Friday, November 04, 2005


St. Augustine, FL
29.53.762N
81.18.589W


Our trip down the ICW from Jacksonville to St. Augustine was painless. Both the Atlantic Street Bridge and the Beach Street Bridge were transited without pinging our antenna, so we'd timed our departure well. A couple of alerts were issued by passing boaters regarding floating logs in the channel which we were able to identify and avoid. The rest of the trip Dale and I took turns sprucing up the brightwork or washing down the gelcoat during our off watch time.
We arrived relatively early in the afternoon at 2:30 pm and elected to anchor on the north side of the Bridge of Lions in the soft mud. Soft, is the key word. It took two attempts before the anchor set. Then when it did, we did octoflugerons around it as the wind and current were opposed to each other. After a couple of hours of watching to make sure that we weren't going to drag or bump into anyone else, we relaxed.

Right now, it appears that we have a window to head south on the outside for tomorrow. We've made contact with Scott Free, another boat heading to Ft. Pierce, and hope to stay within radio contact with them during the transit. We'll leave on the outgoing tide and hope to make landfall in 24 hours. Our first night at sea; always as fascinating as it is frightening.