The weather and the tides finally aligned so we pushed off from Cumberland Island for Florida. After a short day of motoring we arrived at the ICW crossing of the St John's River that heads up to Jacksonville. There is a nice dock provided by the city for boaters. In the foreground is the dock beside the launch basin where folks can launch and recover their trailored boats.
Behind the trees in the background you can see the masts of 4 sailboats that are moored at another long dock well protected off the ICW. We are the first sailboat on the right.
The picture is taken from the Sister's Creek bridge which has a nice sidewalk walking path. We took Rivah for a long walk over the bridge and back.
Here's Tides Inn tied up at the city dock. All ready to go first thing in the morning.
Rivah got to play at the playground at the City park. She actually enjoys the slide, especially when she gets a treat each time she goes down.
Next morning it was time to push off early and catch the tide for St Augustine. First event is to cross the St John's River and slip between the merchant ships heading up to the big city. We passed just behind this large car carrier and in front of a larger container ship coming in behind him.
We come down to Florida from the Chesapeake for the winter so we can enjoy boating in the warm weather. For Floridians, January is just too cold to be boating. Boats tucked away for the winter.
After another short transit day we arrived in St Augustine. The sun was out and the cockpit was 70 degrees. Motoring through the Bridge of Lions in St Augustine and the marina is just past the bridge on the right.
The St Augustine marina has a strong current running through so we asked for a spot on one of there face docks - which they normally reserve for catamarans and large boats. I think they thought this first slip with no outer pier was a good compromise but it was a very challenging arrival maneuver to get properly lined up with the current pushing us in and not enough room in the fairway to get properly lined up. Fortunately they provided a strong dockhand that could grab our spring line and muscle the stern to the dock. Soon we were all secured, plugged in and ready to explore St Augustine.
Finally, some warm weather and chance to relax. About 50% of the folks here are wearing masks. Interestingly, most of the boaters are either wearing or carrying masks to quickly mask-up. We had a coffee and stopped for a piece of pizza from America's 2nd greatest pizza shop. The pizza there actually is pretty good.
Tomorrow we'll push off early again for farther south to Daytona or hopefully New Smyrna.
