Cruising on Alexia

An informal update of our travels for Family and Friends

05 September 2013
27 June 2013
27 June 2013
27 June 2013
20 June 2013 | William wears kneepads to protect from the heat of the deck
17 June 2013 | Torrential rain for six hours
13 June 2013 | Herring Bay off Chesapeake Bay
08 June 2013 | Miles River, Maryland
08 June 2013 | Amelia at the helm with a helping hand from DAD
28 May 2013 | Just a short half mile journey across the River
27 May 2013 | Free dockage at the city marina
24 May 2013 | Narrow and shallow
24 May 2013 | Visitor Centre Dock
24 May 2013 | We're at the top
24 May 2013 | Going up
24 May 2013 | The gates close behind us

Environmentally Friendly

14 April 2013 | Sisters Creek, FL
Free dockage courtesy of Jacksonville Municipal
The Tolomato River renames itself Pablo Creek before it reaches the St Johns River. A wide commercial piece of water which is always busy with container ships and barges transiting between the industrial docks at Jacksonville FL, about 8 miles away, and the Atlantic, a similar distance in the opposite direction..

Taking a course at right angles across the St John's we enter Sisters Creek on the far side. There's a bascule bridge here that opens on request - the jolly Bridge master chats to us as we pass under its arms. 500 yards beyond, and off to port, is a small creek where the City of Jacksonville have installed a brand new floating dock for cruisers and locals. I's a perfect stopping point.

We are in the middle of a State park here and they are making every effort to make sure that people can get ashore to hike the nature trails, enjoy the camping facilities, observe wildlife or take part in a host of other outdoor activities.

We tie up. There's a robust wooden walkway connecting the dock to the shore but no facilities other than trash disposal containers. We take our bags of accumulated rubbish to the bins only to find them overflowing and the ground covered in litter where animals have clawed open everything in the search for goodies. Swarms of flies are everywhere. Looks like an explosion has taken place.

Back to the boat for some large trash bags and we spend the next hour clearing up the mess. William goes on a hunt for another trash bin, finding an empty one about 200 yards away into which we stuff everything and secure the lid firmly.

It was a great stop. Very quiet and peaceful. Once again we were the only people there!
Vessel Name: Alexia
Vessel Make/Model: Hallberg Rassy 42 built in 1998. She's extremely comfortable aboard with two ensuite cabins. Endless useful equipment like microwave, bilge pump counter, bowthrusters, Mastervolt generator, air conditioning, 12v freezer,
Hailing Port: London, United Kingdom
Crew: William Spouse and Frances Rogers
About: William has been a competitive sailor most of his life and introduced Frances to the boating life 29 years ago. In that time they have chartered many sailboats in Europe and the Caribbean finally purchasing Alexia in 2007.