It’s a rocky old night. Like Savannah, the heavy traffic continues through to the wee hours but unlike Savannah, they seem to go at full pelt and create a huge wake rushing across the river to us on the outside of the marina, sending us bucking like a little bronco. I do not appreciate this.
The river is completely empty of traffic though when we leave the marina at 8.30 am and it’s a lot easier getting off the dock than getting on as the tide is relatively slack. The same with getting out of the river and into the Atlantic Ocean again as we are going with the tide rather than against it. Once out, we turn south.
The beaches are not exactly picturesque from our vantage point. At about three miles out you can still see the high rise condos lining the shore seemingly never ending.
By midday it’s warm enough to sunbathe and with a totally clear sky and smooth sea I take full advantage of lying in the sun on the trampoline, only the second time I have done this on this trip. For our last day travelling on the east coast it would have been great to have enough wind to be able to sail but it is not to be, and after trying the genoa out for a short time, Mike gives up.
For such a calm sea going south, the conditions for turning into the St Augustine inlet come as a bit of a shock. Strange rollers form out to sea on either side of the inlet and crash towards the lovely white beaches. Dolphins seem to be going mental in the water all around, no doubt having a ball in the turbulent water. Myself, I’d like it as it was when we were on the way down.
The water here is uncharted to a large degree as the sea bed is shifting all the time, constant shoaling changing the picture. There are many channels going in different directions and for a moment it is difficult to see where we are supposed to go. Minutes later we are through, there are no waves and all is calm. And that was on a good day! Now I see why they say not to attempt this inlet in anything less than good weather unless you have local knowledge. Luckily we had been told that the inlet had been dredged a few months ago so we were pretty sure we would be OK but a lot can change in a few months. Luckily for us, this time it didn’t.
Frustratingly we miss the bridge opening, watching in the distance as four yachts go through. We then jiggle around in the mooring field just in front for the next one, just 20 minutes or so as Mike had slowed down considerably once he realised we were not going to catch the previous one.
We can hear the marina staff being called constantly as boats attempt to get a slip and I find it difficult to get heard on the radio to see if there is one for us. Cats have a much harder time getting slips because of their girth!
On time the bridge opens and we go through the rather attractive Bridge of Lions to find the marina immediately on the other side. While we wait for a slip to be found, we idle in the bay and a dolphin does a huge leap in front of me, arcing high out of the water. Beautiful but of course I have no camera as I am standing on the bow tying the lines on. Typical. By the time I am ready with the camera, he is swimming around somewhat more sedately.
Staff are on hand to help us tie up and we look around at our prime spot right between the promenade and the bridge. Nice.
It’s nearly 4 pm by the time the formalities are once again completed and we sit outside with a cup of tea before going to explore our immediate surroundings.
We think we are going mad for a while – all around us in the street, there are pirates! Then we find out that this weekend is St Augustine’s annual pirate weekend. They all arrive here, dress up extremely well as pirates and do, well I’m not quite sure. There’s a lot of drinking and raucous behaviour. Still, it’s early in the weekend yet!
We wander around for a couple of hours, getting our bearings. We have the time to look around the various art galleries, Mike stunning me by agreeing to do it. I push my luck with a couple of clothes and tourist shops too, just to see how he copes. He’s fine. He must be ill so I take him back to Jeannius and give him a beer. We will probably be here now until we leave to go back to the UK so there’s plenty of time to see the rest of St Augustine, but so far, me likey!
Position: 29 deg 53 min N, 81 deg 18 min W
Distance so far: 3573 mies
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