Sorry that the website was down yesterday but it is now up and here is the latest post.
Another good day on the water. Started at 8:30 this morning and we dropped off the shower/restroom key as we drove by the fuel dock by putting it into a net being held by one of the attendants.
There was very little wind today for most of the ride. It was fairly windy when we arrived in St. Augustine and that made for some interesting docking.
We were able to get under all the bridges today without having to wait. Makes it quicker on the water. The boat that pulled out of the marina right behind us had to wait briefly for 2 of the first 3 bridges and we ended up being about 2 1/2 mikes ahead of them.
Lots of boat traffic on the water today. 80% to 90% are moving north. I saw boats from New York, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
The ICW was quite a mix today from some reasonably developed areas to no homes at all. It was hard to tell if the areas with no development were marshy or just not developed yet. More development along the ocean front where we were able to see the ocean areas (no homes along the ICW). Some areas of the ICW are fairly straight and other areas twist all around, It was pretty twisty in the area near the Matanzas Inlet, approximately 15 miles south of St. Augustine.
Pretty easy to see the shallow parts of the ICW in the section between Matanzas Inlet and St. Augustine. Some of the sand bars were out of the water. We came around one bend in the ICW and there was a sailboat sitting high and dry on this sandbar and it looked like he had been there for quite awhile. The tides in St. Augustine range between 5; and 6′ difference between high and low tide. The St. Augustine Municipal Marina has floating docks so the tides do not present a problem getting off the boat, and Candy is happy about that.
As we were coming into the Marina in St. Augustine there is a bascule bridge just past the marina and the barge with what I thought was a rocket that we saw at the Cape Canaveral haul over canal was getting lined up to go under the bridge. Well the bridge went up to allow him to pass but the opening was not overly wide under the bridge and the tug captain was not lined up too well and the barge rammed the wood fenders that protect the bridge abutment. Fortunately the barge was not moving real fast but it did make a loud noise that caused me to turn to see what happened. It appeared that the damage was minimal to the wood fenders. I am sure they give under the force to some extent.
Lots of interesting tour boats here in St. Augustine. We have pictures of the pirate ship and the sailing schooner. They also have a mooring field on the edge of the ICW outside the marina.
Went to the World Golf Hall of Fame on Tuesday and it was great. There are two floors with a large exhibit on Bob Hope and the remainder of the first floor talks about the history of golf around the world with a lot of information on the British Open. The second floor has exhibits dedicated to each years inductees. they also have a “Locker Room” area where they have wooden lockers for each member with personal items from each of the members in their locker. Really kind of neat. Also as part of the ticket is a chance to take a shot to their island green in if you get a hole in one you get a free trip to the Players Championship. Needless to say I did not win.