It’s April 13th and we’ve come a long way in 5 days. Our crossing from Ginn Sur Mer was exciting (in a good way). We left right on time – 4 am (April 9th) in the dark and crept our way out to the inlet. At the 1nm point, we turned north west and raised our sails. We were off!!
We had great wind speed and a good direction for a long downwind sail. We fairly quickly got into the edge of the Gulf Stream which gave us a bit more speed. As the day progressed, we got deeper into the Gulf Stream and boy did we start to zoom! The wind was still high (17 – 23 knots) but so were the waves (coming mostly behind us). As long as we had the higher wind speeds, we were able to beat the waves and have a fairly easy ride. Unfortunately the wind was not super consistent so it would dip below 15 knots and then the waves would push us around.
As day wore on, our Gulf Stream advantage really started to pay off. We were seeing consistent boat speeds in the high 8knots to low 9knots. I was watching our progress on my iPad (on an app called Aquamaps) and making note of places we were passing (more than 40nm out). We passed Fort Pierce and then Vero Beach. When we got to Cape Canaveral we hit our high for the trip – 12.3knots with 19knots of wind! Very exciting!!
As morning rolled around, we were already out of the Gulf Stream (had been for several hours) and the wind was directly behind and decreasing in speed (just like last year). The last 70nm into St. Augustine dragged on and we finally reached the inlet at about 1:30pm (April 10). Getting in through the inlet was a challenge. The wind picked up from behind (of course when you don’t want it) to about 16knots. Unfortunately we were facing an outgoing tide which meant we had wind against current going into the inlet. This opposition caused the inlet to be super wavy and it dropped our speed down to 2.8knots!! It seemed to take forever to get through the inlet into the smoother waters of the Matanzas River, but we finally got there! We just missed the 2pm Bridge of Lions opening but got the 2:30 and were secured to our mooring ball at St. Augustine Municipal marina before 3pm.
Our next jobs were to take the dinghy to shore, pay for our 2 nights and then head to the lounge for wifi. Using the ROAM app, we cleared into the USA and requested our cruising license for the year. Foreign flagged vessels must have a cruising license to be able to move around the USA. We had trouble getting one last season (expiry date issues) and had to travel on a permit to proceed (which is a royal pain) so we were very nervous about getting one this time around. But no need to worry – our license was approved the next day! After completing all our business and picking up the new lift pump (which arrived very quickly) we went out for dinner!
Thursday April 11 turned out to be a very bad weather day with high winds, rain and a tornado warning – good thing we were nicely attached to a mooring ball! Mark spent the day installing the new lift pump but unfortunately it didn’t fix our fuel pressure issue! By mid afternoon, the weather had improved and we were able to enjoy a bit of sunshine in the mooring field.
Early Friday morning (April 12), we were up and getting ready to catch the 7am opening for the Bridge of Lions. We were one of many boats heading north – it was quite the parade. We had a nice sunny day but the winds were much higher than expected and our progress up the ICW was slow. We were passed by several powerboats but we kept plugging away at the distance and eventually made it to our destination, Exchange Island, Jacksonville, by 4pm. It was a good night and we even got to see a fireworks display!!
April 13 – our last day of travel!! We were up early and ready to go by 8am. The first opening (after the rush hour closure) of the Main Street Bridge was 8:30am, so we took our time travelling the 3nm to the bridge. We had the current against us so that helped slow us down. We got to the bridge at 8:30, requested an opening and were on our way in no time. It was an easy morning – the wind was from behind so we had the jib out, helping our speed a bit. We arrived at Reynolds Park at 12:30pm and had so much help on the pier! Julia and Brad and Rick, plus Barb from Mojo, all took our dock lines and helped us onto the pier.
Now we’re back and the summer storage jobs begin! But not tonight – happy hour on Alizarin with great friends!! We’ll get all caught up.
Crimson Kathryn and her crew 