We survived the storm that wasn't. While the rest of the south and all around Florida suffered from the great big storm, it seemed to split in two parts around central Florida. We had a piece of it but not nearly what everyone else suffered through. In less than two hours, we saw sunshine again. But as with most cold fronts, by morning the next day, we had hard northwest winds blowing as we headed north. We had stopped where we did because we didn't want to get caught in the open waters ahead of us when the storm hit. Now we had to bounce across those open areas all day against the winds. Between the traffic of the AICW, the bridges in south Florida, and now the winds, I was pretty well ready for a break.

We made it to Cocoa, Florida and anchored just south of the bridge and Cocoa Village. Cocoa Village is a very nice area of restaurants and shops adjacent to a very large city park. The park has dinghy docks, temporary day docks, a boat ramp, playgrounds, etc. Anchoring cruisers seemed to be welcomed here. Enterprise picked us up as advertised, and we used the rental to drive to Patrick AFB a few miles south and east of our anchorage. Ed made his official visit while I bought some groceries, and we picked up his company car left there in February. We dropped the groceries off at the boat, and drove to St. Augustine to drop his car off. This hop-scotching of his company car is necessary for his work, but it also gives us transportation when we need it. The trick is to plan ahead estimating when he will need it for a work trip. The fall back is always that we can rent a car if something comes up. It's really too bad that our country does not have a good public transit system that can get folks from one town to the next without putting more cars on the road. We couldn't even get a Greyhound back to our location in Cocoa in less than 24 hours from St. Augustine.

From Cocoa, we had a nice run for a return visit to New Smyrna Beach City Marina. We visited before in 2010 for one night, and again promised ourselves we would return for longer. We stayed two nights so we could visit The Little Drug Co. for lunch and again later for hot fudge sundaes. Operating since 1920, this old time pharmacy still has a fully operational soda fountain. The burgers taste like burgers used to taste, and the sundaes do, too. And the prices were excellent, as well. It seems odd today to sit next to Dr. Scholl's displays while eating lunch, but what a delicious lunch! We love finding off the wall places like this and giving them our business. We much prefer the local businesses to the chains. Not only is the service usually better, we get to see how people live in different places.

A full day in a marina also means chores that can't be accomplished easily at anchor. Laundry was the first chore on the list, and then I walked into downtown to find a barber to trim the fur cap from around my head. I found a lady barber that gave me an excellent cut in half the time of any other I've been to. No appointment, no fuss, just wait in line with all the other guys. I was a happy camper, UNTIL--paying. She charged me double what the men ahead of me paid. Why? Because I'm female. Hmmmmm! I was speechless and not prepared for that. Next time, I'll ask first.

Washing the salt off the boat from our splashing around through the cold front was the next order of business. My little electric pressure washer bought earlier this year is one of best additions I've made. It doesn't take up much space, it is lightweight, and it allows me to wash the entire boat in a jiffy using less water and no soap. I don't use too much pressure on the surfaces to resist damaging them, but sending the higher pressure water through all the hard to get to rigging connections and crevices helps with maintenance. Plus, my back and shoulders are happier the next day when I haven't spent hours pushing the deck brush.

The weather seemed to give us a break as we left New Smyrna Beach with calm south to southwest winds forecast for the day. We headed out the Ponce Inlet to slick morning seas and pointed north for St. Augustine, our next port of call. We pull the mainsail up and had just enough winds to sail, but to make port well before dark, we motor sailed the distance. Ahhhh, what a relief! Traveling the Intracoastal Waterway requires constant in-seat attention at the helm looking out for obstacles, other boats, and staying between the navigational aids so we don't run aground. Since Ed works while we cruise, that means I stay there all day with only the short breaks he can give me. I much prefer to sail outside when the weather allows because I can enlist Otto, our autopilot, and walk around the deck while underway. I still must maintain a lookout, but the obstacles are visible for greater distances and are few and far between. If I see something cool, I can grab my camera and take photos, something that I cannot do in tight places. Our trip to St. Augustine made for a relaxing run. While keeping watch, I was able to study the Coast Pilot and begin thinking about the next big leg of our voyage--heading north to Charleston next month.

I fought the heavy currents coming out of the wild and crazy St. Augustine Inlet to get inside and take a mooring just south of the St. Augustine Municipal Marina, another very nice and well run city marina. While on the mooring, the city will come with a pump out boat and empty our holding tank, and they also offer a water taxi every two hours. We will stay on the mooring for a month while we make some short trips, do a little maintenance and enjoy this place. We love it here and hope to visit more of the interesting historical sites while here as well as meet up with and socialize with some of the other cruisers.
St. Lucie to St. Augustine Photo Gallery