April 2nd to 16th, 2025: Stuart to Jacksonville

We made an early start to catch an opening of the railway bridge.  There is a handy app that supposedly lets you know exactly when the trains are expected.  We had a bit of a wait.  The passage was made a lot more exciting by a problem with the road bridge, which had only one span working.  There was room for Nine Lives, but it was disturbing to see the lowered span so close as I stood on the foredeck!  As soon as we were through, the railway bridge closed again, so it would seem that there were more trains than expected.

We arrived in Fort Pierce shortly after noon.  It was a windy day with whitecaps, but the waves were coming from behind us, which Nine Lives handles beautifully.  In spite of a strong current and winds, the docking went well with a good dockhand and plenty of cleats on the dock.

We walked to one of the on-site restaurants, the highest rated eatery within walking distance.  There was live music.  The musician seemed to be pretty talented, but the sound system was so muddy that all of it was noise.  We were surprised to find that the whole restaurant is a glorified tiki hut, so no inside seating per se.  If you like warm wine and dirty glasses, cold fries and barely warm entrees, this is your place!  To be fair, the food was quite tasty, and Dick was delighted to be given a bill that was under $100 for a change.  The waiter replaced the cold fries immediately, and he brought a glass full of ice for the wine without being asked.  We expected similar experiences at the next few stops, so planned to eat on board more than usual. As I added ice to my wine, not my usual practice for various reasons, I thought about the long history of watering wine.  The Greeks and Romans certainly watered their wine, which they drank at any time of the day, because water alone was generally unsafe to drink.  Watering your wine was seen as a civilized and sophisticated practice.  Drinking wine neat, was barbaric.  Not sure whether those folks added ice to their wine as well as the water!

Although there are Loopers in most of the marinas we have stopped at, we are somewhat behind the main Looper pack.  Anyone planning to attend the Spring Rendezvous in Norfolk is already on their way north.  Boaters who went to the Bahamas had mostly returned, but those who were still there were going to have to stay put, with high winds and ugly seas expected for the following week at least.  We are also among the flight of Snowbirds, the folks who spend winters in Florida and summers in northern climes.  There are several species within the family.  Mid-westerners head to Arizona and Nevada. Easterners like Florida.  There is a sub-species who are boaters, and travel up and down “The Ditch”, that is, the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, in spring and fall.  We are seeing many of them in boats of all sizes, as we journey north.  What does surprise me is the number of boaters heading south, including quite a few gold Loopers.

We spent a quiet day.  I made bran muffins while Dick fixed one of the window screens.  It was damaged on our shakedown cruise in 2017.  One of those “should that be there?” “It will be fine.” moments, and then it wasn’t.  Dick had the bright idea of replacing the broken screen, which was in my bathroom, with one from the unused third bedroom.  This was a smack upside the head moment – why didn’t we think of this 8 years ago?  Dick has been able to source several screen replacements from some obsolete stock, so the broken one will be fixed before Nine Lives goes to her new owner.

Project 2 was to see what is wrong with the horn.  It was sounding increasingly anemic, deteriorated to a feeble squawk, and then failed entirely.  Dick took the horn off the cockpit roof and cleaned away rust.  He even checked the fuse, all with no effect.  We still comply with regulations because we also have a canned air horn on board, plus the intermittent fog horn that is also required is broadcast through the loudhailer rather than the horn.  Next plan was to take apart the whole assembly to see if the problem can be fixed.  This is actually one of Dick’s favourite things.  His first foray into the how things work aspect of engineering was when he was 5 years old.  He took apart his father’s alarm clock.  Unfortunately, he did not put it back together, so the cows were late milking the next morning.  We enjoyed a quiet evening on board with pasta and sausage for dinner.

Ft Pierce has a Farmer’s Market just outside the marina gates every Saturday.  Dick set off early to check out the offerings.  After wandering for ages around a large area with crafts, he was about to leave when he discovered another section that was all food.  He returned from the outing with baked goods, including some excellent croissants.  He also failed to resist a beautiful steak from a farmer who produces his meat from start to finish.  The croissants made a great beginning to the day before we headed for our next stop at Melbourne.

