For four hundred forty-four years the port city of Saint Augustine has both welcomed and warred with people who sought her bounty and her fortress.  Her quaint cobbled streets are lined with evidence of Spanish influence and the Castillo de San Marcos a rough-hewn symbol of her resilience to sieges throughout time.  

To think, of the many soldiers who sailed across the Atlantic and into her port determined to claim her for their king, yet most never to return home. To think, here where we sit in the darkness listening to the gentle water slapping against the hull of Aurora, many also sat planning and preparing for battles, proud to kill for their king and country.  Realizing now as then, warring was not and is not the answer.  

Not all have sought to claim her.  Thousands like us have anchored in this beautiful place, walked her peaceful lanes, and listen to her intriguing stories of how this beautiful first settlement has survived through history to become who she is today.  We’re just glad to have this opportunity be in her port in 2012, seeing those same stars shining on her harbor waters as when Ponce first claimed her for his king.  She’s a beautiful first lady.

Our Friday night anchorage in Rockhouse Creek off the Ponce de Leon Inlet proved to be excellent holding and we awoke rested to another calm windless morning.  With Daytona Beach only an hour and half away we decided to get a later start, giving us time for a workout and relaxed breakfast. 

Finally motoring North, our first day on the ICW, we caught sign of the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse off starboard.  By 11:30 we were in sight of Daytona Beach’s Memorial Bridge and Halifax Harbor.  We were told the anchorage just south of the bridge was tricky, and seeing no one anchored there we sought the assistance of the bridge operator.  Following her precise directions we found plenty of depth and good holding.  We have found that many places where we anchor there are no dinghy docks, but the Halifax Yacht Club graciously gave permission to tie up to their convenient floating dinghy dock and we were off, trying out our boat legs on solid ground.  First we turned south and found West Marine for a couple of boat items we wanted.  Needing provisions, and the closest grocery store 3 plus miles away, we turned north along Beach Road and the Historic Beach Street Riverfront Marketplace, where we thankfully found a farmer’s market with many fruits and vegetables.  A few more blocks away was a CVS providing pricey provisions to get us by till our next port.  Last, we again headed south, past the Daytona Cubs Jackie Robinson Baseball Stadium to the boat and to Fritz awaiting his long walk.  What a patient dog!

Our doggie duty completed we returned once again to our anchorage and found another boat, “Breathless” a 39ft. Beneteau, not far from Aurora.  The Itensons from Canada were headed home after spending their 8^th winter in the Bahamas.  Avoiding cold winters and hot summers, sounds like a plan to us.  

Returning once more to the shore, we sampled some pizza from the Historic Riverfront, and finished the evening enjoying the fireworks from the ballpark illuminate the harbor.

Up and out early again this morning, the bridge tender kindly opened for both ourselves and Breathless around 7:00a.m.   Leading the way, they eventually turned off about 3 hours later at Palm Coast, leaving our next four hours as uneventful as the beginning, but it sure had been reasurring to follow Breathless knowing they had made this trek up and back the ICW numerous times.

As we motored along a Beneteau 43 passed us; it was one of the newer models with two wheels.  As Dennis told a dealer at the Miami boat show he really didn’t like the new 40 plus boats with the two wheels because you can’t easily see the chart plotter that is in the center console.  Well as we followed this Beneteau we could see the captain kept awkwardly trying to look at his chart plotter as he steered the boat…case closed.

 St. Augustine Municipal Marina was a frenzy of activity when we pulled to the fuel dock at the stern of the tall ship, “Bounty.”   People were lining the docks to take tours of the beautiful lady, and bobbing boats of all sizes were surrounding her for photos.  After fueling, filling with water, and a few pictures of our own, we backed away happy to go looking for our mooring ball.  Picking it up on the first try, YES!  I do think we’re getting the hang of it, but having very little wind certainly doesn’t hurt our efforts either.

