A Morning in the Life of the Sailing Cesaris

Who:  Captain Cesari, First Mate/Admiral, and Fritz, adorned with life jackets,

sailing gloves, sunscreen, binoculars and sunglasses

Where:  Saint Augustine, Florida

When:  May 1, 2012   6:50a.m. EST

                            

Scene 1-Leaving the Mooring field and clearing the Lions Bridge

(Captain starts the engine, First Mate drops the mooring ball from the line on the bow of the boat.  They slowly make their way past the other boats moored in the field.)

Captain—Lions Bridge tender, Lions Bridge tender, Lions Bridge tender, this is

sailing vessel Aurora.

Tender—This is Lions Bridge tender.

Captain—This is northbound sailing vessel Aurora requesting a bridge opening.

Tender—Hold your position in the channel, we will be opening shortly.

Captain—Thank you bridge tender.  Aurora, standing by on channel 09.

(From the bridge five consecutive horn blasts sound.  Within a few minutes the center section of the Basquel bridge splits apart and ascends skyward.  Aurora and two other vessels slip cautiously through the opened bridge one at a time.  Once again five blasts send the warning and the bridge sections descend into their horizontal positions allowing cars to be on their way.)

Captain—This is Aurora, thank you Bridge tender.

Tender—You’re welcome Aurora, and have a good day.

Scene 2-Clearning the Saint Augustine Channel

Captain –Marina staff said, “Stay towards the red markers going out.”

Admiral – I’ll get the charts to help.

Captain – Don’t bother, they don’t show markers on the chart as the channel is

always shifting.

Captain –Look for the next marker, it is difficult to see them in these seas [ebbing tide

(going out) and an easterly wind coming in causing some 6’ plus waves in the channel]

Captain – We finally made it out, let’s put the sails up!

Scene 3-Putting Up the Sails

(As the first mate takes the helm and turns Aurora into the wind the captain uses 3 lines to pull the main sail out of the mast.  It catches the wind, fills and flies.  He then securely wraps the outhaul line around the winch to tighten the mainsail foot.  Next, the captain loosens the genoa (front sail, also called the genny) furler line, and pulls the downwind genoa sheet unfurling the sail. It also catches and flies.  His final job is to secure the sheet around the winch and adjust the sail to the wind.  Time 7:30)

First Mate—Now that was easyJ

Captain—(He gives her a look.)  Now for coffee and breakfast!

The End

Traveling over fifty-two miles today and navigating St. Mary’s Inlet on the Florida/Georgia border we took another couple’s advice and turned southward to visit the quaint little town of St. Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island.  The proud volunteer at the welcoming center sweetly thanked us for coming and sent us off on a walking tour of his historic hometown.  Knowing we only had a couple of hours he commented, “Maybe you need to come back again when you have more time.”   Right off it was hard not to notice the striking contrast of the quiet peaceful tree-lined streets to Saint Augustine’s touristy atmosphere.  No one seemed to be in a hurry to go anywhere or too busy to stop and chat for a moment.  There was hardly any traffic anywhere.  Many of the buildings are a hundred and fifty years old, and still have shops or restaurants open for business in them.  It was refreshing.  After getting a small taste of the history and peacefulness here, we agree with the sweet volunteer, we’ll come again to this quaint little town.