On Monday, November 15th, we were finally allowed by our boat insurance to enter Florida, but not until noon, when we began the short hop to our first stop, Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina. Upon arrival, we were instructed to head inside the breakwater dock. The wind was blowing, which made it a bit difficult, but we managed to squeeze in between two other boats. In the photo below, we're the third boat back.
Although it was a bit dicey coming in with the wind trying to blow us into the other boats, we made it without incident. This was the first time we had tried such a maneuver, since we usually requested the face dock. After docking, we noticed that the boat in front of us was an impressive 60+ ft. Hinckley sailboat. Wow! We seemed so small next to that majestic beauty after some of the other boats left early the next morning.
Anyway, after our arrival, we went for a walk and ended up at the famous Palace Saloon for a beer. There we drank some Duke's Brown Ale and toasted Sharon's father who had spent Thanksgiving of 1937 (along with Duke Dupont) in this fine establishment after cruising down the brand new Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway from New Jersey at age 21.
The following morning we went out in search of a good breakfast place we had heard about from fellow cruisers, Bright Mornings, and enjoyed a delicious early morning feast.
Then we spent the rest of the day perusing charts and cruising guides in preparation for leaving the following morning and heading for Jacksonville. We had stayed two days at Fernandina because the weather prediction was for a very windy and rainy day on the 16th, which proved to be true. Our hope was that the weather report predicting a better cruising day on the 17th would also hold true. As it turned out, we had opposing wind and current as we attempted to exit the marina, with a few heart-stopping moments as we nearly smacked into that gorgeous Hinckley, but all's well that ends well, and we made it without a scratch on any boats, including our own.
After leaving Georgia, we developed an interesting issue with our port engine which refused to shut down from the helm. Instead, at the end of a cruising day, one of us would have to jump down into the engine room and push a probing finger into the solenoid, a maneuver only a proctologist could appreciate, and certainly not fun on a hot engine. Luckily, we had made a reservation to stay at Lamb's Yacht Center, a full service marina and boatyard, while in Jacksonville. We had already decided that we wanted to take a detour from the ICW up the St. John's River into Jacksonville. It was so different cruising by the downtown area by boat rather than seeing it from I-95 by car as we have done so many times in the past.
As it turned out, Lamb's, located on the Ortega River just off the St. John's, was a very good choice. They fixed us up in no time, and are also located withing walking distance of various shopping opportunities, including West Marine.
We were on our way again on the 19th, heading for St. Augustine, where we had a reservation at Comachee Cove Harbor Marina.
Here we got our exercise by riding our bicycles a couple of miles to the Historic District of St. Augustine, seen below.
We had been there many years ago by car and remembered a really good Spanish restaurant, the Columbia, and wondered if it was still there. We found it and were delighted that it was even better than we had remembered. The waitress volunteered to take our picture drinking their famous sangria. Yum!
Our next stop was Sunset Harbor Yacht Club and Marina at Daytona Beach, where we docked for free because they have reciprocity with Charleston Yacht Club where we are members. That was just an overnighter, but even so, we managed to take advantage of some of their wonderful facilities, including a soak in their hot tub!
Then it was on to Titusville where we had a reservation at the Municipal Marina for the next day. Although the forecast was for a cloudy day with a slight possibility of widely scattered showers, we ended up with a rainy day of cruising. Visibility was pretty bad, so I just settled in behind a motoring sailboat in front of us, matching her speed to keep her in sight. Ken spent his time mopping up the rain water that was leaking through the zippers on our strataglass windows on the flying bridge and wiping them off to increase visibility. Just before we reached Titusville, the rain stopped long enough for us to get docked and check in at the marina office. Sorry, no pictures.
The next day, Tuesday, the weather improved, and we moved on toward Melbourne. That day our port engine started giving us trouble again. Now it was back to its stalling routine, which had happened for the first time back in October in Georgia. So we called ahead to arrange to have a mechanic meet us at Melbourne Harbor Marina where we had a reservation for overnight. We made it safely, and luckily the engine did not stall out while we were docking because it was a somewhat tricky slip to ease into. In the photo below, ours is the boat with the white dinghy hanging off the stern. Notice how close we are to the boats on either side of us.
Anyway, the mechanic arrived on schedule and did some preliminary investigations with the port engine, but was not able to definitively determine the reason for the stalling. We decided to move on to Vero Beach the next day where we will be docked until the end of December and deal with it then. Luckily, it didn't stall out at all during our 30 mile cruise on Wednesday, and we saw some pretty impressive real estate along the way, too.
Most importantly, we arrived on schedule, just in time for Thanksgiving with family in Sebastian, FL. We certainly have a lot to be thankful for, not the least of which is this beautiful Loggerhead Club and Marina in Vero Beach where we will be spending the entire month of December.
Needless to say, we are really enjoying retirement!
