HEADING NORTH

April 28, 2016

IT'S PERFECT LEAVING ST AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA

After spending 2 weeks in the mooring field in St Augustine, Florida it was time to start our venture north. On Monday April 25 we were off going under the Bridge of Lions at its 7AM opening.  We are finally heading north.  The weather was good & the winds light.  We decided to stay inside and travel up the ICW for the first leg of our trip.
 
We motored north watching out for shallow water, it felt great to just be underway.  By lunch time we were passing the turn to Jacksonville, Fla.  There was much to see, white pelicans, dolphin and the elusive manatee.
 

CUMBERLAND ISLAND

By late afternoon we were crossing the St Mary's Inlet.  The last time we were here the Coast Guard escorted us past an outgoing submarine and it's entourage.  This time it was much quieter and we slowly motor toward our anchorage for the night, Cumberland Island.  The Cumberland Island anchorage is one of our favorite places and today we had many more boats for company that the last time. 
After the anchor was down it was time to relax, a new bottle of wine was opened and we toasted to our first day on our new adventure heading north.

ST SIMMONS ISLAND ANCHORAGE

After a restful night we were underway early, our next stop St Simmons Island.  Between Cumberland Island and St Simmons  there is one of the shallowest parts of the ICW on the East Coast,  Jekyll Island.  Under normal conditions at low tide you can expect just 2 1/2 feet of water.  It is critical to be able to navigate this stretch of the ICW at high tide.  Rod timed our arrival at this point perfectly.  It was high tide and we saw 8 feet, we must have more than 5 1/2 feet to navigate.  We moved slowly through and on to deeper water. 

We arrived at the anchorage at Lanier Island before 2pm, a beautiful short day.  We like to call this anchorage the dolphin nursery.  The past two times we have anchored here there were mother dolphin with very new baby dolphin swimming in the waters around the boat.  We are a little early in the year this time and have only seen adults feeding around the boat.

There is weather blowing thru and we have decided to wait it out right here.  We have the anchorage to ourselves and took this opportunity to finish a few chores aboard.  The dinghy has had a leak in it ever since we put it back in the water at Green Cove Springs.  Soooo..... time to haul it onto the deck and do a patch job.  One thing checked off the list.

As we sat in the cockpit one evening a group of 3 paddle boarders came by for a visit.  We had a very nice chat with a very young would be cruiser.  He said one day he will live this life aboard.  As we know, all it takes is the ability to stay focused on the dream and take it one step at a time.

As the weather improved the passage outside to Charleston, South Carolina was beckoning.  Time to get back into the big blue water.  Rod took the repaired dinghy to a nearby marina and filled fuel and water jugs.  Friday April 29th will be our first outside passage since our trip from Key West to St Augustine, Florida 12 months ago.

COFFEE WITH THE CREW

Our new crew Marley and Buddy are getting use to us being on the move.  They are a little grumpy from being in the cage all day.  Who knows if they do well they may be promoted to Mate.