Marianna leaving Cocoa Beach at sunrise
Fernandina Beach to Cocoa Beach
We were back on the ICW all of this week traveling south in Florida, as the weather continued its warming trend. We still haven’t ditched the sweatshirts and jeans, but our shorts and T-shirts are starting to see more use.
We were back on the ICW all of this week traveling south in Florida, as the weather continued its warming trend. We still haven’t ditched the sweatshirts and jeans, but our shorts and T-shirts are starting to see more use.
Nights at Anchor
We’ve done far more anchoring in the 2 weeks since we left Charleston than we have ever done at a single stretch. We’ve been relieved that all of it has been without another anchor drag incident. However, our traveling companions have not been so lucky.
We left Fernandina Beach on Thursday, planning to travel only to Pine Island, 10 miles short of St. Augustine. However, the group was buoyed by the time made in the morning under a favorable current and decided to push on to St. Augustine. This was against Cathy’s better judgment, since the guidebooks said the anchorage was usually full, and the holding could be a problem. We had already had problems in the crowded Fernandina Beach anchorage finding a spot to anchor with enough swing room and the right depth. The St. Augustine anchorage is also right in front of the inlet and has a 5 foot tidal range, so the current was going to be impressive. Sure enough, the 2nd half of our trip was slowed by the current, delaying our arrival in St. Augustine until just before sunset. The anchorage was already crowded with boats (as we feared) and there was a strong 15+ knot wind from the South. So, there was little time before dark to find a spot to drop the hook where we would not swing into something.
We were one of only 2 of our group of boats to find a spot in the anchorage on the north side of the opening bridge at St. Augustine. (The others waited for the 5:30 opening, with one anchoring on the south side and one taking a slip at the marina.) We hastily circled our spot before another boat could take it, and set the anchor with enough swing room to keep us out of the next boat over, the daymark to the south and the shallow water to the north. However, in the frenzy of anchoring, Cathy didn’t set the anchor alarm on the GPS at the right location of the anchor. (Once set, it can’t be reset without pulling up and dropping the anchor a second time.) This meant that the anchor alarm was likely to go off when we swung with the change in current. When we set anchor, the current and winds were both from the south. The tidal change was around 10:30, with the current shift about an hour and a half later. We were relieved when the shift came and went and we barely moved at all, meaning we were being held by our chain, not the anchor. Good news.! This gave us the confidence to leave the boat to explore St. Augustine the next day.
After touring St. Augustine on Friday, as we were preparing to return to the boat in early afternoon, Fred on Marianna learned from his friend on Windfall, that their two boats had swung wildly during the last tide change and that Marianna was now bow into Windfall. We scurried back to the anchorage to find 2 dinghies towing Marianna away from Windfall. Fred and Pat worked for the next hour setting and re-setting the anchor, but were not completely satisfied that it was holding. With a storm approaching, they wanted to be sure. Dave had driven their dinghy back to our boat with the plan that he would return it once the anchor was set. Just as the storm loomed on the horizon, Fred called Dave to bring the dinghy back so he could set a 2nd anchor. Dave stayed and helped set the anchor (a learning experience for Dave) and then Fred returned him back to Orion. The storm passed us by without much impact and everything continued to hold.
We stayed in St. Augustine for another day and half, but never regained the confidence to leave the boats at anchor to go into town. The changing winds and erratic current were not having predictable effects on the boat swing pattern. For example, when the winds shifted to the North, the same direction as the flood tide current, Orion dropped back dramatically on the full length of its chain, setting off the anchor alarm as Cathy expected it would.. The combined effect of tide and wind made the many boats in the anchorage swing in unusual directions, and not always in the same direction. As a result, later on Saturday another boat swung into Windfall.
We were grateful that Orion’s anchor held, and after setting the 2 anchors, so did Marianna’s, but we didn’t get much sleep Friday and Saturday night keeping watch over it. Tuesday night’s anchoring experience at Cocoa Beach was much more pleasant. We arrived earlier. There was lots of room, and the tidal current effect was negligible. We slept a lot better there.
