A DAY OUTSIDE

JANUARY 6, 2013

 

Weighed anchor at 7:10am after spending 2 nights at Lanier Island.  We are headed out the from St Simons Sound into the Atlantic.  The sky's are slate grey & there is a very light wind, the temp is 39 degrees & the water temp is 56 degrees.

The day outside was very uneventful.  As the hours went by the sky turned darker, the wind was 5-10 knots.  We were watching diligently for Right whales.  Well we did not see any whales, there were only few fishing boats & dolphins to keep the pelicans & sea gulls company.  The temp. rose into the 50's & by noon a light rain began to fall, we motor sailed through the rain & into the shipping channel outside St Mary's Inlet.  Just after our turn, a squall line hit & visibility dropped to 100 yards.  The squall stayed with us until we made our way into the sound & made our turn into the ICW.  It then turned back into light rain. 

We had hoped for a beautiful day on the water.  But the reality of it is everyday on the water, going where ever you want is a great day. This was our first time outside in months & even with rainy sky's it made us remember why we love it so much.  We continued south down the ICW about 7 miles & anchored just off the channel at 4:30pm, we had traveled 55 miles.  It was still raining as rod secured the boat & we went below to a hot dinner, news & weather.  I saved the best for last & had  hot shower & crawled into bed with a book.  Tomorrow will be another early day.  We are glad to be back in Florida, we are still 50 miles from St. Augustine. 


 

JANUARY 7, 2013

We weighed anchor at 7:10am just as the sun began to rise into a partly cloudy sky.  The temp. is 54 degrees & the water temp. is 58.  Warmer every day.  Today will be spent on the ICW, destination, a mooring ball at City Marina St. Augustine, Florida.
 


ANOTHER BEAUTIFUL SUNRISE

We were soon joined by a 28 ft. sloop traveling behind us heading south.  Most of the way we were fighting the tide so our progress was slow.  The scenery is changing with every mile.  More palm trees, more sandy beach's even orange & grapefruit trees heavy with fruit.  The day was overcast, in the high 60's with light wind as we wound our way south.

Just after lunch Rod gave me the wheel & got busy finishing the new bridal for the mooring ball.  Every thing was fine until all of a sudden the depth kept going down, no matter what I did, it went from 12ft to 6 & was still falling.  I cut the power back just before we came to a very nice stop, stuck in a sand bar right in the middle of the channel.  My first time to run us aground, needless to say it made me a little tense & ruined my sunny outlook.  Rod seemed unperturbed & with a little effort he got us free of the sand bar & we were on our way again.

BRIDGE OF LIONS AHEAD

After a long day we rounded the final bend & the St. Augustine Bridge of Lions was in sight.  Of course over the past hour the weather had gotten worse.  The sky's were solid grey, the wind was up to 20 to 25 knots.  Not exactly the best conditions to pick up a mooring ball in a field full of boats. 

We called the marina & they assigned us a ball in the middle row in the middle.  Well once we found it we lined up & Rod went forward while I tried to get the bow even with the ball.  The wind was now gusting to 35 knots & the water was boiling.  My first & second try were not successful.  By then I was so frustrated & tense I really did not want to do it again.  But of course there was no choice so one more try & we had success.  Thank goodness........  I need a break.  Rod came back to the cockpit dripping wet & quite proud of us.  We did it on our 3rd try & we did not hit anything.  Not too bad. 
As we sat in the cockpit & toasted our success, the wind was howling & the water was churning all around us, life was good once more.