On December 2nd we got up early in anticipation of leaving Surf City, NC, the joke was on us. We had no depth reading on the depth finder, Rob went out and put a boathook in the water and yep, we were sitting on the bottom. We had to wait for the tide to rise before we could leave. Instead of a 7 a.m. departure, we left at 8:19. This allowed us to enjoy our morning coffee.
We arrived at the Figure Eight Island Bridge. It is very interesting watching the bridge swing open to allow us to pass. The Figure Eight Island Bridge is a swing bridge that connects Figure Eight Island to the Mainland of Wilmington, NC. The bridge was built in 1934 and was formerly the James Madison Memorial Bridge, U.S. 301 over the Rappahannock River until the late 1970's. In 1980 the bridge was moved down the waterway and installed in it's current location.
 |
| Surf City to Holden Beach |
We made it to South Carolina -- the weather has to be getting warmer, right? We arrived at the Captain Archie Neil Poo McLauchlin previously the Little River Swing Bridge. This swing bridge was built in 1935 and renamed in 2018 after an old fisherman.
We passed the Grand Dunes Marina, where our friends Tim and Laura on Sojourn are staying. They came out to wave to us and we were able to chat via VHF. They took a much better picture of us then I took of them. We would have stayed but we were determined to get to warmer weather. We travelled 80 nm (nautical miles) to an anchorage in Minim Creek (MM 415).
 |
| Holden Beach to Minim Creek |
On December 4th, we started the day with a beautiful sunrise. We had a nice cruise, the weather is chilly but still a beautiful sunny day. We went 71 nm to Tom Point Creek (MM 495.7) where we anchored for the evening. The forecast was calling for gale force winds on the Atlantic. We were not too concerned since we had anchored in this spot earlier this year and felt pretty protected.
 |
| Minim Creek to Tom Point Creek |
Next we anchored in Bull Creek near Hilton Head Island (MM 565). Almost to Georgia! The following morning we got up and the weather was absolutely perfect so we took advantage and went outside on the Atlantic Ocean and travelled 80 nm to St. Simon's Sound inlet. The inlet is between St. Simon's and Jekyll Islands. We passed the capsized Golden Ray on our way to our anchorage off of Lanier Island.
 |
| Tom Point Creek to Bull Creek |
 |
| Capsized Golden Ray |
 |
| Bull Creek to Lanier Island |
The last stretch of Georgia we passed the King's Bay Sub Base. While I was down below, Rob was hailed on the radio and the Navy was going to give us an escort. I didn't know until I came back up. Of course, I needed a picture for the blog. As I snapped my picture a very stern voice said, "NO PICTURES". Oh well. I already had a good one.
Finally, crossed into our home state of Florida! We went to the free dock at Sister's Creek in Jacksonville (MM 738.7). As we are approaching, we could tell the dock was full, OH MY, what are we going to do? Rob turns in like a spot is just going to magically appear. Well it sorta of did. A couple from No Fixed Address asked if we wanted to tie up along side of them. Whew, crisis averted.
 |
| Finally in our home state |
 |
| Tied up with No Fixed Address |
 |
| Lanier Island to Jacksonville |
A family we knew from Herrington Harbour on board Lehe Paine was also on the dock. We spent a little time talking about what we had been up to and our plans for where to next. Then we all decided we were cold and it was time to go back to our vessel. That had been the first time in a week we had been off our boat.
On December 9th, we woke to another chilly morning. It was only 38 degrees! Hey! I thought we were in Florida.
Next stop, St. Augustine where we stayed at the Municipal Marina (MM 778.1) for 2 nights. Our friends Bob and Christine (Bob and Rob are Navy buddies) were able to have dinner with us. They took us to Amici's Italian Restaurant. We started with roasted garlic with bread and eggplant rollatini. Both were delicious!
 |
| Jacksonville to St. Augustine |
For our down day we both got started on our chores, Rob was outside and I was inside. I had Christmas music blaring on the Bose while defrosting the freezer, cleaning, rearranging, and laundry. Rob cleaned the flybridge, the entire outside of the boat, added water, and took out the trash.
Once chores were done and we walked around town exploring and shopping. We found the Spanish Bakery and Cafe and they had fresh bread! The Cafe is located in the Salcedo Kitchen. The Salcedo House and Kitchen was a dwelling constructed in St. Augustine's First Spanish Period (1565 - 1763). The house and kitchen were reconstructed on their original foundations that were uncovered and excavated in 1962. We purchased a loaf 🍞 of Salcedo bread. They have been using the same family recipe for 50 years.
 |
| Fresh Salcedo bread (white 🍞 bread) |
We did a self guided tour of the St. Augustine Distillery. The building was restored for the Distillery, as it was built as part of St. Augustine's first power and ice complex in 1907. The tour had 3 tasting stations, the first was vodka mixed with a mule mixer. The second was rum and gin, the rum was mixed with a tiki mixer (like a Pina colada) the gin was mixed with a tonic mixer. The last station was their bourbon with an Old Fashion mix. Needless to say it was not my favorite and Rob had 2 tastings. The distillery makes vodka, rum, gin, bourbon, and mixers. My favorite, believe it or not, was the gin and tonic.
We chose the Floridian Restaurant for dinner. Rob had the Not Your Mama's Meatloaf Sandwich. It was served on Jax Bread Co ciabatta with basil mayo, spinach and 🍅 tomatoes. I had the South-East Fried Chicken Sandwich on ciabatta with lemon aioli and marinated collard-cabbage slaw with a drizzle of hot sauce honey. Both were yummy! 😋
 |
| Meatloaf Sandwich |
 |
| Fried Chicken Sandwich |
We then had a leisurely stroll back to the boat while enjoying all the Christmas 🎄 decorations. This town is the most decorated town I think I have ever seen.
We're off again. Next stop Daytona Beach (MM 832). We had a lovely sunset at our anchorage in Daytona. We slept in as we only had a 2 1/2 hr. ride to our next destination of New Smyrna Beach (MM 846.4). We decided to dock at the free town dock so we could check out the town. There is a 10 hr. maximum and no overnight docking. So our plan was to check it out and then anchor for the afternoon.
 |
| St. Augustine to Daytona |
We walked to a grocery store and replenished our perishables, back to the boat and stored the refrigerated items. We then walked to the historic main street of New Smyrna. It is a cute little area with some very good restaurants. We decided to get a pizza from Panheads Pizzeria. Our choice was a small White Wedding (herb oil, white pizza) with baby spinach, artichoke hearts, roasted garlic, Roma tomatoes, and feta cheese. We should have gotten a large. By the way, Finally shorts and a t-shirt 👕.
We decided to move on and continue heading south. We untied from the free dock and ended our trip at Mosquito Lagoon where we anchored for this evening. Enjoyed a cocktail outside and then a delicious charcuterie board for dinner.
 |
| New Smyrna to Mosquito Lagoon |
No comments:
Post a Comment