Early start, Late(ish) Finish
Wednesday March 31, 2021
We departed St. Augustine this morning. We followed a procession of boats out of the inlet (they had all come through the bridge at the 7 am opening). As we were making our way out to sea like a line of ducklings, the sun was coming up. One by one the boats in front of us vanished into the fog! I was dreading a foggy passage but as the sun climbed higher, the fog was dispelled. By 8 am we were out of the inlet and heading north.
For most of the day the wind was 10-12 kts and pretty far abeam. With our forward motion, the “apparent” wind was very light indeed. The seas were about 3-4 feet. The rolling of the boat was enough to cause the sail to flap continually. However, as we got to St. Mary’s inlet, the wind picked up due to a squall and was blowing at 20 kts, now on the beam as we headed in to land. The current was flowing out of the inlet, kicking up wicked swell. It was a pretty unpleasant experience. It wasn’t over quickly either as the strong current meant that our progress was slow. Plenty of time to say your prayers! The one good thing is that St Mary’s is a class A inlet for large vessels in most conditions. As such it is straight and wide with good depth throughout (>40 ft) and effective breakwaters. We would not have wanted to go in a marginal inlet under these conditions.
Once inside we dropped the sail and motored the remaining five miles or so up the St. Mary’s River. We anchored off the town of St. Mary’s at about 6:45 pm. We are pretty tired and happy to be here. So far it seems pretty still but a cold front will come through tonight....
Gloria
Sounds exhausting!
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