We passed a sailboat under sail, heading north on the ICW.  It looked like a liveaboard.  I have never seen Spanish moss hanging from the stays on a boat that was not derelict!

As we approached Melbourne, we could see dinghy races.  It was certainly a test of sailing skills.  Some of the boats were one person with a single sail, others were two-man with a main sail and a jib.  When they came to the part of the race where the wind was suitable, the two-man boats unfurled their spinnakers.  Did they move!!  With the winds gusting to 25mph, a number of the little boats went over.  Most of them managed to right themselves, another test of sailing skills.  There were plenty of motorboats with instructors on board to keep an eye out and help anyone who was in trouble.

When I see dinghy races, I have fond memories of the dinghy sailboat that we had at our cottage on a lake when I was growing up.  My dad bought a Mirror Dinghy, a small sailboat named after the Daily Mirror (a British newspaper) as a boat that anyone could afford.  They could be ordered as a kit and built at home, but I seem to recall that Dad bought ours second hand.  It had a single mast and red sails.  For the sailors among us, the early Mirror Dinghies were a very simple design with a daggerboard instead of a centreboard, and a Gunter rig with a gaff that doubled the height of the mast.  All the spars could easily be stored in the boat for transport, and it was also simple to row as well as paddle.  We sailed our dinghy all over the lake, and we certainly learned how to right her when she went over as we sailed too close to the wind!

Coming into the marina in Melbourne was a test of our skills.  The waves were broadside, with the current trying to push us out of the channel.  The depth below us was a little as 2 feet, probably the shallowest we have seen.  Our t-head was slightly shorter than Nine Lives, and had only 2 cleats.  Fortunately, although it was a fixed dock, there was just 4 inches of tide, so we were able to close-tie and we thought we could manage without a bow line.  The dockhand was a willing helper, but as often happens, he could not understand why he needed to cleat us as tight as possible, so a bit of extra maneuvering was needed.  Once tied and settled, we both had concerns, so Dick got out the long boat hook and succeeded in getting a bow line around the somewhat distant post.  It is a long line, but it was barely long enough to cleat the end!

Later, an 85-foot Fleming arrived in the harbour, at the same time as one of the sailing dinghies came in with their spinnaker still flying.  The Fleming, with a much deeper draft than us, was certainly churning up lots of mud from the bottom.

In the evening, we walked to the nearby Chart House.  This is part of the Landry’s chain of restaurants and entertainment complexes.  It is prom season, and among the diners there were several couples dressed to the nines and wearing corsages.  For a change, most of the people in the restaurant had made an effort and dressed up.  We enjoyed our dinner, beginning with very attractive and creative starters.  Dick had a beet salad, and mine was shrimp, mango, and avocado.  Dick’s seabass on lobster risotto was delicious, as was my shrimp and lobster carbonara.  The meal was sadly let down by the dessert, the restaurant’s specialty chocolate lava cake, served hot with ice cream.  It should have been good, but the lava cake sat around and was no longer hot (in fact it arrived with a distinct list to port). The other dessert specialty was a drink that was prepared individually at the table.  The four people at the table across from us all ordered it.  Each drink took a full 5 minutes to prepare, thus taking our waitress out of service for over 20 minutes.  I am sure our dessert was not the only casualty.  There are better ways to do a tableside dish (or drink, as in this case).

Shortly after 11pm we were able to see a rocket take off from Cape Canaveral, about 20 miles north of us.  It was very interesting to see the fiery cylinder cross the sky until separation, when the fire winked out and the payload continued into orbit with a smaller engine.  We had hoped that there would be a launch when we were in Cape Canaveral, but unfortunately the next one was scheduled for our day of departure.

We enjoyed our day in Melbourne.  It is a lively boating community, with the yacht club running dinghy sailing lessons on weekend mornings, as well as races on weekends.  There is also a rowing club based in the harbour.  It was again a very windy day, with sustained winds of 20mph by the afternoon.  Given that the winds are generally calmer first thing, I suggested that we make a point of leaving by 8am the next day.

