Florida Coast Part 1

Having just arrived at Florida's northern border to the pretty town of Fernandina beach, we took a much-needed break. The boat had been frozen, doused, and rattled apart during the passage from South Carolina, and so had the crew. We decided to set an anchor just outside town and spoil ourselves with a night at a Hampton Inn which tempted with a fireplace in the room and laundry machines downstairs. We'd never heard of this small town or Amelia Island where it sits; another boat we were travelling along with since Maine had gone north instead to attend a Thanksgiving dinner on the Georgia side. It was a nice welcome stop into Florida, and even if it were a bit gray the temperatures were still 20 degrees higher than where we'd left.

We enjoyed a night out and some much needed RnR before pulling up anchor and heading to our original destination of Jacksonville, where we'd anchor once again and head onward to St. Augustine. Other sailors had been talking up St Augustine since we had left home, it seems it was universally loved by all as a great stop. We were waitlisted for a mooring but eventually given one by the town as we hurried through the Bridge of Lions. It's clearly a popular tourist spot for the holiday lights around town, and as it happened our arrival coincided with "Black Friday", meaning it was an absolute zoo. Still in the midst of the pandemic, the entire town was packed wall to wall with tourists. This was also our introduction to Florida's "relaxed" stance towards health policy and there wasn't a mask to be found. It was half refreshing, half unsettling coming from New York where everything was quite serious.

We took a walk up to the famous fortress but decided to skip the line (and entry fees...) and see it from the outside. We looked for something to kill some time and crossed the Bridge of Lions in search of mini-golf and other activities. This was the side of town we enjoyed most, more our speed with a Bar/Arcade specializing in grilled cheese, an extensive mini-golf course, and a South African specialty butcher and shop with some of the best biltong (jerkey) we've had in a while. Also because of the walk, it was far less crowded than downtown. Sure enough though, at night the entire place lit up with Christmas decorations, which still felt weird in light of the palm trees. We slipped off the mooring the next day, shipping some more diesel and water on the way out. All in all, St. Augustine was saved by the grilled cheese.

By this rate we were not going to sail the boat until we could find a place to hunker down and fix the mast movement we had made worse in our offshore adventure, so we continued down the ICW towards Daytona Beach. It was a long, straight and fairly boring trip, and it was still a bit too chilly and windy to enjoy the beaches there like I'd remembered from when I was a kid. We hung out for a few ho-hum days and took off for Cape Canaveral.

Speaking to my grandmother, she assured me that once we were south of the cape, we could finally pack up our sweaters for a while. We found a spot to anchor and wait for the launch of a SpaceX mission from KSC, we were about as close as you could get. As predicted, we recorded some of our first 70+ temperatures. I expected an earthshattering rumble but in truth, there was barely a sound as the small streak of light ascended. More interesting was the dolphins playing in the ICW the next day. Soon we'd be headed further down the "ditch" in search of our first true beach day on the trip. More on that after the dolphins.

- Shiloh crew