Going Ashore
We did enjoy our time in Fernandina, St. Augustine and Daytona Beach.
Fernandina is a surprisingly quant little town on the water. Surprising because the waterfront on either end of town is dominated by 2 paper plants.
We had visited St. Augustine by land before, so we didn’t spend time at the fort that is its major landmark this time. We strolled the streets up to the Sailor’s Exchange, a consignment store similar to Bacon Sails in Annapolis. We had fun exploring the rows of shelves, stuffed with everything you could imagine that a sailor would want. St. Augustine was developed as a resort by Henry Flagler, who also brought the railroad along the full length of Florida (to enable guests to get to his resorts). Flagler College is one of the more distinctive buildings in St. Augustine’s historic district. We were sorry that the famous Bridge of Lions is currently under a serious multi-year renovation, so that we couldn’t see it from the water. A temporary lift bridge sits beside it (pretty substantial for a temporary bridge) that will serve until the reconstruction is complete.
We’ve done far more anchoring in the 2 weeks since we left Charleston than we have ever done at a single stretch. We’ve been relieved that all of it has been without another anchor drag incident. However, our traveling companions have not been so lucky.
We left Fernandina Beach on Thursday, planning to travel only to Pine Island, 10 miles short of St. Augustine. However, the group was buoyed by the time made in the morning under a favorable current and decided to push on to St. Augustine. This was against Cathy’s better judgment, since the guidebooks said the anchorage was usually full, and the holding could be a problem. We had already had problems in the crowded Fernandina Beach anchorage finding a spot to anchor with enough swing room and the right depth. The St. Augustine anchorage is also right in front of the inlet and has a 5 foot tidal range, so the current was going to be impressive. Sure enough, the 2nd half of our trip was slowed by the current, delaying our arrival in St. Augustine until just before sunset. The anchorage was already crowded with boats (as we feared) and there was a strong 15+ knot wind from the South. So, there was little time before dark to find a spot to drop the hook where we would not swing into something.
We were one of only 2 of our group of boats to find a spot in the anchorage on the north side of the opening bridge at St. Augustine. (The others waited for the 5:30 opening, with one anchoring on the south side and one taking a slip at the marina.) We hastily circled our spot before another boat could take it, and set the anchor with enough swing room to keep us out of the next boat over, the daymark to the south and the shallow water to the north. However, in the frenzy of anchoring, Cathy didn’t set the anchor alarm on the GPS at the right location of the anchor. (Once set, it can’t be reset without pulling up and dropping the anchor a second time.) This meant that the anchor alarm was likely to go off when we swung with the change in current. When we set anchor, the current and winds were both from the south. The tidal change was around 10:30, with the current shift about an hour and a half later. We were relieved when the shift came and went and we barely moved at all, meaning we were being held by our chain, not the anchor. Good news.! This gave us the confidence to leave the boat to explore St. Augustine the next day.
After touring St. Augustine on Friday, as we were preparing to return to the boat in early afternoon, Fred on Marianna learned from his friend on Windfall, that their two boats had swung wildly during the last tide change and that Marianna was now bow into Windfall. We scurried back to the anchorage to find 2 dinghies towing Marianna away from Windfall. Fred and Pat worked for the next hour setting and re-setting the anchor, but were not completely satisfied that it was holding. With a storm approaching, they wanted to be sure. Dave had driven their dinghy back to our boat with the plan that he would return it once the anchor was set. Just as the storm loomed on the horizon, Fred called Dave to bring the dinghy back so he could set a 2nd anchor. Dave stayed and helped set the anchor (a learning experience for Dave) and then Fred returned him back to Orion. The storm passed us by without much impact and everything continued to hold.
We stayed in St. Augustine for another day and half, but never regained the confidence to leave the boats at anchor to go into town. The changing winds and erratic current were not having predictable effects on the boat swing pattern. For example, when the winds shifted to the North, the same direction as the flood tide current, Orion dropped back dramatically on the full length of its chain, setting off the anchor alarm as Cathy expected it would.. The combined effect of tide and wind made the many boats in the anchorage swing in unusual directions, and not always in the same direction. As a result, later on Saturday another boat swung into Windfall.