In the afternoon we took a walk around the area.  Dick also explored the downtown.  He said there were mostly bars and restaurants, few shops.  There are interesting murals around the town, including one that is creatively painted on the pillars underneath the highway bridge.

Dinner on board was our favourite shrimp sandwiches.  It can be difficult (and potentially disastrous) to try to improve on perfection, but having found an interesting recipe, I decided to risk it.  The new recipe included bacon and sliced tomatoes, and the mixture was mayo-based with Old Bay seasoning and dill (which I substituted for basil.  Cook gets to decide if there is an ingredient they don’t care for). The sandwiches were outstanding, and in future it will be difficult to decide which recipe to prepare.

We had few minutes of concern first thing in the morning, about 30 minutes before our planned departure.  Dick received an email to say that our reservation for that night was cancelled, as there was a boat with engine trouble, unable to leave the slip that was booked for us.  Fortunately, even at that early hour, Dick was able to immediately confirm a slip at the marina that is literally next door to the one we had planned to stop at.

We were away by 8:05, just 5 minutes later than planned.  A dolphin followed us out of the harbour.

Port Canaveral is at the end of a long, narrow barge channel.  Just before the port is a lock, so Dick and I had to review our locking procedures! Lines and fenders ready, life jackets and headsets donned, and we were ready.  This one is quite different from most locks.  Instead of walls, it has aluminum beams with a black coating and small cleats on the top of the beams.  The lock fills and drains by opening the door.  You have to take care that the fenders don’t get caught between the beams.  We managed it without incident, accompanied by a dolphin.

Safely through the lock, and under a bridge, we arrived at our marina.  We went first to the fuel dock to get a pump out.  It is located next to dockage for commercial fishing boats (shrimpers).  I was amused to see that St Peter was docked next to Forgiven.  Our slip was one half of a t-head, but we had good help and managed it without difficulty, in spite of high winds.

It was a very entertaining afternoon.  I watched Disney’s Wish cruise ship prepare and leave the dock, the 4th cruise ship to head out that day.  There was a large sailing cat that made 4 tries to dock before giving up and stopping at the fuel dock overnight.  Then another sailing cat arrived to dock in the slip behind us.  No less than 5 people came out on the dock to help, and the dockmaster tried to coach him in.  It is admittedly a tight fit, and there was a strong wind, but we have never seen anyone make 4 attempts and do everything wrong every time.  Eventually the dockmaster jumped aboard and managed to get it in, but even he made several mistakes and eventually the boat was just manhandled into place by the crowd of helpers.  I have always thought that sailors have superior boating skills.  How any sailor can fail to understand how the wind is going to affect the boat is mysterious.

We didn’t see the rocket from the other night return, but we watched the Space X barge being towed out of the harbour to get into position to retrieve the rocket from the upcoming scheduled launch.

We had a very pleasant day in Port Canaveral.  It was rainy in the morning, but cleared up and stayed cool and dry.  The local Harbor Host dropped by and we had a most enjoyable chat, sharing stories of our exploits on the Illinois River, getting beaten up on the Neuse River and other adventures at various points on the Loop.

We had planned to eat on board, but the menu at Fishlips was intriguing, so we decided on a mid-afternoon foray to try it out.  Essentially casual, Southern cooking, the food was delicious. Slightly odd presentation, as everything was served in a large bamboo basket. I had thought about salted caramel cheesecake but there was no room by the time we had each had an appetizer and a main course.  On the way back we stopped at a seafood market and bought a couple of pounds of fresh local shrimp.  It is always a good sign when the shrimp boats are docked right outside the market.

We made an early start in the morning, with an ugly forecast for wind and waves for our passage to New Smyrna Beach.  Two dolphins accompanied us through the lock this time.  Once out of the east-west Barge Canal and back on the ICW, we kicked it up and ran fast, both to shorten the duration of the trip and smooth the passage.  We passed gold Looper Inshallah, who we met at docktails in Canada in 2019!  Going under the NASA Skyway Bridge was interesting.  There was a workboat taking up half of the available space, and they did not answer the radio, so we had to just assume they would not move, and we could go through.

