We left St Augustine on the 27th and transited up towards Fernandina, stopping for the night at Sister's Creek in the Jacksonville area.
This is a free dock that is very popular with ICW transiters. On the way down it was full. In researching the dock and noted several boaters had commented on mooring on the inside of the dock - that there was plenty of water at the end of the dock. We decided to check it out and yes, there was over 10ft of water. There are cleats for only 1 boat to tie up so we slipped in and took the spot. It enabled a easy departure in the morning.
The next day we transited up to Fernandina and anchored in the creek off the town marina, in the same area we had anchored on the way down. It is a bit exposed and there is a reversing current here like St Augustine but not so rough. There was a lot more room to swing around without hitting neighboring boats here.
We got a good boat washing while at Fernandina. It rained hard for a couple hours, then was over. Sure is nice to have a full enclosure when its pouring rain. Even if we don't use the cockpit in the rain, it keeps the cockpit relatively dry.
With no reason to hurry on north, we spent several days at Fernandina, doing our daily walks. One nice walk is to the old lighthouse which is open for visitors (not to climb) on Saturdays.
There are several breweries in Fernandina. Our favorites are First Love and the Amelia Island Brewery. In addition to beer, First Love has one of the best hamburgers and fries in town.
Its a couple days later - stopping by the Amelia Island Brewery. We tried several of the dark beers. The best was the Coffee Porter.
Before heading offshore for South Carolina we need to complete our housekeeping. The dinghy is the workhorse when you are living "on the hook" at anchorage. Returning to the boat after completing the laundry ashore, grocery shopping, and filling the water jugs.
Notice the white cabling - we learned on the way down when our gas tank was stolen out of the dinghy at Fernandina that everything needs to be locked up. Standard practice everywhere now.
Walking around Fernandina, we noticed this place, The Patio, where they had 3 tables with propane ambiance grills. On our last day we decided to stop and have lunch there. The food was excellent and the ambiance great.
A bit cloudy for our last day in Fernandina but the forecasted weather for our transit to South Carolina tomorrow looks great.
