Up around 5:50 a.m. and pulled up the anchor at 6:20 a.m. We were on a falling tide, however the skinny water which was 15 miles away (about 2.5 to 3 hrs.) would not be at low tide until 10:14 and 11:14 at Sawpit creek and Sisters creek respectively. However we did experience some low water in the Amelia River but we went slow and got through it - whew. I sat on the stern seat calling out the depths so Tom could concentrate on the track. It was a pretty stressful first few hours. We did take note of 2 spots we hit bottom on the way up and was very careful at those markers to go slow and avoid them this time around.

When we crossed the St. John's river we finally go into deeper water. I could relax a little but of course not for long. The skies were darkening and soon the rain came. I put down the side curtain on the port side and then a little while later on the starboard. It then semi cleared but we ran into more rain just outside of Jacksonville Beach.

The last 35 miles of the trip was relatively smooth motoring with good depth. As we approached St. Augustine we were met with a strong current against us, it was about 3:05 p.m. Although we weren't that far from the Bridge of Lions (the only bridge that needed to be opened on this leg) we knew we wouldn't make the 3:30 and with current weren't sure if we would make the 4:00. But, don't despair as we made the turn and headed southwest we had a boost that brought our speed to 8 knots- hallelujah!! We made the 4:00 bridge and the marina we were staying in was just on the other side. We were in our slip by 4:15. This was a very long day. We went a total of 59.72 nm which equates to 68.7 statute miles.

We had planned on going to New Smyrna tomorrow, another long day. We looked on the chart to see if there was an anchorage within 30 miles. Unfortunately there were none that looked good and since this stretch of the intra coastal is more canal like there are no off shoot creeks to anchor in. So we decided to stay here another day before traveling to New Smyrna.

Had some snacks and drinks to wind down and then dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. After dinner we took a walk on the docks - breezy and cool. Back to the boat to finish blog and post. Long day so time for bed.