1 November 2024
Depart: Cumberland Island Georgia anchorage 11:45
Arrive: Sister's Creek free dock Jacksonville, FL 4:00
Distance: ~ 26 nm
Our boat insurance mandates that we stay north of the south end of Cumberland Island until 12:00 noon on November 1st. Given that I made use of the time I had in the morning to do the blog post. As soon as I published, it was time to pull up anchor and head out.
The difference in scenery as we crossed from Georgia into Florida was significant. We went from marsh grass and wild horses to industrialization.
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| View from anchorage of Sailboat on ICW |
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| Fishing Trawlers |
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| Paper Mill Plant |
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| "Somers Isles" at dock |
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| More trawlers just before fuel dock at Fernindina Beach, FL |
Days ago, Clark checked the reports on fuel prices along out route. We found a wide range of prices. The best he found put us back at a place we have visited multiple times over the years - Port Consolidated in Fernandina Beach, Florida. We held off stopping for fuel until today to get fuel here @ $3.19 per gallon plus tax.
We had about a 10 minute wait to tie up at the fuel dock. For the last two years, Port Consolidated has had only one working fuel pump. As we pulled up to tie off at the dock, the man working there told us not to tie up - just hang out for our turn.
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| Port Consolidated Fuel Dock |
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| You know you're in Florida when ... You see the Caution Manatee signs |
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| Us at fuel dock in Fernandina Beach |
Although we took on over 400 gallons of fuel, the pumping was fast, and we were on our way again about 45 minutes after we pulled up to the dock.
Clark brought my attention to the extra long docks along the waterway - they rivaled those we see in South Carolina!
Earlier, we heard on the VHF radio a boater calling to a dredging site for passing instructions. Eventually, we came upon their location as well.
The other interesting thing we heard over the VHF radio was a captain of a container ship. He was bringing in his ship on the St. John's River. We could just about see the vessel in the distance. He had reported it to be a "large container ship", and he was not joking. Clark pointed it out to be and I thought it was the tall buildings of a city!
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| Extremely Large Container Ship on the St. John's River |
Another two hours down the waterway brought to Sister's Creek in Jacksonville. It's always a nail biter coming here - will we find a place at the free dock or will we have to continue on our way?
Clark called on the VHF to the boat ahead of us on the ICW to request that he take a look at the dock and let us know our chances. He gave us a thumbs up on space! It turns out we had two choices. I was convinced we would fit between two sailboats. The folks on the dock already called us on the radio to suggest we head to the back of the line. We scoped out the choices and decided to squeeze in between the two sailboats. The folks here were very accommodating as the sailboat up front shifted their lines forward and the next one back moved astern. They helped with our lines as we fit nicely in between.
Shortly after we tied up, another boat came in and we had a full house! The boat that came in after us turned out to be a Mainship 2 which got Clark excited since we used to own a Mainship 350.
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| Full dock at Sister's Creek |
While Clark chatted with the owner of the Mainship, I grabbed the garbage and went for a walk around the park snapping pictures as I went.
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| Launch Ramp |
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| Manatee Warning and Boater's Instructions |
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| Cat annoyed that I interrupted his bath |
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| Dock out to fishing pier |
The display had some pictures with quotes.
As I made my way back to the boat dock, I passed by some of the folks fishing from the pier.
Clark was surprised at how long it took me to dispose of one bag of garbage. He did not know that I planned on going for a long walk to stretch my legs. When I got back, he was still talking to the owner of the Mainship, so I did not miss a thing!
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| Egret on duty Clark (green hat) talking to other boaters by Mainship 2 |
After that we sat down on the dock with the others there for a nice gab session until it was time to go look for food for diner.
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| Boaters from Virginia on "Laughter" |
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| Folks from sailboats near us |
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| Storm clouds in background rain coming |
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| Smokey from "Laughter" |
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| This is one pampered pooch! |
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| Harley from S/V "Grace" Cute, fluffy, and friendly girl |
Eventually we all got hungry and chilly and called it a day. Several folks are heading to Marathon, so we may see them again. Of course we exchanged boat cards for contact information.
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| Sunset at Sister's Creek in Jacksonville, FL |
2 November 2024
Depart: Sister's Creek Free Dock Jacksonville, FL 7:40
Arrive: Daytona Beach anchorage 5:45
Distance: 80.5 nm
With a long day planned, we once again had to drag ourselves out of bed before the sun came up. Thankfully, the sunrise made up for the inconvenience of getting out of bed.
When at dock, we set up our lines for retrieval from within the boat as we frequently do not have anyone around to assist. I changed the stern and midship lines for quick release. However, when I loosened the bow line, the bow of Sunset Delight quickly slid away from the dock. I guess the boat was anxious to get going. I reined it back in and tied it off again to wait until Clark had the helm and was ready for release. At least we knew we wouldn't have any difficulty getting off the dock!
With everything set, we were actually on our way and could watch the sun rise as we moved along.
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| Naval Vessel in dry dock |
We traveled down a long canal until we got to the St. Augustine Inlet and then St. Augustine itself.
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| Surf fishing |
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| Lots of trucks parked on the beach |
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| Lighthouse in the distance |
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| The fort at St. Augustine |
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| Mooring field at St. Augustine |
Passing through St. Augustine means going through the "Bridge of Lions". The clearance board was missing on our side. Clark called the bridge and, as per usual in Florida, got no information on clearance to help us make a decision on whether or not we could make it under. He said if we waited 12 minutes, he would lift it for us.
Clark decided, with the current against us, to sneak up for a look see on making it under. Of course that put me at the helm while he peaked over the top of the boat for the yes / no decision. I am not tall enough to do the scoping out on height.
As we motored through the bridge, Clark said it looked good and as we passed underneath, he said we had about one foot and a half above the highest point on the boat.
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| Looking back at the "Bridge of Lions" |
More pictures taken as we passed by St. Augustine ...
One last view of the St. Augustine lighthouse could be seen behind the houses.
Curiously, we noticed a boat moored in a rather unexpected way with two anchor lines out and tied to a bollard.
Shortly thereafter, I noticed another strange location for a boat surrounded by danger signs.
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| What are they doing? Danger! Danger! Underwater Pipe |
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| Row of danger signs |
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| Top of sailboat mast near Bridge of Lions |
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| Sailboat with stern on the rocks |
We saw lots of houses along the waterway. The one below was very colorful with each unit a different pastel color.
The next interesting site we encountered along the way was a flotilla of kayaks / SUPs coming our way.
The weather today was changeable. We went from having everything open to try to catch a breeze to closing everything up as the sun disappeared, dark clouds rolled in, and we felt moisture in the air.
Clark had selected an anchorage we have used before in Daytona Beach for tonight's stop. The 10 hours it took to get here felt like it took forever. As we dropped anchor just before dinner time, I immediately got busy putting something together to eat with no thought to look for a sunset.
Not too many boats of our make / model of exist, so we were surprised to see a sister ship, "4 Seasuns", dropping anchor as we came into the anchorage.
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