St Augustine

Monday 4th April 2011

Almost 2 weeks since our last post. as I recall we were on the verge of heading north.. well we got lazy & decided to enjoy the good weather where we were & so today we arrived in St Augustine in north Florida. (3 hours by car, 6 days by boat )

Despite our intentions to travel up the coast this crew member decided that we should give the ICW another chance . So we have been travelling the easy route on the waterway. It really is very interesting & you get to see a side of Florida that only the boaters see.

The Intra coastal waterway is a well marked dredged channel & as long as you honour the markers its mostly fairly deep (8 to 10 feet ).. apart from the places where it isn't, & thats when the fun begins!!

Our unofficial rule has been never to travel the ICW on weekends as it can get really crazy. But sometimes thats what you have to do, & this Sunday saw us negotiating our way through Daytona Beach. Sunday in Daytona on the ICW is RACEDAY. Every hotshot is out there, girls on the bow , bikinis & drinks & testosterone !! Add to this all the family outings... small open boat ,loaded to the gunnels with mom,dad, kids, dogs, grandma & picnic gear.

Then there are the guys who are headed out to sea to FISH... fancy boat, huge wake, rods & reels big enough to land a whale, coolers & determination.

In the middle of this are the trawlers & sailboats who just want to travel carefully between the markers without hitting bottom in the shallow spots. As the skipper says, 99% easy sailing, 1% major panic.

After a morning of this madness we came to an area that is pure old Florida. Very modest homes on the edge of the waterway and everyone fishing, from the end of the dock or the bank of the waterway or from very small open boats. Floridians love to fish!!

Today we are in the marina in St Augustine. Nasty weather, rain ,thunder & lightening this morning so we'll enjoy exploring the town for a day or so & then head on up towards Georgia.

A marina is a very nice treat. Hot showers, laundry facilities, internet, a dock to get off the boat , access to grocery stores, but its like a hotel.. it costs... , sometimes lots. And sometimes its very noisy, and we really do prefer to be anchored out in a protected anchorage. Unfortunately ,they are few & far between in Florida so we anchor where we can.

We were in Titusville 2 days ago. Nice place, home to Dixie Crossroads ( Emily remembers this place). The anchorage is just to the side of the ICW beneath the high rise bridge. So there we are, sleeping under a bridge, with the Flagler railway trains going by every hour in the night sounding their whistle & the kids motorcycle racing on the bridge at 3am . Lots of fun!!

2 days before that we were in another world entirely, the only boat anchored in the Banana River , near Cape Canaveral, & we woke up the sound of canoes & kayaks from a university training program. Kids from all over the world training on the flat waters of the river.. lovely.

Tomorrow, hopefully we will play a round of golf. Maybe I can beat my PB of 94!! Ha Ha .

Will post again in a week or so.