Sunday, cast off Delegal Creek Marina at 7:20. Full moon over the marsh. Oops, just dawned on us: full moon, unusual low and high tides! That is why we touched bottom yesterday where we never had an issue before……now, at near high tide, the green channel pilings look low in the water. The square green marker is only about 3 feet off the water!. Never seen it this high before and its not high tide until 10 am. Went by Hell Gate-no issue with this tide. Later, when the tide went down, we heard our wake “surf’ behind us. Not a good sign. We anchored in the Darien River (mm 651) at 2pm. Larry didn’t want to go through the Little Mud River at low tide.

Monday, anchor up at 7:15, again before sunrise.Beautiful morning, full moon behind us, sunrise coming. It’s one of those “pinch me” moments that can’t be real. Not quite high tide. 50 in pilothouse, 47 out, and 45 in back porch. Then dolphins playing with our bow wave. As we transited Jekyll Creek, there was a capsized tug, on its side. The Coast Guard has been announcing this for days. It was a small tug, we were concerned it was a full sizer and it’s a narrow channel. No problem. I hate seeing anything sunk-awful feeling. Ok, getting hot in the pilothouse today. Now in Southern Georgia. Went by Cumberland Island but didn’t stop-no time to hang out. Crossed into Florida at 3:10. Anchored in the Amelia River (mm720). New anchorage for us, nice one…..

Tuesday, Merry Christmas! Underway at 7:05. In the 40s. Florida? On the phone with family most of the morning and online with friends. Ospreys started to appear again-had not seen any this trip. Even they beat us south this year…. backed into a slip, at St. Augustine Municipal Marina at 2:10 (mm778). Yes, he backed in! With that current, just pulling into a slip is dicey, he decides to back in-will make leaving in the morning easier. My stomach was in a knot, I got a headache. He did it very nicely, but even he had an adrenaline rush. Went for a walk and closed out a bar, last call. At 730 pm. BTW, we were not the youngest folks there…. there were plenty of young folks….. it’s Christmas. Actually, the city was very crowded. I had booked online a holiday lights trolley tour, and the only time available was 8:45 or 9:00. Glad I booked online-the lines to buy tickets and get on trolleys were blocks long. We just walked around until about 8:40. It was fun. They placed Christmas music and handed out glasses that made all the lights look like snowmen. I passed on wearing the glasses…. Larry wore them. It was a good time and something festive to do since we were “in transit” this year. Only year in my 61 that we did not even get to see mom. We will celebrate when we get there…..

Wednesday, departed St. Augustine at 7:05. Larry aced it again! I love the location of that marina but the currents make accessing the docks unpleasant. I would have stayed there an extra day but we need to move on. Warm-later Larry went below and put shorts on for the first time! Anchored out in New Smyrna (mm 846), at 3:40. It would be a long haul to the next anchorage and we would have to travel at night, generally a no-no on the ICW.

Thursday, anchor up at 7:15. Warm, 66. Great cloud formations. Tons of dolphins and birds. Then, Haulover Cut, a favorite, I always sit forward and take my camera with me. Not much to photograph today. Not many birds or manatees….Then, SE 15-25, in a wide open area, near Titusville. Water splashing everywhere and Larry opened forward ports this morning…. a little clean up was required. Anchor down in Melbourne (mm914), at 4:30. Uncovered my garden today. We had covered it with a tarp-most look dead. Now it feels like we are making progress on this trip.

Friday, anchor up at 7:05. “Larry the windlass” had to work hard. I thought perhaps a hair dryer would come up this time. We picked up a curling iron here on a prior trip….blew hard last night, I was concerned we might need a second anchor. Anchor dug in. Wind calmed down for the morning but was expected to pick up again. Dolphins swimming alongside several times, always a treat. Good pictures and a short video. Wind did pick up, SSE 20 plus. Glad we are inside, not outside on Atlantic. We were butting our head into it at 6 mph. There was a squadron of pelicans hunting and diving around us for quite a awhile-amazing they don’t break something when they hit the water. Counted 18 dives within just seconds. Fueled at Fort Pierce (easy approach, in/out )and continued on. Water splashing over the windshield again….still small craft warnings…..Anchored at Jensen Beach (mm981). Listening to some good music from a joint ashore. Lots of yellowish orange lights around the bridge. Quiet night…..

Saturday, anchor up 7:10. Wind quieted down. Two manatees by Peck Lake, our first sighting this trip. Then more, more circles in the water too. Then, Saturday on Lake Worth, nasty wakes everywhere. Normally we wouldn’t travel the Florida ICW on weekends. Anchor down at Lake Santa Barbara at 5:30 (mm1046).

EXTRA DAY:

Sunday, anchor up at 7:05. First bridge to open 7:30. First lizards on the bridge bulkheads in Fort Lauderdale. Then one really nasty, incompetent female bridge tender at Oakland Park Blvd. We were waiting there, Larry spoke to her. She claims we were not there and there will be no 7:45 opening. The sailboat behind us also asked for an opening and she she said no, not until 8:15. He commented to get glasses her vision is off. Then at 8:10 Larry asked to confirm she saw us, she wouldn’t reply. Finally Larry went channel 16, high power on the VHF, (Coast Guard monitors) and asked the same info. Then she answers on 9, the bridges’ working channel. The other boat was Wild Oats from Maine…two northern boats…. she is not worth our time or attention. Sometimes in life it’s best to ignore anal orifices….No more lizards on bulkheads-wonder what they did to get rid of them. Topped off fuel tanks and arrived at our marina at 11ish. Met by friends, always welcoming site. Now Panda Bear needs to be scrubbed down ( salt water everywhere), and all the vinyl needs our 5 step process….etc.etc….then we can settle in for the winter……we made it. This was a challenging trip. Unless something boat related pops up, I will not post until we begin our journey north in May. Have a great winter.