We were grateful that Orion’s anchor held, and after setting the 2 anchors, so did Marianna’s, but we didn’t get much sleep Friday and Saturday night keeping watch over it. Tuesday night’s anchoring experience at Cocoa Beach was much more pleasant. We arrived earlier. There was lots of room, and the tidal current effect was negligible. We slept a lot better there.
Going Ashore
We did enjoy our time in Fernandina, St. Augustine and Daytona Beach.
Fernandina is a surprisingly quant little town on the water. Surprising because the waterfront on either end of town is dominated by 2 paper plants.
We had visited St. Augustine by land before, so we didn’t spend time at the fort that is its major landmark this time. We strolled the streets up to the Sailor’s Exchange, a consignment store similar to Bacon Sails in Annapolis. We had fun exploring the rows of shelves, stuffed with everything you could imagine that a sailor would want. St. Augustine was developed as a resort by Henry Flagler, who also brought the railroad along the full length of Florida (to enable guests to get to his resorts). Flagler College is one of the more distinctive buildings in St. Augustine’s historic district. We were sorry that the famous Bridge of Lions is currently under a serious multi-year renovation, so that we couldn’t see it from the water. A temporary lift bridge sits beside it (pretty substantial for a temporary bridge) that will serve until the reconstruction is complete.
We managed to find more than race cars in Daytona, when we stopped at Angell and Phelp’s Chocolate Factory right on Beach St. downtown. They give a tour , showing the actual candy making in process. The tour was made all the more worthwhile by the free samples at the end. We, of course, purchased more to eat. The chocolate-covered cherries were especially good. We also found Indian River Fruits, also on Beach St., to buy some sweet, fresh Florida oranges that we will enjoy for a while.
Motorailing on the Mosquito Lagoon north of the shuttle launch site.
On our way to Cocoa Beach, we passed closest to the shuttle launch site at Cape Canaveral. The shuttle Discovery was already on the launch pad, readied for its Dec. 7th nighttime launch. A 72-hour ban on water traffic around the launch site was in effect when we passed by, but did not affect the Intracoastal Waterway itself. We actually had the first good winds and course for sailing that day, which allowed us to deploy our headsail to pick us some speed. (Plus it looks so good.)
It’s definitely the holiday season in Florida, with lots of Christmas lights on both buildings and boats. St. Augustine had a particularly pretty display on the historic buildings near the anchorage.
Goodbye Dinner
Tuesday night was going to be the last night that all four boats in our group would be together. Rob and Carole (and the children Dayla and Daniel) on Milano Myst would be remaining in Cocoa Beach to see the shuttle launch close up. The rest of us were traveling on to Vero Beach on Wednesday. The group all had a sense of humor and the chatter on the radio broke up the long stretches under way. We got together with everyone on Marianna for a meal together. It had been a good 2 weeks traveling together.
Tuesday night was going to be the last night that all four boats in our group would be together. Rob and Carole (and the children Dayla and Daniel) on Milano Myst would be remaining in Cocoa Beach to see the shuttle launch close up. The rest of us were traveling on to Vero Beach on Wednesday. The group all had a sense of humor and the chatter on the radio broke up the long stretches under way. We got together with everyone on Marianna for a meal together. It had been a good 2 weeks traveling together.
900 miles
We’re approaching the 900 mile mark on the ICW, which is a long way to travel, especially at 6 knots. It took almost 2 months for the temperatures to approach what they were when we left Solomons back on Oct. 18th. As Christmas approaches we will be headed to Nettles Island Marina in Fort Pierce, where Orion will rest for a month as we go north to visit family for the holidays. Our next entry should find us there.
We’re approaching the 900 mile mark on the ICW, which is a long way to travel, especially at 6 knots. It took almost 2 months for the temperatures to approach what they were when we left Solomons back on Oct. 18th. As Christmas approaches we will be headed to Nettles Island Marina in Fort Pierce, where Orion will rest for a month as we go north to visit family for the holidays. Our next entry should find us there.
