Fernandina Beach, Florida

Jacksonville Beach to Fernandina Beach


We decided to move closer to the Georgia line on our unplanned and unscheduled cruise up the Atlantic Coast. The voyage was a short one but there were some anxious moments. For one thing, the cruised guides are loaded with warnings of blind spots, huge tides and currents and fast commercial traffic on the St. Johns River near Jacksonville. When we approached the intersection of the ICW and the SJR, we noticed the tides/current predictions were on target. We had to cross and go upstream to the Sisters Creek bridge at the opening of the ICW to the north. The current was just under three knots opposing but fortunately, there were no ships in sight. The southern approach to the river is lined with many buoys marking various channels and can be somewhat confusing. It would be really tough without a chart plotter in low visibility. If one misses the channel, there are really big rocks to help one toward a shipyard and a new bottom.

The rest of the short sail to Fernandina was spectacular, and we enjoyed a cool, dry morning underway. In fact, it was cooler here yesterday than in New York. Just a small respite from the muggy summer Florida coastline was quite a surprise. So far, we have been also amazed at the lack of bugs along the way. In the areas of Texas with salt grass marshes, bugs develop stealth, aggressive tactics. Not so here so far. We are told that they are waiting just north of the Florida/Georgia line.

We arrived at Fernandina Harbor Marina around 1300 and were met at the slip by three dock crew to catch our lines. I wonder if we showed up in some database as one boat needing that many folks to protect the dock. This is a wonderful, historical place built on the just inside St. Mary’s Inlet on the Cumberland Sound on the Amelia River. We think those names really sing. This is the inlet from sea for the boomers of Kings Bay. Accordingly, the channels from here through the Sound are deep and have respectable currents. By that I mean the currents must be respected. Look down at the charts for an instant too long and the current and eddies will challenge your skills. Docking in two knots astern, with fifteen knot side wind and a downwind slip and you get one chance to get it right. Ah, that is why they had three catchers on the dock. Our ground tackle (anchors) lined up perfectly with the power pylon on the dock. A miss and there would be sparks.

Bear takes more treatments in Jacksonville tomorrow through Friday so we will have time to see (you guessed it) the local fort: Fort Clinch. There are several museums here in town and if I can get Bear warmed up enough, we will visit them all- or not.

Short on signal bars so I will post pics later.

This Weekend

Three hundred and four years and hopefully still counting for this grand experiment.  Some of us believe the Republic is in dire danger and heading for an early demise but for this weekend, Bear and I plan to celebrate the birthday.  This marina is very quiet and with the exception of our music and the noise of our flags, there is not much going on here.  St. Augustine is throwing one grand party this weekend at the fort with real cannons to boot.  The most memorable 4th we ever spent was sitting on the parade deck at Camp Lejeune with Mark, Amy, Grant, Madison and Ethan at sunset.  Our Marine and a few thousand other Marines were treated to a very lively fireworks show along with the 1812 Overture and real howitzers.  It was spectacular and very much an honor to be at that place with all those Devil Dogs.   It would be very hard to top that.

Bear's treatments are working and we plan to leave this place on Monday for points north.  We learned a very important thing about the back and the aging process:  use it or it will attack you.  Movement through the range of motion as often as possible will keep the discs happy and actually help heal them to some degree.   Wait too long and it gets ugly.

Spells "Liberty"

Have a very happy weekend and remember that it is sponsored by the boys and girls of the US Military through their generous contributions for the past three hundred years.

Thoughts About the Cruise

With the exception of the few weeks in the yard in New Orleans, Why Knot has been underway since the end of January.  The cold and rain of the first few months has now given way to the southern heat and hurricane season.  We will take some time to cover the next few legs of our cruise north due to the medical issue we face but we will still be moving. 

We know the feeling and the required executions of getting ready for a hurricane yet this time it aimed at Texas, we were not part of the preparations.  We were part of the emotional aspect of it since our Texas friends were in the cross hairs.  Even the ex patriots of Rima were in the path.  As I have said before, those not in the path pay little attention to the oncoming storm.  For the boaters in this area, little was said and things were normal but they know (as we do) that our turn will come a bit later in the season.  I really hate hurricane season wherever they go.  

Our friends aboard Keeling Time are underway again after extensive lightening damage.  They spent two weeks or so in Fort Pierce.  It is a quaint place and can entertain one for a few days.  Two weeks stretches the patience to get underway again.  They are now headed this direction and will soon catch up with us.  Glad that is so. 

Our cruise has turned into a hybrid of a sort because we are tied to Jacksonville for the next few weeks.  That tends to leave one with a similar feeling of being on a sort of leash.  Until we can complete the treatments, we will be chewing on that leash.  Until then, we will be sightseeing in the surrounding area.  There is much to see and we are glad to be where we are ---- for now.

A launch delay

The back issue has improved but is not resolved.  Bear cannot enjoy the cruise as much as possible with the problem unresolved.  Accordingly, we made the decision that we would contact a spine clinic and pursue a course of action that will, we hope, resolve it once and for all.  That might be optimistic but we need to reduce the discomfort to the lowest level possible.  We spent the day at the clinic and an MRI facility and will have treatments every day possible for the next few weeks.  That will not keep us from cruising north but it will hold us in places for a few days at the time so we can get back to Jacksonville.  Thus, the agenda shifts from purely cruising to a combination of that and medical visits since Bear has little confidence in the ship's doctor.