Month: November 2013

by

Blowin’ in the wind

The chartplotter stayed on all night so we could see the wind graph.

The chartplotter stayed on all night so we could see the wind graph.

And the answer is…

…. 42kts! (48 mph). The forecast vacillated several times, leading us to figure that the boats still on moorings in St Augustine wouldn’t have it too bad, and even at 8pm the prediction was for a max of 30mph. With typical middle-of-the-night timing, the wind reached a noisy level around 1am with that 42kts soon after. For the next 24 hours we had 23-36kts, dark skies but not really any rain. Fortunately the wind was out of the north, pushing us on the dock; much preferable to having all our lines stretched like taffy.

Stella, a British Lab waits hopefully for a playmate

Stella, a British Lab waits hopefully for a playmate

When walking became possible I used the free washer and $1 dryer- not going to pass that up. Tops on our list that afternoon was to walk across to see the wave action on the beach. Was closer to low tide than to high so the view wasn’t as dramatic as it could have been.

Looking out toward the Atlantic at Marineland

Looking out toward the Atlantic at Marineland

Checked out the gift shop at Marineland- mostly to see the aquarium residents.

Jimmy Durante fish tickles our fancy in the gift shop tank

Jimmy Durante fish tickles our fancy in the gift shop tank

Look! I found Nemo.. and his protective friend anenome

Look! I found Nemo.. and his protective friend anenome

That evening we gathered aboard Traveling Soul for happy hour. Russ made his famous fresh-baked focaccia bread; always a big hit. Ann gave us a tour of their multi-level, multi-stateroomed boat. A full-sized fridge, a huge walk-in engine room, the living room contained an L-shaped sofa, coffee table, end tables and a round glass-topped dining table. Very, very comfortable.

by

St Augustine to Marineland

One day or one week? Umm there’s that weather decision again. Tuesday night would bring in a very breezy front and depending on which weather service you rolled the dice toward, the top wind would be anywhere from 25 to 35kts. Well isn’t that special?  We felt safe on these moorings, but the field is large and north winds (especially) would turn on the churn and bounce switch- big time. A call to Marineland Marina secured us a spot and with only 24 spaces, most not wide enough for us, we felt like lucky early cat birds with a juicy worm. 🙂

By now you’ve read numerous times how much we like St Augustine, so I’ll just drop in a few photos for a quick pictorial.

Good stuff for all tastes

Good stuff for all tastes

No shortage of restrooms in town

No shortage of restrooms in town

Entertainment can be found on many of the side streets

Entertainment can be found on many of the side streets

As we tied up to the dinghy dock we spied a cute micro yacht- something like a very small Ranger Tug (?)- named Dessert 1st. Russ got a haircut while I snapped a few “why I like St Augustine” photos.

More shops than you can count- a ShopAholic's delight

More shops than you can count- a ShopAholic’s delight

Christmas gifts in hand, gelato in stomachs, we stepped out of a shop and I noted the woman ahead of me wore a fanny pack. Backpacks, fanny packs and comfortable footwear often indicate “cruiser”. As we turned down the street she looked back at us and asked if we were on a boat at the marina. Goosebumps. Turns out Mary and Casey are the adventurous owners of m/v Dessert 1st!

This tiny vessel is 23ft long- talk about micro. I mean, Ortolan is 23ft WIDE. Trailerable little thing with a huge outboard- been all over the country including Alaska. We delved into the usual cruiser topics, exchanged boat cards and figured we’d see them again someday. We know how these things go.

Tues around 11am we tossed off the mooring lines. Marineland Marina is only 16nm south but we waited until the current was with us before leaving.

Two types of pelicans, each on their own side- Russ warned me not to say anything about segxxxxxxxn

Two types of pelicans, each on their own side- Russ warned me not to say anything about segxxxxxxxn

Our tie-up would be port-side, which we prefer because the fenders rubbing can be noisy and we sleep on the starboard side. We’d be sharing the floating face dock with m/v Traveling Soul, a Jefferson 52 (think: mansion) and m/v Dream Weaver, a Kadey-Krogen 48 Whaleback. Around the corner sat s/v SeaSparrow, a Leopard 40.  We were in good company.