Rivers Edge Marina, St. Augustine, Florida: November 1, 2020
Marc- Calm winds and a slack high tide were just what we needed to leave Fernandina this morning at 07:00. Setting the clocks back one hour made this a lot easier than leaving in the dark. Off we went toward Paper Mill Number 2 and right away saw three sailboats that seem to have been wrecked and abandoned on or close to shore. A Westsail 32 looked as if it had just sailed up into the marsh. It still had all of its sails furled neatly and not a scratch on her. It would take a nice pull from one of those big commercial tugboats to get her off the marsh grass. We lucked out at the railroad bridge as it was open. The bridge closes for shipments of logs to the paper mills here. There is no VHF channel to call for information or an opening. The Waterway guide book notes that the bridge closes automatically when a train approaches (not the safest set up for passing boats). Lucy III had favorable current all the way down to Sisters Creek and the St. John River. There was some excitement as Warship 21 was coming in and awaiting a pilot. The crew was busy on VHF 16 keeping cruisers away. We passed two navy ships in drydock for repairs in Jacksonville. Navy Security boats were on patrol. Once we entered Pablo Creek our speed dropped to 5.5 knots and remained there for the next three hours due to the ebbing tide. The situation changed in our favor when we reached the headwaters of the Tolomato River. A cold front with showers was forecast to come through this afternoon, and it did while we were waiting for the Bridge of Lions to open at 16:00. As we waited circling the area in North of the bridge the engine started to skip. I instantly thought the fuel tank must be low and I transferred fuel from the spare tank (I flipped a switch). It worked. We passed through the bridge with a large fishing trawler following us along with alot of birds feeding on his discarded fish. We went around the corner and up the San Sebastian River to Rivers Edge Marina. This is a very protected spot.
This is the end of Part I of our trip. We're going home for the Holidays soon and the boat will sit here for 2 months.
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