Headed back north with Jesse

"That's what sailing is, a dance, and your partner is the sea.  And with the sea you never take liberties.  You ask her, you don't tell her.  You have to remember always that she's the leader, not you.  You and your boat are dancing to her tune."

Michael  Morpurgo... "Alone on a Wide Wide Sea

Post #30

Glory Days spent the month of August, 2013 in St. Augustine, Fla, at River's Edge Marina.  It was an ok marina, but I had become spoiled with the comforts and wonderful view of the marina in Fernandina, so it was not a real disappoint to leave River's Edge Marina to head back north to Fernandina Beach.  

I was joined by my friend, Jesse Stubbs, who drove down from Fernandina to make the northern passage with me back to Amelia Island. Jesse is a cool guy, at 28, with lots of sailing experience and a good thinker and just an all around easy guy to be with... laid back hippie type like myself I suppose.

Pickin' guitar while we're waiting for the wind to build up and blow us north...

Here's the course below that we took.. We motored to the city marina at dusk the night before and tied up to a mooring ball just north of the Bridge of Lions.  That way, we could depart without having to have the bridge opened for us.  They open it every 30 minutes upon request.... I always feel "special" as cars wait for me to pass thru.... they are suddenly on "my" schedule...

Bridge of Lions at night from the mooring ball.

After a good nights rest, we untied the mooring ball at 5:20 a.m. on Wed., Aug. 21, 2013.  

It was dark... very dark.  No moon, no headlights, dark as shit, only a black sky loaded with diamonds above us... 

Another learning experience taught me yet another lesson of cruising .... I should have studied the charts in daylight before we left to familiarize myself with how to view the markers at nighttime .... and how to read the lights... some  are green, some are red, some blinking every 2 seconds, some blinking ever 4 seconds... Some not even on the chart... But I assumed I knew the channel well, as I had cruised thru it several times recently, but during daylight.... nighttime is something totally different...  Long story short, we made it out to the pass and lived to tell about it... almost ran aground, but we won't go into that, because we didn't run aground... just nearly.

Flagler College, St.Augustine

America's oldest city... Hello Goodbye

The old Spanish Fort right downtown

Glorious sunrise....

We got underway at 5:20 a.m....Before the trip with Jesse, I installed this brand new Ritchie Compass.... man, it's nice... and it should be,
 for what it cost... don't get me started...

Installed a new compass!

 Winds were light at first so we had some time to snooze....


these birds were in some sort of FEEDING FRENZY..... It entertained us for about an hour or more...

the wind eventually picked up and we made 71 miles in 13 hours.

ya, Kumbucha at sea... what a treat!

After 2 hours of motoring north, the wind finally begin to increase.... and before long we were making a steady 4 knots toward our destination.... all along the coast here, you can spot landmarks for Jacksonville, Mayport, Amelia Island and more...This photo was taken about 4 miles off shore, thus it appears a bit hazy...

Here's a friendly manatee that was grazing the marshes when we got back to Fernandina.

Finally, Glory Days is back her to her favorite slip... The month in St. Augustine had been nice, but it was deliciously good to get back to this marina.... great views and friendly surroundings.