Since 3:00p.m.--quick walking tour of the St. Augustine historic district, dinner, more pictures of the “Bounty,” Fritz another long walk, laundry, watching the sunset, showers, writing, and publishing the blog, and ready for bed.  Where does the time go?   

  

After motor/sailing through the big pond for eight hours yesterday we were delighted to see Port Canaveral finally on the horizon at 4:00p.m.  We didn’t know what to expect, but were not disappointed by the lack of welcoming signs, realizing this is an extremely restricted area we were just glad to be able to traverse it without incident.  Along the port were indications of the high security with several large warning signs and the Coast Guard’s boat equipped with unmanned machine guns. 

Off to our starboard was what looked like the top of a buried submarine, painted with the numbers 636 on its side.  Our research revealed it to be the USS Nathanael Green, named for a Major General who served with President Washington in the continental army and American Revolutionary War.  She was commissioned in 1964, converted and then tested at Cape Canaveral in 1972 to launch Poseidon missiles.  She ran aground in 1986 in the Irish Seas, was decommissioned in 1986, recycled shortly thereafter with top, known as the sail, dedicated in 2003 as a monument and welcome at the entrance of the port.  

Slipping away from our Cape Marina dockage at sunrise this morning we joined the crowd of fishermen and headed eastward in Port Canaveral channel.  About ten minutes into our trek Dennis says, “What’s that coming in the Port toward us?”  Outlined on the horizon sliding silently but stealthily along, flanked by two Navy pilot boats was the sail of a submarine.  As she got closer we could see ship’s crew standing atop her deck each sporting a different colored life jacket.  We abided by the navy gunboat blocking the channel as the crew was manning a 50 millimeter.  As the black torpedo turn into its port we continued our journey out the channel to the ocean.  It was definitely an exciting way to begin the day.

Once in open water, and careful to avoid the restricted area we sailed past the Launch area of the Cape.  Waters near the coast from Port Canaveral northward to Georgia is Northern Right Whale habitat.  Because they can grow to be forty or fifty feet long and weigh as much as seventy tons we definitely want to avoid an encounter with one of the big guys.  Tonight we are spending at Rock House Creek anchorage, a quiet hangout for the locals from Ponce De Leon Inlet, and New Smyrna.  Daytona Beach, only a couple of hours north on the ICW, is our destination for tomorrow where we hope to go ashore for a few provisions and get the Fritz off for a long walk.  We’re all looking forward to some time ashore.       

 

           

A modest breeze and tranquil seas gave us leave yesterday to alter course upon sighting more turtle activity.  The slight disruption in their endeavor didn’t deter them from taking up where they left off as soon as we we had passed.  For the sake of the ten grandchildren henceforth called “turtle hugging.”  

Fort Pierce was our port last night, and other than strong currents and tide swinging us 360 degrees, our ride at anchor insignificant. 

Yesterday also marked the sixteenth day of our voyage and three hundred seventy-five miles later, finally farther north than when we left our home port. Florida’s one gigantic state, over five hundred miles of Eastern seaboard, about the same as Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina combined.  Each evening we painstakingly study paper charts and waterway guides to decide our exact destination for the next day.  According to the charts we are in fact in the North Atlantic Ocean as we make our way northward, now about half way to the Georgia border.  One interesting note, even though we see numerous fishing boats every day, rarely do we see sailboats.  We’re just wondering, do they know something we don’t?  From the charts we also gleaned the mileage on the ICW from Ft. Pierce to Cape Canaveral is twenty-five miles further than going outside.  So here we are today right back in the big pond headed for the illustrious Cape. 

 

We’re thinking of writing “The Diary of a Wimpy Sailor” after our 1^st night in the Rivera Beach Marina turned into two when seas for today were again predicted to be rough and winds higher than we wanted to attempt.  But it was very refreshing to have a day to do laundry, clean the boat inside and out, have a shower in one larger than 2ft by 2ft, fill up and pump out, walk the Pooh (Fritz) and most of all, talk through more efficient docking strategies for the windy days in our cruising future. It was also a day for relaxing.  Dennis played some games on the computer while I did some sewing on our Sailrite Sewing Machine.  Yes, even sewing’s very soothing after the wild ride yesterday.  If you need a good machine for boat canvas/projects I highly recommend this one.    

