Be right back

We are off the boat for a couple of weeks for gigs and stuff. More later. 

Next stop?

Weather or Knot

Yes, leaving the mid-Atlantic in mid-December is going to be a race against winter. We sprinted through Georgia in dreary grey chill. The empty salt marshes were quiet and soggy, stretching on for many miles. The tidal flows that accumulate 7 & 8 foot tides can make for long days at sluggish speeds or the occasional shortlived boost. We had the former on average for the three days it took to bust through. So at last we reach the State of Florida and anchor near Fernandina Beach for the night and awake to 37 degrees F. And a day that wouldn't bust more than a tease of sunshine. Ah well, advertising is so often illusory.
Had a fair current down to the St. John River and crossed it on a strong outgoing tide. As we headed up the next leg of the ICW we found heavy flow against us again. At the Atlantic Beach Bridge, the first to be encountered on that leg we hit the maximum ebb flow. A quick look at the Active Captain database would have noted this challenge but that was one day that it didn't happen. We had used it for the shoal areas of NC, SC, & GA but snoozed on this leg. As we approached the bridge and felt the speed drop I pushed up the throttle more and more. A big motor yacht was close enough behind us that backing out would have been a big problem. We slowed to about one knot and crept through the passage with swirling eddys all around. There was still some rpm to spare but I would advise a schedule adjustment to anyone that can't hold about six and a half knots through the water.

We took a slip in Jacksonville Beach for two days to visit my Dojo headquarters. (SoBudoKai and Chintokan.com  for info) Visiting my second family and working out for the first time since the shoulder surgery was rewarding and challenging at the same time. Still temperatures in the 30's at night though. And a deadline for a short break is approaching so we must press on. 

After two more days of motoring and anchoring out, including a kedge-off session below St. Augustine, we stopped at Titusville Municipal Marina to meet up with friends Mitch & Julie for seafood at Dixie Crossroads and a great evening catching up with them, aside from dropping the iPhone overboard while tying up in the slip. 10 feet of salt water claimed another electronic victim. Perhaps insurance would have been a good idea after all. Another 50 mile run today finally found us in the 75+ and sunny conditions that we promised ourselves each day along the way. This evening's anchorage is about ICW mile 925 and even though rain is forecast for tomorrow it felt like vacation today.

Oops, forgot to leave.

We anchored in the creek near Lady's Island Marina for a couple nights as they were full up. I arranged for some mail to catch us with us here a couple days out  Dinghied in and met some friendly folks who loaned us wheels for a grocery run! Cruisers that have settled in somewhere still enjoy helping out and paying back karmic kindness that came their way previously. Spent New Year's Eve with more of the same in the marina lounge even though we hadn't yet booked a slip! This is a sticky place. It seems there are quite a few folks who found this place and this town to be good enough for a long to very long term stop along their way. We had some rain as a stalled front finally moved through. It has been held off for weeks by a high pressure system in the Atlantic. The nasty flooding in the Appalachians and Tennessee Valley last month were all a result of this system, and so was the mild weather that we have been benefitting from since we started out. So we lounged and tinkered at anchor for a day or two, then took a slip for laundry & showers. Here we met some friends of friends that had tried to catch us on their way down the Chesapeake in October. The instruments came out and the lounge got lit up til way past cruiser's bedtime.  So another day or two clicked by because it was cold and windy behind that front, and the solar panels needed some attention,  and I had insulation for the fridge box waiting to be installed, and we were offered a ride into Hilton Head for an afternoon and before you know it, a week has been frittered away. With good seafood. 
Dang! We are Definitely leaving in the morning!!!