Sunday morning, after a last coffee with friends, it was off for St Augustine. Our great weather (for motoring) was holding up and it would be an easy motor up the ICW.
The weather was nice and sunny but the current was against us the entire trip up the Indian and Halifax Rivers. It would have been just after sunset when we arrived at St Augustine, so we decided to pull over and anchor for the night just off the ICW. Our first attempt to anchor in a small pocket off the ICW in what was charted to be 10 ft of water came to a quick halt as the water rapidly went to 5 ft. Seems some shoaling has filled this pocket. We backed up abruptly and continued on up the ICW, then saw 2 trawlers anchored on the eastern side in a large area charted at 10-14ft. As we slowly entered this area we saw depths up to 18 ft and were soon safely anchored off the channel and away from the other boats for another quiet night. Initially the wind blew briskly at up to 20kts but it died off by midnight.
We were underway early Monday morning and fueled and moored at the St Augustine mooring field before 10 am. Plenty of time for some sightseeing and dinner with family before departing for sea the next day.
Another treat was the presence of the Spanish replica of Columbus's flagship the Santa Maria. I was surprised how small this ship actually was. We talked to a crew member who related that the ship "bobbed like a cork" on the ocean providing a very uncomfortable ride. Fortunately they have two diesel engines that can get them from port to port along their America tour so they are not dependent on favorable winds unlike Columbus.
The ICW is a slow route, but there are many interesting sites along the way. Someone has a keen artistic spirit designing this dock house. The angled lines are constructed by design and give this small house a unique appearance.
The weather was nice and sunny but the current was against us the entire trip up the Indian and Halifax Rivers. It would have been just after sunset when we arrived at St Augustine, so we decided to pull over and anchor for the night just off the ICW. Our first attempt to anchor in a small pocket off the ICW in what was charted to be 10 ft of water came to a quick halt as the water rapidly went to 5 ft. Seems some shoaling has filled this pocket. We backed up abruptly and continued on up the ICW, then saw 2 trawlers anchored on the eastern side in a large area charted at 10-14ft. As we slowly entered this area we saw depths up to 18 ft and were soon safely anchored off the channel and away from the other boats for another quiet night. Initially the wind blew briskly at up to 20kts but it died off by midnight.
We were underway early Monday morning and fueled and moored at the St Augustine mooring field before 10 am. Plenty of time for some sightseeing and dinner with family before departing for sea the next day.
First stop was lunch at Pizza Time along St George Street. They claim their pizza is "Second Best" in America and we can attest that it is pretty good.
The real purpose of the stop though was to see again our new great- nephew. We had a great dinner with Johnathan and Sami and Crewe.
