We left the dock right after first light in light to
moderate winds out of the NE with a bit of fog. Again we motor sailed.
Once we got out of the Sound, we had really rolly seas as the wind
backed to the North and slackened. We had to sheet hard the mizzen to
reduce the roll and at time, we stalled the jib for the same reason.
Still we were averaging 6.5 kts.
We arrived at the St. Augustine inlet at
0830 at high tide so transiting the inlet was pretty straightforward.
The marina was very accommodating by letting us take our mooring balls
so early. Jule's ball was near the bridge and the main road. Majestic
7 got a ball further out. As we were in the North mooring field, we were
a little nervous of the approaching strong NE wind. When the winds did
come, we did fine!
We got an invite for a cruiser's happy hour at Pizza
Alley. There were 20+ folks in attendance. We chatted with old friends
and made several new ones. Pretty good pizza too. Drinks weren't bad either.
We love St. Augustine!
Our favorite places are the old fort (Castillo de San Marco), the
Cathedral of St. Augustine, the little shops, the Columbia restaurant,
and the Sailor's Exchange. On Veteran's Day, we watched the parade from
our boats as it was windy and a bit wet. Jule was in the perfect location.
The day before we left, we heard on the local net the
Bridge of Lions would be closed for a Marathon. We called the bridge
tender and he knew nothing about it. We left early just in case and 15
minutes later it was closed. No notice! Is that any way to run a
bridge. We were passed the South mooring field when it closed. No
other boats escaped the North mooring field until 1000. We chose the
inside as a persistent NE wind had the coastal waters past Canaveral
all stirred up.
The first night we spent in Daytona under the Sea Breeze
bridge
Majestic 7 could not get under the bridge as the NE wind had pumped so
much water in the waterway. It would cost them three days. Our new
crew member, Swab Mr. Green was a gift from the folks at Sailor Exchange
in St. Augustine. He is a bit quiet but Mattie seems to like him. He
makes us smile. Don't tell him but he is a fender cover.
Next day, we headed for Titusville where we saw increased
hurricane damage, including this sunken sail boat in New Smyrna. The
wind picked up after 1000 with occasional gust over 25 kts out of the
NE. Not pretty. We anchored in the lee of Addison Point bridge where
we had a comfortable night.
Next day we headed for Cocoa where we were
shocked at the storm damage. There was no chance of getting to shore on
this trip. Yesterday, we anchored in the lee of a spoil island south of
Melbourne. Today we arrived at Vero Beach and were assigned mooring ball
#47 with SV First Love. Home for three weeks!
;
