We treated ourselves to a quick trip through the southern Georgia ICW, but impatience — and a favorable weather window — lured us on an outside run from St.Simons to Hilton Head.
Days 161 – 163, March 23-25, 2019
Amelia Island to St. Simons Island
We started the day at the Amelia Island Marina, which is not an ideal stop but the Fernandina Harbor Marina right in town, which is where we wanted to stay, was closed for reconstruction so we had no real choice.
Morning light on the Amelia River
The morning was absolutely lovely. Flat calm, refreshingly cool, and a beautiful amber-pastel-y light that gave the marshes and river a soft glow. It felt a bit like fall, which was wonderful even though it was actually spring. This business of the temperatures cooling even though spring is approaching has my senses confused. I keep forgetting if winter is coming or going. Continue reading A Bit of the Georgia ICW, then Outside to Hilton Head→
A fabulous sunrise start, befuddling nav challenges, a brief keel plow through the mud and bluebird weather. Jacksonville Beach to Amelia Island, FL was a never-a-dull-moment day.
Day 160, March 22, 2019
I got up early, pre-sunrise, to go for a run. I wasn’t certain what to expect since there isn’t anywhere to go except the wide and busy route 90 which is the main drag between Jacksonville and Jacksonville Beach. I knew it had safe wide sidewalks and pedestrian lights, so off I went, headed east towards the beach.
Leaving our port-in-the-storm St. Augustine, we were in for a beautiful stretch of weather to usher us ever-further up the coast. We slipped quickly into go-mode, and made tracks.
Day 159, March 21, 2019
I woke early to a brilliant moon in a clear sky. The stage was set for a great few days of running north. We had had some fun in St. Augustine but we were ready to roll. Thanks to the Tini Martini Bar and a late night with our pals at The Floridian, we did not get an early start, but it didn’t matter, since our next stop, Jacksonville Beach, was just 27 miles up the waterway.
When bad weather threatens, we like to get ourselves tucked in someplace where we can still enjoy the day and get stuff done. For folks who never plan (like us!), planning can be everything. We planned St. Augustine.
Days 157 – 158, March 19 – 20, 2019
With a gale imminent, we had nestled ourselves in to St. Augustine. The Municipal Marina is convenient and secure, and there is plenty to do in the area to keep us amused. Like fresh do-your-own donuts, and a brewery. What?
We might have lingered in Vero Beach (there is a reason it’s called “Velcro Beach”), but the forecast was showing three days of gray rainy stuff, followed by a full-on gale, so we decided to make tracks while we could. Vero to Cocoa to Daytona to St. Augustine.
Days 154-156, March 16 – 18, 2017
Vero to Cocoa Village
We did some math while we were hanging in Vero, looking at the weather for the next few days and trying to decide what to do. We ran some calculations on what the trip all the way back up to Rhode Island might look like. Our general goal, which we had set sort of arbitrarily in the fall, was to be home by late May. That gave us ten weeks to cover roughly 1500 nautical miles. At about 150 miles each week, or three reasonable 50-mile days per week, it offered lots of flexibility for running slow when we wished, taking a few short days, and lingering in ports we enjoyed. All perfectly doable.
After being in essentially the same place for nine days as we negotiated TrawlerFest, it really really was time to move along. We enjoy hanging in fun spots for a few days, but otherwise we are generally happy when we are cruising around and exploring. So off we go.
Days 151 – 153, March 13 – 15, 2019
Stuart to Vero “Velcro” Beach, we are now retracing our steps from the trip south in the fall.
It is still “in season” here in Florida. Folks are entrenched and the Bahamas are busy. But we had the itch. This was the very early stages of our northbound journey but for whatever reason, we were ready begin the trek. We would be well ahead of the migration, and that was fine with us.
After a busy four days of TrawlerFest, we were happy to give ourselves a little downtime to re-charge.
Days 148 – 150, March 10 – 12, 2019
We actually enjoyed ourselves at Trawler Fest and had a great time showing Esmeralde off to the crowds. But once it was over, we were happy to be on our own again. We did need to re-charge and enjoy our privacy a bit, so we headed back up to Sunset Bay in Stuart again, the third time up that river on this trip, to regroup for a few days.
