Jacksonville to St. Augustines, Florida

Dec. 3rd, 2008

Florida is experiencing a bit of a cold spell this week. We actually had to turn the heat on in the boat last night! We can’t complain too much considering that we left much colder temperatures in Canada.

In Jacksonville we were at a marina located on the Intracoastal Waterway. We had two options either head south on the ICW to St. Augustine or head a bit north to the St. John’s river out to the Atlantic, then head south.

Calm seas on the Atlantic.

We looked at the charts and determined that it was more complicated to go down the ICW. During low tide there were areas of the ICW that would be too shallow for the draft of our boat. During high tide we would have to watch our mast height in relation to the tide and the height of the many 65’ bridges. The forecast for the ocean was calm with 1’ – 2’ seas. We determined that going coastal would be less stressful. On our way out the St. John’s river we just barely cleared two bridges with only about one foot to spare.

The kids named this dolphin Flap Jax (short for Jacksonville).

The kids were excited to be moving on the water again, so they were both standing on the bow when six dolphins swam approximately twenty feet in front of our boat. The kids were thrilled as they whistled, squealed and banged the hull to attract more dolphins. To our surprised we were surrounded by dolphins all the way to the ocean. Once on open water we did not see them anymore.  Heading down the coast we had to watch out for the many fishing boats in the area. After watching a pretty sunset, and after a couple games of crazy eights with the kids, we headed in towards the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine.

We called ahead so the bridge master was expecting us, and the draw bridge was raised for us to pass  through. Once in St. Augustine we went to a nearby seafood restaurant and enjoyed a nice dinner. This is a beautiful town, the oldest city in the US, with an authentic Old World look, completely lit up with lights. During dinner we had a view of horse drawn carriages taking people for rides. Alexander was sleepy during dinner, but he completely perked up when the horses went by. In the morning we headed out to town, had breakfast in a nice bakery with free Wi-Fi and uploaded our blog. Today we plan to head further south. 

Lift Bridge in St. Augustine

In Florida boaters love to decorate their boats for Christmas.

Christmas Decorations in St. Augustine.

A St. Augustine fort.