Since we had 57 miles to go today to reach our final destination of St. Augustine, we left the anchorage about a half-hour before sunrise. There was no fog, and plenty of light to see by. Several dolphins departed the anchorage as we did.

Today we saw more boats and were in more boat “queues” than we’d ever experienced on this trip. We also passed under eight bridges, 6 fixed, one “almost always open” swing bridge, and the Bridge of Lions. This last is just before St. Augustine and opens on the half hour.

We had no height clearance issues this day, but strong currents ran under each bridge, making the passages tricky. Sometimes we were pushed from the stern or the side. At the Atlantic Boulevard Bridge, a 4 knot opposing current reduced our speed from 7 to 3 mph in a heartbeat.

The scenery continued salt marsh predominant, with lots of white and brown pelicans, but we also saw some regal bald eagles, a few osprey, many terns and cormorants. We continued to see dolphins frequently and got to see another baby swimming close to its mother’s side.

One new sight was a fast grey Department of Customs and Immigration boat. It was unclear who the crew were chasing or apprehending, but the boat zipped about at top speed, first north, then south, visibly jouncing the serious uniformed occupants, and throwing giant wakes for other boaters to contend with.

There were many waterfront homes and piers in sizes that ranged from modest to mansion (the featured picture for today is a good example). There was a small airport on our right as we approached St. Augustine. The buzzing of small planes added to the sounds of boat traffic and the VHF. Lots of audible VHF traffic today, including the voice of one female Texan berating another boater who passed her vessel at speed: “Lawd, powerboat, that was a turrible pass! Y’all broke all the dishes on that one!”

Once through the Bridge of Lions, a congested passage in which 3 power boats, a tour-boat schooner, and an anxious large cabin cruiser all jockeyed for space in advance of the bridge, we found ourselves feeling excitement and some anxiety that we were within 5 miles of our new home.

The turnoff into the San Sebastian river led us a twisty two miles past multiple marinas (some with sunken boats’ masts protruding from the surface-the hurricane again) to The River’s Edge Marina. Paul, the Marina Manager, was there with a co-worker and C Ghost was tied up at a temporary slip in our new marina. Although relatively spared, the marina took some damage and flooding. Our permanent slip will be ready by end of month and the temporary slip is fine.

Once settled and connected to power, we signed final papers at the office, listened to some great hurricane and marina life anecdotes from Paul, and called the parents.

Then, with our officially named “boat deal” discount card in hand, we celebrated with a meal of shrimp and grits and bouillabaisse at Hurricane Patty’s, the onsite restaurant. It had a good crowd for early on a Wednesday night. We soon found out why, as the duet “Those Guys” took the stage and produced some awesome guitar and vocals to all our favorites: Allman Brothers, Derek and the Dominos, Doobie Brothers, and more.

Our next blog post will be a recap of our trip, featuring “things that worked well” and “things that didn’t”. We’ve really enjoyed producing this trip blog, and greatly appreciate the good wishes and comments of all of you that followed along with us as we traveled. It’s been a great adventure for us.

Thank you,
Paula and Tom