The first order of the day was to make it through Jekyll Creek, a notoriously shallow creek that connects the St. Simons Sound with the St. Andrews Sound. At low tide, there is little more than 4 feet of water in the creek (we draw 4.5 feet), so waiting until the tide is in our favor and rising is always a perquisite. The tidal swing is so extreme that at low tide, the aids to navigation (buoys and markers) are actually on dry ground! But we timed our departure accordingly and made it through (slowly) without issue.
The route today took us through a few more "twists and turns"on the ICW before opening up in a couple of exposed sounds to the ocean. Since the wind was out of the NW (at our backs), the passage was easy. That's where the often quoted "fair winds and following seas" comes from! To add to our delight being back in southern waters, we had multiple visits from dolphins dancing in our bow wake. That is about as cool at it gets!
There is another stretch of of the ICW along Palm Valley that can be unusually slow due to the number of homes, docks and boats in the area. Traveling this 6 mile stretch can be grueling, especially on a weekend day, like today. That said, I am glad we were going slow as a boat less than a mile ahead of us hit a large and sharply pointed log in the water. It punched a large hole in their hull and started to flood the vessel with water. Fortunately, they were able to ground the boat into the nearby shoreline before sinking. A call on the VHF radio to the US Coast Guard and Towboat US helped them get assistance. Talk about a way to screw up your Sunday afternoon!
From that point on, we were a little shaken and kept even closer eyes on the water for the balance of the trip. Well, that was until 1pm when the Washington Redkskins game came on TV and the attention of the "Admiral" was compromised. Thank goodness for technology and the ability to stream the game live while working our way south! (oh, and they beat the NY Giants 20 to 13)! She was very happy.
We arrived in St. Augustine, America's oldest city, without issue and tied up at the Municipal Marina for the night. We quickly and happily shed our jeans and long sleeve shirts for shorts, t-shirts and barefoot attire. There is already a change in the boating atmosphere and attitude that can only be described as "fun loving" (see picture below). While we still have almost a week left before arriving in Longboat Key, it feels really, really good to be back in Florida.
Tomorrow we head to Titusville, FL.
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| NFL Football on the iPad -- A happy Admiral |
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| St. Augustine -- a classic seaside city |
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| We be back in Gator Country! |
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