Two nights tied to the dock rather than anchoring means two nights of worry-free uninterrupted sleep, two mornings of sleeping a little later, and two rejuvenating days for two wimpy sailors.            

Being able to leave Lake Sylvia this morning took major tugging on the hook which had held us securely for 3 days and nights of high winds.  Knowing the winds would be 15 to 20 knots we still chose to go out into the Atlantic rather than suffer through the snail’s pace in the ICW waiting for the opening and closing bridges. 

                                                                                                       

Our decision timewise meant a savings of at least 3 hours, experiencewise it was priceless.  For about the first hour it was smooth sailing as they say then we began to notice a few small swells which soon grew larger and larger, not dangerously large, just uncomfortably larger than we would have liked.  Both Captain and First Mate practiced how to ride waves rather than crashing into them.

Finally within sight of our last waypoint, sails down and swells subsiding, the wind picked up to 25+ knots, whipping the water into frothy whitecaps.  We were drenched and cold when we motored into Lake Worth channel, but our learning curve wasn’t yet completed.  The slip we were assigned was facing east, (winds were still 15-20 knots from the west) in a sixty foot wide waterway with our length forty-one feet plus the dinghy hanging off the back.  Making one forward attempt, backing up then sliding sideways down the channel we were finally able to crash into the slip, with 3 people yelling directions, pulling lines, and holding the bow off the concrete dock.  Not pretty!  First Mate says to Captain, “Whose idea was this anyway?”  What a day! 

To those who were on the Key West trip last October, it still wasn’t as rough as MarcoJ

We’ve added three short video clips 013, 009, 011 of our ride today on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/user/shirlagrace?feature=guide

Thunderstorms and high winds have kept us here in Lake Sylvia, a five acre lake in Ft. Lauderdale for the last two days.  Yesterday we ventured out in the intermittent showers sporting our bright yellow fowlies (our not so chic rain gear) we explored a small bit of the city.  Each time we motored out of lake we passed under a 7 foot bridge, and depending on the tides, most times had to duck in order to pass under it safely.  Many mega yachts, a hundred feet or more, line the side canals and main channel of the ICW, some from as far away as South Africa and England.  Besides the mega yachts, they also sport a mega West Marine store.  It actually is the largest in the world, and within walking distance of the dinghy docks.  The first mate was glad to get the captain out of there with minimal damage, only a dinghy pump.  

Although not a sleepless night, last night was definitely a restless one with howling twenty-five knot winds and pelting rain.  Aurora is very stable, but with a hundred feet of anchor rode out she does swing some, so we were up often to check our position and the other 14 in the anchorage.  Then about 5:00a.m., in the middle of a downpour “Drag Queen” sounded her alarm, but Captain determined that even though we had swung 180 degrees our delta was still holding.  Don’t know why, but things always seem so much worse in the dark than in the daylight.  Even though it was not sunny, and winds were predicted to be 30 to 40 knots, we rejoiced to see the morning.

When the storms finally passed today some young adults were demonstrating the latest water toy, a water-propelled ride here on the lake.  Cost?  Only $100,000 for the young adult that has everything.  The inventor is said to have taken the idea from the James Bond’s jet pack.  Not sure if you want one? You can try it out for a mere $200.  

Late this afternoon several cruise ships sounded their festive departure into the Atlantic as they moved through the Port Everglades about half mile away.  Glad they will not be an issue early tomorrow morning as we head through the Port and north to Lake Worth, Palm Beach.  As winds are predicted to be 15-20 and 3-4ft seas, we might have to reef, but should be able to sail to our port and spend our first night in a marina slip.  Yes!