Fernandina to St. Augustine

We stayed in Fernandina Beach for a couple of days. We stayed out on a mooring ball and had to dinghy to the marina. The current that runs in the river is very strong and with the wind blowing it was a wet ride to shore. The little town of Fernandina is very nice. Lots of little shops where you can get pretty much any curio or trinket you want. We left on Saturday and backtracked north into Georgia. It was only five miles to the anchorage off of Cumberland Island.

The southern end of Cumberland Island is a National Park which was given to the U.S. by Thomas Carnegie. There are lots of hiking trails through the forest which is made up of many varieties of trees. From old live oaks to palms. The live oaks have moss hanging all throughout. We also visited the ruins of the Carnegie vacation mansion, Dungeness. The home and other buildings were built in the late 1800's and early 1900's. The house had been empty for many years when it burned in 1959. There are many wild horses roaming the island that you can get pretty close to without spooking them. We also saw several armadillos that didn't seemed to be spooked either. After visiting the ruins we walked another mile to the beach on the Atlantic side of the island.
































































From Cumberland Island we headed south to St. Augustine. It was a two day trip so we stopped at a marina in Jacksonville Beach for the night. We arrived at the marina early so I was able to hose the boat off with fresh water. The first time since coming in from the ocean. The deck was pretty crusted with salt. We were also able to fill the fresh water tank. The St. Augustine Municipal Marina now has three mooring fields. They charge much less for a mooring ball than a slip.

We picked up a mooring and got to work doing chores. I was able to change the oil in both the main engine and the generator. We also took the bus to the Publix supermarket and were able to restock the galley with a couple weeks of food. Once the chores were complete we visited the town. We stayed here a week in April on the way north and saw the town then but it is always fun to walk around in the shops. We had planned on staying in St. Augustine for a week because my brother Dave is flying down on Friday the 19th to visit for a few days.

On Monday the 22nd we are planning on heading south to Vero Beach. It will take us four days down the ICW to get there. Once there we will do some major provisioning to prepare for our crossing to the Bahamas.