Return to St Augustine
Thursday 25th March 2021
After a quiet and pleasant night in the Matanzas Inlet we awoke to a foggy morning. It’s ironic because on our way south we had thick fog from St Augustine down to the Matanzas inlet. We pulled up the anchor at about 7.30 a.m. and headed north. After half an hour or so the fog started to thin out and shortly disappeared altogether, which was a relief. It’s only about 14 miles to St Augustine but it’s a meandering route requiring close attention to stay in the middle of the channel and avoid the shoal areas. We made it in time for the 10 a.m. opening of the Bridge of Lions and then anchored off the Castillo de San Marcos in approximately the same spot we were in back in December. Having a city marina mooring would have been very convenient but unfortunately there are none available The current rips through here really strongly and we have 100 feet of chain out in 20 feet of water. We are confident the holding is good, but we aren’t quite so sure that our swinging room will clear all the other boats. It’s hard to judge with reversing tidal currents and not knowing how much anchor rode the other boats have out. So we have spent the afternoon aboard, doing some cleaning and cooking, but mostly checking to see that we are in a safe location. Since arriving the wind has strengthened to 15 knots gusting to near 20 knots from the southeast. We normally expect current to be a stronger factor than wind in positioning the boat but this afternoon we have not fully swung to face the incoming tide so we remain a little concerned about how we might move relative to other boats if the wind were lighter.
One of the main reasons we want to spend some time here is that our friends Lynn and Lee are in the area for a few weeks working on restoring their boat “Serendipity” which is in a boat yard on the St John’s river. Lynn and Lee are coming over for dinner and we are excited to see them again.
Mike
29 53.993 N, 81 18.473 W
Love the modest home!
ReplyDeleteenjoy dinner with your friends!