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Florida: Fernandina –Pine Island–St. Augustine

Our trip Friday would take us past Fernandina, a cute Martha’s Vineyard-esque town with an ugly, smelly paper mill next door.  A quick scan of the anchorage and mooring field (we call bumper boat alley) turned up no sign of Celise/Spirit, but we did see a sister MC 41, Double Diamond.
Hi-rise bridges keep us on our toes with more than one gasp of “oh no, we’re going to hit!!” We’d planned the day to have some current with us in the morning but the afternoon was a slow-go as we pushed two engines to barely maintain 5.8kts.

The first scary bridge encounter occurred just south of Fernandina. The entire stretch from Fernandina, FL to the St John’s River (leads to Jacksonville) is new to us- ooohh .. unexplored territory.  Just before the bridge, off to the side is an anchored sailboat. Uh oh- couldn’t fit? Sure enough it’s nearly high tide and to make matters worse, the recent
full moon brings in more water. I hail the boat, because about an hour earlier I hear another boat call “sailing vessel that just did a 180 by the bridge.” Never heard a reply. No reply to my call either, and NO height board. Russ goes for it slowly and I watch. We didn’t touch but I nearly fainted watching; it was close by inches. And guess what? A height board on the other side indicated 63’ and inches. You may recall we need 63’ and inches. This surely was our good
deed for the day, as Double Diamond about 10 mins behind us would know for sure that they could pass under.

South of the St John’s River we had the pleasure of passing under 5 bridges, the first 3 had such a raging cross current that we pushed the throttles to 2800 rpms (ideal is 2500-2600) to maintain good steerage. At one point we looked for a place to pull over, fearing the strong current would slow us down and we wouldn’t reach Pine Island by dark. Phew- we pushed on and reached Pine Island Oxbow before 5pm; two others already anchored and five more to come.

If the bridge currents weren’t enough fun, we came upon two tugs and a wide barge shortly after passing under a bridge where you had no visibility to see an approaching vessel. Not sure how things would have played out if we’d met right at the bridge.

The month has FLOWN by and we are thrilled to be in Florida again. So you don’t think our scary bridge day ruined the day’s  trip, here’s a few interesting vessels we saw along the way. Hardly a day passes without my adding several photos to the growing collection of cool boat pics.

M/Y Washingtontonian

Cute tug at Fernandina

                                                                                          Bayou Boat cruising the marshes

Friday night – ah another pretty sunset enjoyed.  Smooth-as-glass water surrounds us.

Rev’ed up the water maker Saturday morning after a leisurely choc chip pancake breakfast. Next stop, St Augustine where pirate cruisers often stop to play as described in our 3/26/11  post.  A two hour cruise with one very honest high bridge, ending with an easy swing past the inlet, through the Bridge of Lions and on to mooring ball #46.

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Just Plummy

The sunny and warm weather on this trip south has made a difference in how we’ve enjoyed Georgia more than our Spring trip. Today, Thursday, I dusted off a pair of shorts for a land trip- first time.

Somewhere near Jekyll Island we heard Celise/Spirit on the VHF- jump to the 3/5/11 post for background on our second cat friends.

ROUNDING THE NORTHERN TIP OF CUMBERLAND ISLAND

Couldn’t help think of them as we passed by Thunderbolt Marina where the boat spends her winters. This was the other owner’s year so we knew Carolyn and Cort weren’t on the boat. Or were they?

When we saw them in the Spring just north of Fernandina, FL they were going to stop at a place called Plum Orchard on Cumberland Island of wild horse fame. We planned to do the same on this trip- could get off the boat, walk the trail(s) and have a decent anchorage for the windy night ahead. Despite fighting the current for half the trip, we arrive at 12:30, eat lunch and head in.  The park charges $4 each- honor system using the envelopes provided and a display board lists the trails: Russ wants to see wild horses on the beach, so off we go. Heading toward the mansion (no tours today), we spot another cat heading down the river, they pass Ortolan at anchor and as they come closer we realize that it’s Celise/Spirit.

Starting to feel like déjà vu.  Certain that we know the boat but not the people, we head off along the trail- which is 2.4 miles –toward the Atlantic side, figuring they might anchor and we’d run into them later.

The trail takes us past huge oaks laden with Spanish Moss, pine glades and the creepiest spider we’ve ever seen.

WILD HORSE

Glad we didn't walk into HIM

The sand was silky white, but alas no horses on the beach. At low tide the area was huge; looking back toward the
dunes, high tide was hard to imagine. The few horses we did see were near the mansion; food kept them nearby so visitors could catch a glimpse.

Celise/Spirit was nowhere to be seen when we got back to the dock at 4pm; on the dinghy seat was a stone set atop Cort’s business card. The handwritten note said they’d be in Fernandina tonight and asked us to call on VHF 16. Tried a couple times, but either 14 miles was too far or they were off the boat… in town… at a yummy restaurant… I can’t complain, Russ grilled up delicious lamb chops and the red wine was delicious. Plus, no worries about the stinky paper mill at Fernandina.

Turns out that Cort is on the boat with the other owners and they’re headed to Ft Lauderdale where he’ll fly back to WA. Enjoyed a brief chat with Carolyn whose cell phone number I discovered on a post-it.  Gave her our cell number to give to Cort when he checked in with her next.  By this time the calm winds have picked up and are now blowin’ a steady 20kts- not so pleasant if you’re in a wide open anchorage. The VHF springs to life, “Celise/Spirit catamaran anchored in Fernandina, this is Shandell, over.” And again.  Another boat chimes in and we cringe to hear that Shandell who must be near Celise/Spirit, thinks the cat is dragging. Well, yes they could be, but more likely the wind has stretched the rode and now the boats are or appear to be too close- and they may have been to begin with. Thirty mins later Shandellhails again as nothing was heard back before. All we hear after that is “they’re gonna move.”  Yuck, in the dark with 20kts – yes, could be worse.  Yes sir-ee, happy and content in our creek.

Sunset at Plum Orchard