Well November is when our insurance says hurricane season is over and we
can go back to the tropics, for us these means we can get back into Florida. We
raised anchor on Nov 1st after a little lazy start as we were only moving a few
miles to Fernandina Beach. The first hurdle was to wait for a departing US
nuclear submarine which was being escorted out St Mary’s inlet, but other than a
20 minute hold up it was a great opportunity to get a few photo’s of these rare
things. We took a mooring ball in Fernandina to allow us to relax in their
wonderful showers and use the laundry after so long on the hook. It was also so
we could do a run to Wal-Mart and the Post Office for our mail and use the
dinghy dock for getting our bikes ashore. We had a very productive couple of
days which included a lovely meal out with Sue and David from Sans Cles.
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| Last walk at Cumberland Island |
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| Submarine traffic |
We looked hard at the weather forecast but could not see the opportunity to
get out and venture down the coast so we decided to brave the shoals of the
Inter Coastal Waterway (ICW). We left bright and early and caught the tide
rising and adding to our feeling of safety as well as giving us a nice push of
speed. Sans Cles had decided to go as well since they had a mooring booked in St
Augustine, so Moosetracks being a slightly lower draft went first and played
depth sounder. Well no issues on many of the trouble spots were found as we had
played the tide correctly and watched the active captain maps as we moved along.
It was a very pleasant day on the water and we had a great ICW passage. Just
before lunch we saw another IP at anchor and upon approaching it saw it was
Grand Cru who we had met in the Bahamas. They hailed us and we had a little
catch up on their summer and ours, we might even catch them in the Bahamas after
the holidays!
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| Ponce de Leon Light |
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| Mission of Nombre de Dios - St Augustine |
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| St Augustine Light |
We pulled off the ICW a few miles north of St Augustine to anchor up for
the night and have a early arrival the next day so we could enjoy a full day in
St Augustine and explore the historic city. It worked well for us and we got a
mooring ball early the next morning and immediately dinghied over to walk around
town. The Town is full of history and to us it was the magnificent fort that
beckoned so we bought entry and had a wonderful few hours exploring. Then after
a lovely lunch, we walked around town and looked at the historic buildings and
a Greek museum commemorating the founding people of New Smyrna.
St Augustine was truly lovely but the weather was again threating rain so
we pulled away from our ball and headed south. The next stretch was a long day
to Daytona Beach on the ICW. The winds were not playing nice as again it was
rough outside and wind too strong and on our nose so we chickened out. The
timing though worked well for us and we made good progress with mostly following
current again there was lovely scenery as we motored south. As we approached our
chosen spot a Catamaran Salty Paws with Jim & Bentley who we had met at
Oriental was anchored near and beckoned us over. Well the Admiral said we should
follow the active captain instructions to get in but the Captain followed Jim’s
and oops we got caught in some real shallow water, but thankfully we didn’t get
stuck as it was soft mud and made it to the deeper water. Ok the Captain can be
wrong but not the Admiral. Our next leg was a bit of a stretch to Melbourne and
due to a pending eye exam for the Captain we needed to get there either
Wednesday or early Thursday as the only available appointment was Thursday. So
we had another long motoring day but stopped at dusk about 6 miles north of
Melbourne in a quiet anchorage by Georgiana. The next morning we got up early
and moved 6 miles to re-anchored by the Civic Center at Eau Gallie near
Melbourne, FL in time to get our bikes ashore and cycle to Wal-Mart and Aldi for
the eye appointment and order new glasses and a bit of shopping including
Moosetracks Ice Cream!
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| Some splicing of new snubber lines |
Well we were going to be here for several days because the new glasses have
to be made and we deliberately arrived early to do that and to give us time to
meet up with friends as well. The first visitors were Tug, Monique and their 4
lovely children. We spent Saturday at the park and then at Squid Lips restaurant
just hanging out on the beach there and catching up. Then on Sunday we all went
to the park and then the beach to see and test the Atlantic surf. Well at least
the kids did, some of us are too scared of the cold water!
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| Tug & Monique |
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| A great beach day in the Atlantic surf |
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| Lunch with ice cream to finish! |
Our next friends to visit were Chris and Martin with Lucy, Paul and Amelia
their very new baby! We had lunch at Squid Lips then a long chat again on the
beach and a short walk around the park before they had to make their way back to
St Petersburg. We were so glad they took a day out of their vacation to come
over and see us and let us meet Amelia for the first time.
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Martin, Amelia, Lucy, Paul and Chris
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| Amelia happily playing on the beach |
The wind was now forecast to get pretty rough and the anchorage was a
little exposed so we took the chance to anchor in a more sheltered spot across
the river at Dragon Point. No the dragon is not there anymore!
We also have some local friends here in Melbourne who we like to see when
we are over for the Gam. We have known Joe and Carol for many years as they
attended the party’s at our dear friends Hendy & Ingrid. We arranged to have
coffee with them and went to a nearby restaurant and wiled away the afternoon
catching up. In fact it was past dark as we got back to Moosetracks. The
following day Harry & Melinda arrived for the Gam and had offered to take us
shopping in their rental car to re-provision for the next 6 months. It was a
fantastic offer and we gratefully accepted, so off we all went to Aldi and
Wal-Mart. Now boy can Liz shop!! This was huge and 3 fully loaded shopping carts
were filled by lunch time. We took at breather at Chili’s restaurant and had a
well earned happy hour too! We got the groceries back in several trip to
Moosetracks and then started the putting away. Now remember we have to practice
stock rotation so it was empty lockers first, stow the new stuff, then pack the
older stuff on top. Yes it takes a while to get it all put away! Oh and hold on
we’re only 80% done as fresh produce and some items we couldn’t get enough of
are still left to do.
The next 3 days were the SSCA Gam and for us a fantastic opportunity to
catch up with so many friends. Now we are not going to mention everyone we
caught up with but suffice to say it was well over 30 people! It was a great Gam
as usual and we had a blast with dinner out three nights including the Saturday
night at the Gam as well. We finished the Gam with a night of Mexican train with
Sans Cles and Unicorn. It was a fabulous time and we are so glad to have met so
many people in Melbourne.
Our next stop is seeing Linda and Lawrence of m/v Far Reaches who we met
last year in Clarence town and had a blast with for several days. They live in
Vero Beach and offered us their dock for a few days and since we had been
looking forward to catching up for so long we accepted their offer to stay for
Thanksgiving. It was still 9 days away but since we needed the last of our
groceries and some last minute jobs done on Moosetracks we were very grateful of
the offer of staying at their dock.
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| A great view of the dock |
So we are now almost ready to head to he Bahamas, the weather looks bad for
the remainder of November with strong cold fronts every couple of days, so we’ll
most likely leave early December.
We wish everyone a very happy Holiday Season where ever you are!
