January 20, 2018

Saturday, we explored Fernandina Beach, FL. But first we had a well-deserved shower after our 30 hr transit from Charleston. Being Saturday, we got lucky and were able to wonder around the local farmers market. What a treat. We picked up some fresh veggies. The highlight of the market was a booth called “Olive My Pickle” (www.olivemypickle.com). They specialized in fermented and pickled veggies and olives. After a few tastings we decided on the muffuletta. The farmers market got our stomachs growling so we headed to T-Rays (www.traysburgerstation.com), a famous burger joint in town that is in an old gas station. T-Rays did not disappoint. After lunch we wondered about town looking at the older homes. Then, surprisingly, we found ourselves at a local distillery which had some fabulous rums, vodkas and cello’s available in there tasting room (www.marlinandbarrel.com). After the tasting we had time to grab a beer at the Green Turtle Tavern (www.greenturtletavern.com) and listen to some live music from Brian Ernst (www.brianernstmusic.com). From there it was back to the boat where we cooked up some of our fresh veggies from the farmer’s market.

January 21, 2018

Sunday. We decided to proceed south on the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW). We left at 0800 and had a short day to just south of Jacksonville, FL. We took a slip at Beach Marine Marina where we gave Interlude a good cleaning after her 2 long offshore passages. We also took on diesel. By the time we were done with our boat chores, it was game time. We watched the AFC and NFC championship games.

January 22, 2018

Monday. We continued south to St Augustine, FL. We arrived midafternoon and took a mooring ball just south of the Bridge of Lions. This is a great town that we’ve visited several times before… we’ve decided to keep moving south in the ICW on Tuesday.

Offshore or ICW

There are several factors that we take in account before we go offshore, those are weather and crew comfort. We’ve decided that we’re good for a 30-hour transit (basically, leaving in the morning and arriving mid-day the following day). Also, we like to have a rest day after an overnight. The weather is not bad for tomorrow offshore but Wednesday the winds pick up quite a bit (over 20kts sustained). So, we decided to proceed in the ICW to at least Ft Pierce, FL. We’ll see how it looks when we get there in about 5 days. The ICW in FL is not as bad as NC, SC or GA. And it’s new territory for us, so it’s interesting.