St. Augustine..

 At 9:45 AM, we left the Jacksonville Municipal Dock, thrilled that the engine and generator were working and that, except for the discomfort of sleeping in the cold, this learning experience didn't cost us anything. We rejoined the ICW traveling under several bridges; but the tide and the current were against us so our speed dropped dramatically.

It was a clear and now warm, day with beautiful scenery; marshes, nice homes and some anchored sailboats. We passed crab pots (surprising to me as I thought crab pots were a Chesapeake Bay feature), bridges, small homes, estates, and elaborate docks.

The weather was mild enough for us to try, for the first time on this trip, steering from the flybridge which is at the top of the boat and all open.  

We entered the very crowded municipal marina at St. Augustine. 

Our assigned slip was a little tight. As you all know, we are very new with this boat, and tight slips are a bit daunting. The dock hand was there to help and the owner of a stunning, 55 foot sailboat in the adjacent slip, stopped working to watch us maneuver (and protect his boat, if necessary), as we made a first, unsuccessful turn.....way to sharp, scraping against the piling. no permanent damage, thankfully. Roland took the boat around and the second time, perfect!

Shortly after we were docked, we saw Tom and Anne, enter the marina. They had done an ocean passage from Jacksonville to St. Augustine; their sailboat was a little tall for some of the bridges. They came over to our slip and we went for a walk through town, and had a drink and something to eat at an outside restaurant.

I was in total shock, St. Augustine was mobbed; there were tons of people walking in the narrow streets, shopping, eating in the restaurants, and very few were wearing masks, except the four of us. The bars were open, musicians were playing and singing in the streets, and people were everywhere. It was like the twilight zone, back to life before March. Apparently in Florida, anything goes. Even in stores and restaurants displaying Masks Required signs, patrons were not wearing masks and neither ere some of the sales people, waiters or waitresses; I could not believe what I was seeing.

Anne and Tom were leaving the next morning (we were going to stay for another two days), so we wished them well and invited them to stop in Atlantic City this summer.

For the next two days we explored St. Augustine, on foot, and by bicycle (the first use of our folding bikes off the boat). We visited a farmers market, and a gourmet food market. We walked around the historic old town town, took lots of pictures and my friend Evin drove down from Jacksonville for a wonderful outside lunch visit.

St. Augustine is a very charming place. The town was ablaze with beautiful Christmas lights. The narrow brick streets and historic houses and buildings were well worth the visit. I am glad we had a chance to visit. But it did give me a taste of what I might find in Florida; no change in life as a result of the pandemic; stunning.

Thursday, December 31, 2020, Day 26. New Years Eve day. The pandemic is still raging, the vaccinations are dragging and I am sad about my friend Mona who passed away.

We left St. Augustine at 9:05 AM, with the help of a dock hand, and with Roland's incredible skill in such a short time with this boat, we got off the dock and out of the slip beautifully. A big improvement from our first try coming into the slip. We are learning more every day. We had hoped to steer from the flybridge again but it was way too cold and way too windy.

Back on the ICW we passed many docks that were incredibly long, maybe 300 or more feet, over the marsh. I can't imagine the cost to build and maintain docks at that length.

We made reservations for a week at Sunset Marina in Stuart Florida starting January 8^th, the earliest we could get. We need to get some work done on the boat and Stuart, for a Kadey Krogen, is the place to do it. So we will be slowing down, going shorter distances and enjoying our time as we approach Stuart.

Since St. Augustine, the weather has been mild so that heat in the boat is not necessary. Warm is a joy for me because the head (bathroom) is not heated and for the first month, when it was really cold, I had to use a small space heater in the bathroom. Many times, in the early morning, there wasn't enough time to warm it up. So I am very pleased about the warmer weather.

At 3:15 PM, we anchored at Daytona Beach, almost under the Seabreeze/ Oakridge Bridge. Here we will celebrate New Years Eve.