. We realize that we will have to rent a car to do our final provision in Stuart as there is just too much to carry on our backs. There was a cocktail get together on Thursday night where we were able to meet people going south. We haven't yet met anyone doing the route we are planning. Most were going to the Abacos or not leaving until well after Christmas.
Our next stop is Stuart where we arrived this afternoon after traveling the day in wind and rain. We are in a marina here and the guys from Mack sails will arrive tomorrow a.m. with our new genoa. They will also do a check of our rigging and install our wind speed transducer. We are renting a car and will drive to the St. Lucie County International Airport to meet with customs and get our "Local Boaters Option" number. Then we will shop for our 5 months of meals and other gear and hopefully Moose and I will find a spot to get our hair cut. We both are way overdue.
Hope this finds you all well and getting into the Christmas spirit. It doesn't yet seem like Christmas to me since we are not in the stores that over emphasize the holiday and the weather certainly doesn't feel like wintertime. Please stay in touch and let us know what is happening in your lives.
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