Florida…at last

We left Saint Simons Island, Georgia with mixed emotions. This seems like a great place to spend time but we are feeling a need to move on. The folks at Morningstar Marina were very accommodating, loaning us a car for a much needed run to West Marine, Winn Dixie & a liquor store with dusty bottles and outdated pricing (score!). However, the cool weather was better for traveling than touring so we pressed on to the holy grail of winter boating in America…Florida, the land of palm trees, T shirts & sunshine.

Todays travels were filled with typical ICW twists and turns. After passing the high security area (patrolled by police & Coast Guard) near a docked submarine, we entered an area at the confluence of the Cumberland Sound, St Marys Inlet and Fernandia Harbor Cut that was cluttered with red bouys, green buoys, yellow buoys and range markers, some shown on one chart, some shown on a second chart and some not appearing on any chart and some appearing on the charts but not actually appearing in the water!

This area was so confusing we slowed to near stop while we tried to sort out the conflicting markers (even Bob had abandoned his track in this area). Amidst the confusion we heard, ”vessel approaching red marker one…this is the Coast Guard”…”Coast Guard this is SkipStone”…” Skipstone, Coast Guard go to channel 68”…”SkipStone on 68”…”Coast Guard, SkipStone STATE YOUR INTENTIONS”…”Well thats what were trying to figure out… we’re going to Fernandina Beach Marina and got a little turned around in all these buoys”…(long pause)…”SkipStone, You’re going in the wrong direction, turn around and keep the greens on you port side”, ”SkipStone turning to port, thank you for your assistance, SkipStone standing by on 16” This whole encounter would have been much less tense if there hadn’t been a guy on the front of the Coast Guard boat positioned behind a really big gun. We didn’t dare get that picture! Fortunately we parted ways amicably .

The temps have remained on the cold side as we docked at Fernandina Beach Marina on Amelia Island. Tying up to the fuel dock, a cloud of grey smoke/steam erupted from the side of the boat, indicating a problem with our furnace (which has worked flawlessly for weeks). Steam belches out the furnace exhaust every time the boat rocks to starboard. Fortunately we have several other heat sources but we really liked the furnace, it heated up the cabin in a hurry…Another conundrum for another day (and its got to get warmer soon).

The town of Fernandina on Amelia Island is a place to explore, relax & revisit. The island is the exact same size as Manhattan, but with far fewer people, moving at more reasonable speed…more stroll, less hustle…more peace, less pace…time for ice cream, less drama…you get the idea. Large parks on either end of the island and a central park in the middle, this place is worth a week or two, somewhere down the line.

However, the weather is looking very iffy for Tuesday. The forecast calls for a rainy…ish, cloudy..ish, cool..ish kind of day and our decision is that we will be more comfortable behind the windshield wipers in the heated pilot house, than walking the town & parks, so we choose to move on to St Augustine and add Amelia Island to the growing list of destinations for our northward return trip.