Cruising with Legacy
13 November 2009

We feel lucky to have escaped the passage of Hurricane Ida with only some cool, windy days and not too much rain. Over the last few days we have been slowly making our way down the northern Florida portion of the waterway with "Legacy". After spending a windy Tuesday night at the St Mary's anchorage we made a last minute decision to leave the following afternoon, to get through a shallow spot south of Fernandina at high tide rather than chancing it at low tide the next morning. The chosen anchorage in the Amelia River, off the waterway, was a little narrow and the wind was gusting over 20 knots for most of the night just to keep things interesting. This was all well and good as our anchor held just fine and for the most part we were kept in the center of the river by the current. However, when the current slacked the wind blew us and "Legacy" painfully close to the river banks. We were joking with each other that we would be picking grass before too much longer! The next morning we pulled anchor and headed off for a short run to Pablo Creek. Once we arrived there "Legacy" was already anchored in the mouth of a side channel just off the waterway. One thing about cruising with Legacy is that it is great for the budget as they will not go into Marinas. But, having survived a night in one tenuous anchorage, the crew of Osprey bottled out of the Pablo Creek site and headed into the Palm Cove Marina just another mile down the waterway. We felt justified as it was early enough in the day to fully take advantage of a "Marina day". In short order we had refueled, filled all the water tanks, washed down Osprey, done 4 loads of Laundry, shopped at Publix and had long hot showers ashore - Phew! Skipper Bob would have been proud ( in his "Cruising on a Budget" book he advocates getting in to a Marina early in the day to use all amenities to their fullest). We were up at sparrow fart this morning and off again. Legacy have a friend staying with them and their plan was to anchor just south of St Augustine and dinghy back up to town for some sightseeing. After a speedy trip this morning we squeaked through the 11.30am opening of the Bridge of Lions. This was somewhat hairy as only one half of the old span was open due to the ongoing restoration work. The horizontal clearance was only 35 feet which sounds like a lot but with brisk winds and an aggressive current there wasn't a lot of room for error. Please note that Legacy is able to breeze under the closed bridge because they don't have a mast! Once again we arrive at the chosen anchorage to find things less than ideal. This time there are quite a few boats anchored but a lot of them look abandoned and there wasn't much room left for us. Legacy was in first and after two attempts at anchoring and being unable to set their anchor, gave up and headed back up to St Augustine. There was no way we were going back through that bridge which has to open to let us through so we gave it a shot. Thankfully, we got a good set, first try so here we sit. For the first time in three days the wind is not moaning in the rigging which is a pleasant change. Although we were dubious about this anchorage it actually is quite calm and peaceful so I think we will sleep well tonight. We hope to reach Daytona tomorrow which will put us within striking distance of a good spot to watch the shuttle launch on Monday but we're not sure how close we can get as they impose a lot of security around the area. We'll just have to see how it goes.
Nav notes: There is significant shoaling south of Fernandina as you approach Green "1". We saw 12' at high tide which means it would have been about 5' 5" at low. Give G"1" a wide berth.
Watch carefully for Red "60" at the St Augustine inlet - it is a small red nun, surprisingly close to shore, which must be honored to starboard to avoid running aground - I almost missed it!
Cruiser notes: Pablo Creek anchorages, mile 744.2 & 744.5 - not to be recommended (even tho' Skipper Bob lists it) more southern spot is downright dangerous with a very shoal entrance as seen at low tide - not shown on chart and would not be obvious at high tide.
Palm Cove Marina - convenient to waterway. $1.65/ft with Boat US discount. We entered at low tide and saw min depths of 5' 4". Good facilities - great laundry room and cruisers lounge. Very good (new?) Publix approx ΒΌ mile walk north on main road.