Who ordered all this wind?!
140 more miles behind us this week (3467 to date) and a few great places kept us for a second day!
We made our way out of the Fernandina basin and followed the IntraCoastal Waterway all week. It's been a week of cold air, strong winds and a few light sprinkles so the ocean didn't sound very inviting. Sunday was still rather threatening as we left the Amelia River towards the St. John's Inlet. The area we had researched for that evening had a very strong current so we deployed a second anchor off the stern. This was a first for us but it seemed to help. The hold on the bottom settled the boat down and eliminated the swing throughout the night going back and forth with currents and wind. We even found some great TV reception with our rabbit ears and were able to watch football all afternoon! Sometimes it's the little things that make it a good day, eh?
With a continuous forecast for strong winds and cooler temps, we decided to venture off the ICW and explore the St. John's River into Jacksonville. It was 15 miles inland and more than worth the deviation. The city had fabulous floating docks just across the street from their sports arenas including the Jacksonville Jaguar's stadium. Except for game days, the entire place is free for overnight stays and includes access to fresh water. If you need electricity you can run a credit card through an automated system to activate your slip. There were approximately 100 slips. We were one of only two boats there on Monday night. We can only guess this is off season here. After a 1.25 mile hike into downtown we discovered the Landings. This complex was like a mini-mall, with two floors, and was built smack dab in the center of downtown on the waterfront. What a concept... There were stores and restaurants and fountains and sidewalks and..... free docks! (see pics)We moved here for our second day and night in Jacksonville. We also had quick access to their public transportation systems (3 trolley routes, buses and railway cars. ) We rode one of the trolleys and enjoyed a quick tour of an area we would never have reached on foot. Oh, and did I mention, the trolley was free!
The next big city on the coast is St. Augustine and we had no trouble moving from Jacksonville to there in one day. We also took advantage of the only warm day this week by staying over here for a second day, too. Thursday was beautiful. We took our dinghy ashore to the city marina and explored the downtown area for hours. The history and old buildings here are endless. (see pics) Jim found an ad on a bulletin board at the marina for someone selling two used bikes. We've been wanting to get bikes, so he called. We now have two collapsible Caribike bicycles. They're great and they stow nicely. We pedaled for several more hours that afternoon and have discovered a whole new angle for our adventures.
Well, it's back to the boat and the ICW, and time to get moving further south again. We've made our way through the Flagler Beach area and we are currently resting in the marina in Daytona Beach on the Halifax River. We stopped here for fuel around noon and the winds were starting to gust over 20 knots so we decided to play it safe. As of 7p we were still seeing 25+. We spent part of the afternoon browsing through their annual Art Festival where most of the artists were very busy holding onto their tents. Gotta go, it's time to turn our clocks back.
No comments:
Post a Comment