Slowly moving south! In Titusville, FL

We left Fernandina Beach on Thursday Feb. 11^th (nine days after arriving!) having been there much longer than we wanted to – three days needed for parts and repairs to the sea strainer and then another five days due to weather. We traveled about 3 hrs to Sisters Creek to a public dock where we tied up with one other boat that was already there. It was a great location – easy to take Gracie for her doggie business! The current, however, ran extremely strongly at max so it was like we were under sail while at the dock!!
We left early the next morning to go about 33 nm to St Augustine. We arrived on Friday Feb. 12^th earlier than we had expected with only one wait for bridge opening – the last one – the Bridge of Lions just before our anchorage for the night. We took a mooring at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina which gave us access to dingy dock for Gracie, showers and town for us!! We had asked if it was possible to get a mooring as close as possible and they gave us mooring #1 which was the closest one in the mooring field!! St. Augustine is a really great city to visit. It has the southern charm of Charleston, SC (complete with lots of pirate history and attractions) and it has the feel of New Orleans! It is quite the tourist town – there were people from all over the country visiting for their winter vacation.
Joan's comments about St. Augustine:
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“It felt good to have moved on towards our goal of going South!! St Augustine's is a very nice city. We tried to take a trolley tour of the city, but they didn't allow dogs, even in a carrier. Whit saw a golf cart type thing go by called “Hopper” and it said it did tours. So that's what we did!! What a crazy experience. Our guide/driver/college student was just the ticket for learning about the eclectic side of this city. Very fun, but a few moments in traffic when I thought, “well this isn't going to be pretty”. Since it was Feb 13, we decided to treat ourselves to an early Valentines Day lunch. Had a great meal at a place called Harry's. We ended up staying a few extra days so we really got to know our way around the walking radius of the area. It seems to me that we are some sort of magnet for the unfortunate homeless population, I think, because they want to pat and talk to Gracie! We have granola bars in our backpacks so when one man asked us for money we asked if he would like a granola bar. He was so happy that I now will pack more in my backpack!”
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We had planned to stay two days (Friday and Saturday) and leave on Sunday but because I wanted to consult with some diesel mechanics about our oil consumption, which seems a bit excessive, we needed to remain until Monday to contact them. I was concerned that perhaps we had done some damage with our overheat due to the sea strainer and that is why we were burning more oil than I had remembered. (We also seemed to be making more oil smoke out the exhaust than I recalled too!) I did an oil change Sunday and talked to four mechanics on Monday who all basically said the same thing – 1) an oil change was important to do after an overheat and 2) I would need to monitor closely the oil consumption because it was possible that we had scored the piston cylinders and would, in fact, burn more oil. So we are doing just that – carefully monitoring!!!
We left St. Augustine on Tuesday February 16^th headed to Daytona Beach, FL on an absolutely beautiful day that finally warmed up to the temps we were expecting on this trip – the 70's!!! We made excellent time and anchored in Seabreeze (in Daytona Beach) at a lonely little spot with access to a boat ramp. (For Gracie of course!) It was a completely calm night at anchor and we were off early the next morning for Titusville, FL, where we are now. We did NOT go ashore in the morning for Gracie – a first on this trip – because we needed to catch a bridge opening and she had been reluctant to do her business, for one reason or another, ashore the night before. We figured she might finally use the sod which we STILL have on the aft deck!! (Nope! - she waited until we got to Titusville at about 3pm!!)
We needed to take on fuel so we first came in to the fuel dock at the Titusville Municiple Marina and were asked if we were staying with them for the night. I said that we were planning to stay on a mooring but would consider a dock if they had a “deal” for us. After a quick call to the main office, we had a “deal” and we got a nice dock spot for the night, which has again been a godsend because the winds have kicked up to 20+ knots and being on a mooring would have been insanely tough to get to shore. A good call once again!!!
We have ordered parts for the dingy engine which we need and are waiting for them. Our plans are to leave for Merritt Island today (Friday Feb. 19) where we plan to visit my high school drama teacher – Phil Stewart. Phil and I have remained in contact for all of these years and is not only a mentor but good friend. After Merritt Island we plan to stop in Melbourne, FL and then our immediate goal of Vero Beach, FL.

       Leaving Fernandina Beach anchorage one is reminded of exactly how deep the water is!!

   At Sisters Creek the Navy went by!

   They all had machine guns that were manned too!!  One of these or just like these went hard aground on the jetties outside of Jacksonville!!!

    This is the free public dock in Sisters Creek.  This is just before you enter the St. Johns River leading up into Jacksonville, FL

   At Sisters Creek we were met that evening by Brown - the self appointed "Greeter".  Brown met our "Greeter" - Gracie, who is plying him for treats!!!

 Right outside of Sisters Creek is our first bascule bridge - being replaced by a fixed bridge under construction.

 We see a lot of wrecked and abandoned boats in FL.  Results of Katrina?

 Pirate Gracie!!

 On Mooring #1 in St. Augustine!

   The Bridge of Lions in St. Augstine

   St. Augustine's Flagler College

   Joan was thinking about going back to teaching!!

     Our neighbor at dock - The Pirate ship - Black Raven.  Daily and evening "shows".

   For Mike Noble - the compass - showing which way the wind is still coming from!!!

 This was NOT a wreck - this was a mistake.  There are some very shallow spots we had to navigate through on the ICW.  This person must have gone aground at high tide.  Not good!!!

   But this is remnants of Kartrina (or other) I think.

 The marina in Titusville.

 We think we found Mike Conroy's new boat!!  (Note: no name change needed, Mike!)

 Another sunken sailboat just outside of the marina in Titusville.