SO we continued on!!!!..... Finally reaching Florida!!!!!!!!!!!! SO Garmin tells us.
In Florida the first thing we encounter was industry and skinny (shallow) water. There are dredges constantly on the ICW to keep digging the constantly moving sand from the channel.
Even then the water can be very shallow and you can go aground.
You learn very fast to travel in areas known to have shallow water on rising tides in case you go aground you just stay there until the tide rises and you float off.
You can really see the opulence on the ICW. The houses are larger, the boat houses are massive and some have 3-4 boats. Some are so close to the water it is difficult to comprehend why...knowing the area is famous for flooding..???
Our first night we stayed in South Amelia Island in 7.5 ft water. We need 6.5 to stay afloat!! It was a beautiful swamp area. The next morning we headed off in search of St. Augustine (our next place to stay).
Just before Jacksonville we saw a warship that was being pushed on the dock by other boats. There were security boats around it and they used the radio to contact you to tell you the route to go around the ship. Security is taken very serious and you respect it and move on to your destination; even though your route may vary for a short time.
The ICW was like travelling through a movie of "The Properties of the Rich and
Famous". It was quite the show. As we got closer to St. Augustine the traffic
increased and there was a parade of boats in areas going through the lift bridges
and through the waterway. I certainly understand why it can be referred to as the
I-95 of the ICW.
In St. Augustine we picked up a mooring in the north field. We could not wait to get ashore to explore the beautiful city. We also knew that Jeanine and Richard from SV Almost Perfect were there too. Off we went to meet up with them and make lunch plans for the next day. Then we went about our way exploring the downtown. It is a beautiful Spanish redesigned downtown area with cobblestone narrow streets. The city is very picturesque.
We went back to the boat excited about our planned tour and lunch date the next day. Unfortunately that did not happen... The weather turned bad with strong winds and 4-5 foot choppy waves and we spent the next 36 horrible hours confined to the boat as it was too unsafe to leave. I stayed up all night concerned about the motion of the boat and the potential of our lines breaking. As soon as it was light Byron and I crawled to the front of the boat to check on the lines only to find one of them wrapped around the bottom of the ball causing the motion to be so much worse that it should have been. Byron was able to somehow replace the line with another one and what we discovered was the line was almost chafed through!!! By then I was DONE!!! I was motion sick and unable to get up at all and I was contrary.
We did not know that we should have asked the dock master for a mooring in the south field or that we should have gotten a dock.. or even anchored.... It was no fun and I was scared. Poor Duke would not pee on the boat either!!!
Our second night was a little better and we got up at 5:30AM, somehow got to shore for Duke to pee, called the bridge operator to ask for an opening and hightailed it out of dodge!!!! Duke went 36 hr without peeing. We felt absolutely awful... What was going to be a highlight of the trip was a nightmare.
We motored with our entourage down the I 95 to Smyrna Beach where we anchored in a beautiful area with dolphins swimming everywhere. It was unbelievable. They were teasing Duke. He certainly got his exercise running around the boat. Thank god for the netting to keep him in!! It was quite a sight.
We knew the weather was suppose to be bad for the weekend and we felt (I mostly) that we needed a break so we decided to book a marina in Titusville. It was a beautiful area to relax, walk Duke and have a little fun.
It also gave us an opportunity to be tourists ourselves. We could not rent a car in the area so we rented a U-Haul so that we could go to Kennedy Space Center for the day. We had a great time there. Byron was like a little boy!!
We keep getting these pictures with white stuff from family and friends... we only want white sand!!!LOL!!! I hope the snow don't follow us.
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