We'll try to make this post short on words and long on pictures. On Sunday we left St Augustine and headed for a free dock on Sisters Creek that is managed by the city of Jacksonville. We had a beautiful 40 mile cruise this day...very enjoyable. There was room for about 6 boats here, and it was first come, first served. When we arrived, there were already 5 boats there, with no spot big enough for us. The short version of the story is that we pulled up to a launch ramp dock nearby (practically no water beneath our keel, with depth alarms screaming non-stop), and Sandy ran over to the free dock and got the folks there to move a couple of boats around to make room for us. In the end it worked out fantastic, and we met some really nice folks there.
On Monday, we traveled towards Jacksonville...off of the ICW and now on the St Johns River. After passing Jacksonville, we pulled into Ortega River Marina and caught up with our friends on ACT III. We are both pausing here to take road trips to different destinations...they are heading to DC for their son's wedding, and Sandy is heading to Atlanta to see some friends and tend to a couple of routine doctors appointments. Rob is camping out on the boat for a few days with "the girls". Sandy will get back on Friday, and this weekend we will have the chance to spend some time with her brother who lives here in the area. Then on Tuesday or Wednesday, we'll retrace our steps back to the ICW and head for points north.
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| Just a neat looking shrimp trawler that we passed coming out of St Augustine. |
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| Boating fact for the day: this thing that the shrimp trawler is tethered to is called a Dolphin. Typically you see these in groups, located where commercial boats might need to temporarily tie-up for an overnight or in staging to go through a lock. We will seldom use them, but in a pinch, it can serve as a spot to tie to if we need the option. |
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| We passed this crew of 20 folks paddling what essentially was a large canoe. We speculated that this might be some sort of a team building exercise for a corporate outing. |
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| This was our view from the free city dock that we used...it was gorgeous. |
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| A really neat looking suspension bridge, the Dames Point Bridge carrying I-295 traffic just east of Jacksonville. |
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| This tries to provide a sense of perspective...see the 18 wheeler? |
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| And all those cables on either side are supporting half of the bridge. In the middle, there is just this "tiny" gap. Try not to think about this if you ever cross a similar bridge... |
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| A large Navy ship being worked on as we approached Jacksonville. |
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| One of many tugs in the area...we just liked the looks of this one. |
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| Spotted this beautiful looking yacht. After some investigation, it turns out to be Seawolf, a 200 foot yacht that you can charter for about $200,000 per week if you want to cruise the Caribbean or even the South Pacific. Ok...we'll put this on the list of stuff that we will never do. |
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| Once again, our able crew is hard at work. |
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| Sunrise over St Augustine....it was a beautiful morning! |
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