It’s been over a week since my last post and a lot has happened in that time. We’ve travelled over 400nm, leaving the beautiful Bahamian shores behind and returning to our safe harbour at Reynolds Park. There’s lots to share and I’ll try to get it all down for you.
Our departure from Great Harbour Cay marina went perfectly. We got off the dock at 8am and the weather was good for our crossing. As we got away from the island, Mark set-up all the lines for our spinnaker. This was the first use of our new to us spinnaker and we were able to fly it all day. We eventually took it down when it was getting dark – we were very close to West End, Grand Bahamas at that time. The rest of our night crossing went smoothly. Unfortunately we didn’t get the predicted wind so we ended up motor sailing most of the night. We did get a great push from the Gulf Stream and were seeing speeds in the high 11 knots. We even saw over 12 knots at one point – a new record for us!!
Our plan was to cross to Fort Pierce or if all was going well, continue north to Cape Canaveral. Well with the Gulf Stream push we decided to head for Canaveral! Why not – that got us even further north on the outside which meant less time on the ICW (intracoastal waterway). The only problem was that we arrived at the Port of Cape Canaveral during the restricted hours. There are 2 bascule bridges and a lock to transit to get from the ocean to the ICW. The bridges are closed to boat traffic for rush hour – 3:30 – 5:30 (roughly). It was a bit of a drag to be so close to our anchorage for the night but unable to continue (especially because we were tired)!! So we slowed down and starting looking for a spot to tie up to while we waited for the bridge to open. We got super lucky!!We had barely reached the free dock when a tug and barge radioed to the first lift bridge to open for it. The bridges must open on request for all commercial vessels. The tug was in the lock and heading east so after it went through the bridge, we were allowed to pass through going west!!! Excellent! The lock was all ready for us so we made it through both of these in great time. Now we were cruising along the Cape Canaveral barge canal, heading to the next bascule bridge and then to our anchorage! We came around the corner before the bridge and found out that second bridge was also on restricted hours!! So we dropped anchor right in front of the bridge and did our clear in to the USA with their app. Again we got super lucky because another tug and barge came along (this time heading west with us) so we were able to pass through the bridge right after them.
We had decided before we left the Bahamas that we would take our time getting back to Reynolds. We spent one night on a mooring ball in Titusville where we met up with our friends Julia and Brad Pilon. We had been trying all season to meet them in the Bahamas but it never worked out. It was great to see them and we ended up travelling north with them all the way to St. Augustine. We left Titusville on Friday, April 8 and as we headed north, we were able to watch a rocket launch from Cape Canaveral. Very cool and very noisy!! That night we anchored in Daytona.
The next morning, Saturday, Julia and Brad left early trying to get to St. Augustine that night. We decided to go as far as the Matanzas Inlet. The day started off very nice – sunny but a bit cool. It progressed to be one of the most windy days of our whole sailing season! We were seeing sustained wind in the 20 knots ranged with gusts in the mid 30 knots. As we got close to the Matanzas Inlet (and our anchorage for the night) we got a radio call from Julia and Brad. Turned out there was no room in the mooring fields at St. Augustine so they were anchored where we were headed. We had some fun anchoring in the strong winds – it was a bit stressful but within 2 hours, all was calm!!
Our next stop was St. Augustine. We travelled up the ICW on Sunday, April 10 with Julia and Brad and stayed on a mooring ball for 2 nights. It was Palm Sunday so there was a blessing of the fleet that afternoon. It was very interesting – boats were decorated and they paraded by the fuel dock to receive a blessing from the Bishop.
We had fun in St. Augustine but were eager to keep heading north so we left Tuesday morning and sailed on the outside up to Jacksonville. We had another good day motoring in the light winds, but by 2pm we were able to sail the last hour on the ocean and right into the St. John’s River inlet. We made good time because we came in with a flood tide and got all the way to just before the Main Street lift bridge in Jacksonville. We anchored for the night and left around 8am this morning – again with a flood tide so we made great time the rest of the way to Reynolds Park.
As we approached the pier, we saw our friends Jane and Steve waiting to give us a hand with our lines! It was great to see them and to have their help. Jane and Steve arrived at Reynolds Park last Thursday and have been working to get Daydreams ready for storage. That is our job now – get Crimson Kathryn all ready to be stored for hurricane season. Lots of work but we’ll take our time!!
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 