6 November 2023 (Monday)
Depart: Fernandina Beach Harbor Marina 7:40
Arrive: Port Consolidated for fuel 7:55
Depart: Port Consolidated 10:00
Arrive: Robinson Creek Island anchorage (St. Augustine area) 5:15
Distance: ~ 60 nm
The price of fuel at Port Consolidated in Fernandina Beach makes it a very attractive spot to take on diesel fuel. Unfortunately, the man who usually works the station broke his ankle and has to stay off his leg for 12 weeks. Meanwhile, the fueling station is being manned by whomever they can get to come in. We learned while there that the attendant must be Coast Guard approved and very few people fit the bill.
Clark corresponded with Port Consolidated via email and learned that they would be open today. We arrived just before 8:00 a.m. when they normally open for business. Two other boats were tied to the fuel dock ahead of us, and they helped us tie up to the dock as well. This was when we learned that no one who worked there had yet arrived. Being third in line meant we would be awhile.
Finally, at 8:30, someone came and started fueling the power cat that was first in line. We learned while we were fueling (much later) that they had to take on fuel slowly because otherwise it "foamed up" in their tank and automatically shutoff. Eventually they were done and a Fleming, "Yup", was next in line. Sadly, their fill took forever. This was mostly due to a lack of communication between the dockhand and the boater in charge.
The dockhand thought the boater had the valve on a slow setting. The boater thought he was getting fuel as fast as the dock could provide it. After an agonizing "forever", we all learned that the flow of fuel was slow because the source tank was almost empty. Once the attendant switched over to a new tank, the fuel really started cranking. When we heard that the boat in front of us got the last of the previous tank, we were glad that we weren't that boat. Hopefully the fuel station's filters worked well and "Yup" got clean fuel.
We finally got our turn to fuel at 9:30 (a full two hours after we arrived at the dock) and finished near 10:00 -- only because Clark took on fuel at fast speed. Meanwhile, this set us back as far as our travel window due to sunset coming earlier since the time change. We paid and pulled away from the Port Consolidated dock at 10:05 and headed for the St. Mary's Inlet to take our ocean ride. Clark said it would be 3 to 4 foot waves, so it would be a good day to go outside. Clark is well known for saying, "What waves?"
With the rolling motion of the boat on the ocean and the lack of things to photograph, I did not take any pictures until we came back inside at the St. Augustine inlet.
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| St. Augustine Lighthouse |
Pictures taken below were taken headed north on the ICW towards Clark's anchorage selection for the night.
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| Clark said that the floating dock near this pier is close to a Publix, and day docking is allowed for shopping. |
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| The sun was already going down as we sought our anchorage for the night. |
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| Dredging activity at one place we might have anchored |
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| There's a man working on the dock. His house must be back there somewhere! |
The picture below shows bollards that would be used by a big vessel to tie up.
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| It does not show up well in this picture but the bright spot in the middle is rainbow colored. |
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| Red lights of the airport runway next to the anchorage |
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| With all the table umbrellas, this looks like a restaurant across from where we anchored. |
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| Plane coming into the airport (I pitied the poor guy landing directly into the sun.) |
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| Geese heading home for the night |
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| Sunset at 5:35 tonight. |
7 November 2023 (Tuesday)
Depart: St. Augustine, FL anchorage 7:35
Arrive: Mosquito Lagoon anchorage (south of New Smyrna Beach, FL) 4:45
Distance: ~ 75 nm
We planned on leaving around 8:00 this morning, but since we were up and awake and ready, we took off with the plan to eat breakfast underway. We got a fast ride out the inlet with the out-going tide.
I took a bunch of pictures as we left St. Augustine area starting with the sunrise.
The description of the anchorage that we read before dropping anchor "warned" that it was next to an airport. We did not hear any planes during the night and were not disturbed by being close to the airport.
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| Picture of airport in daylight Airport tower on left |
We passed the dredging site where work was already underway with the tug boat busy moving around.
The bridge looked nice with the sun shining on it this morning, but looked better yesterday evening as the sun set behind it.
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| Boats anchored near St. Augustine |
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| "Pepsi" truck going over the bridge for any Pepsi lovers reading the blog. |
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| Evidence of dolphins in the area |
Pictures of St. Augustine are shown below. Since we went back into the ocean today, we did not go past the city directly.
We find it interesting that whenever we go out this inlet, we see trucks driving on the beach.
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| Goodbye St. Augustine |
We had 3 foot waves on the ocean today with a large enough period that it was easy swells. This was nicer than yesterday when we had 4 foot waves and a smaller period. We had nothing but water to look at on the ocean -- thus no pictures. We traveled a little more than 6 hours on the ocean before coming back to the ICW at the Ponce de Leon Inlet.
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| Ponce de Leon Lighthouse |
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| Surf breaking on the jetty at Ponce de Leon inlet |
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| Fishing pier at Ponce de Leon inlet |
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| Surf crashing onto beach behind fishing pier |
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| Beach at Ponce de Leon inlet |
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| Ponce de Leon Lighthouse (up close) |
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| USCG |
Clark had identified an anchorage near New Smyrna Beach as today's target; however, when we figured out the arrival time at that anchorage would be 2:30 in the afternoon, Clark suggested that, even though we had already been on the move for 7 hours, we should travel further. Through this area there is a long stretch of slow speed, no wake. When the current is against the direction of travel, it makes for a very tedious ride. If we waited until the morning to transit this area, we would have current against us.
Today, as we traveled through this stretch of the ICW, we had the current with us, and it was moving. We normally cruise at 8 knots when we have the RPM around 1520 or so. Going through this stretch, we were traveling around 6 or 7 knots at just over 1100 RPM.
It became apparent as to why the speed through here must be done slowly. Suddenly, I saw movement in the water and, even though he was already at a very low RPM, yelled for Clark to slow down. I yelled to slow down because I saw manatees directly in front of the boat. After that I continued to see dolphins and manatees galore - so many that I lost count. We kept the RPM to an absolute minimum until we got clear of that heavily populated area and neared our chosen anchorage for the night.
Dolphins know how to fend for themselves and play with boats, but manatees are not so swift as dolphins. (Pun intended.)
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| Manatee area! |
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| Manatee area! |
After 9 hours of travel, I was more than ready for the anchor to be lowered!
Once again the sun was low in the sky as we settled in for the night.
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| Sunset at Mosquito Lagoon |
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| Our neighbor for the night |
Clark heard that a Starlink satellite would be launched this evening. Since we can see a Kennedy Space Center building from the anchorage, he figured that this would be a good spot to view the launch if it takes place. It is scheduled for just after 11:00 p.m. tonight.
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