It was a very rough day with high winds (20mph) creating a lot of chop in the wide-open areas we travelled for most of the day.  The wind had shifted and was on the bow, but Nine Lives handled it very well, both at 17 knots and when we had to slow to trawler speed or less.  About half of the unfortunately named Mosquito Lagoon was minimum wake, but we managed the journey in 5.5 hours because we were able to run fast for part of the way.  The worst was docking.  Our slip was in an awkward spot, and initially, Dick expected it to be farther into the harbour.  At the last minute I saw the slip number, and he turned, but the wind was pushing us right off the dock and there was no way to catch a cleat.  We circled around, and I took the helm for the next attempt, with zero success.  Third time lucky.  Two men came down the dock to help, and once I had thrown a line to them, they were able to pull us in and get us tied up.  Final arrangements (spring lines, stern line across) took a little longer than usual, but eventually we were settled.

We walked into town and poked around the interesting little shops.  A wonderful large wooden bowl set with polished stones caught Dick’s eye, but just as well, the $1500 price tag was off-putting and we did not buy it!  In another shop, we were intrigued by the colourful ladies’ tops in the window.  Better luck there, I tried a knee-length floaty kimono top that reminds me very much of Mackenzie Childs designs.  Dick likes the garment, but I am pretty sure that buying a matching teakettle would be pushing it!

The pizza destination was a sad disappointment.  Touted as “the best pizza I have ever tasted”, by a fellow Looper, our only thought is that the person needs to get out more.  We started with Mike’s Forbidden Breadsticks, which sounded intriguing, but they turned out to be simply a sheet pan pizza sliced and served with two dipping sauces.  We each ordered a large pizza, as we like to take at least half of it home.  They were also sheet pan style instead of round, and had the unusual feature that the fresh tomato on mine, and the so-called fresh mozzarella (it was just ordinary block mozzarella) on Dick’s, were uncooked and plunked on the top after the pizza was baked.  No question, the pizzas were okay, but certainly not as good as those I make at home.  For reasons that escape us, they had only 10” boxes, and their bags would fit only one box.  We ended up using the bags from our other purchases, or Dick would have had to carry a teetering stack of boxes home.  We enjoyed visiting the town, but see no need to return for the pizza! In fact, the pizzas reheated well and tasted better than they had in the restaurant.

It was a short trip to Daytona Beach, so we could have a leisurely start.  The marina is huge.  The dockmaster gets around with a dinghy.  Once you call on the radio and get a slip assignment, if you need help with docking, the dockmaster will motor over and help.  We docked without help, and later, during a break in arriving traffic, the dockmaster stopped off with a package with marina and town information and security cards.  Although the marina is huge, for a change the docks are well-marked.  When you book, they send a welcome email with a printable marina map with all the slip numbers clearly shown.  There are well-spaced bathhouses with good facilities.  The dockmaster even offered restaurant suggestions, including a warning to avoid the one that is on-site!  We had already seen appalling reviews for that one, and he also confirmed that the place we had chosen is excellent.

Dick cooked on board that evening, the last of the frozen burgers with some delicious trumpet mushrooms.  He also added some bacon slices and very nice sliced tomatoes.

Saturday was designated cleaning day for Nine Lives. After vacuuming, Dick decided that it was a good day to change the oil and filters (of far more interest than cleaning).  It wasn’t really time, the next one should have been just as we arrived back in Hilton Head.  Dick thought it would be perfect timing, but our broker advised against that.  Apparently, if you change the oil just before a survey, it can be taken as a sign that there is something to hide, so doing the job a few weeks early is a better plan.  I took care of the rest of the cleaning and washing bed linens and towels while Dick was occupied with the engines.

As I watched the boats arriving and the dockmaster buzzing about, a 95-foot San Lorenzo yacht arrived.  This is not everyman’s boat brand.  For example, the first yacht for sale on their website comes in at $73 million.  We think that the 95-footer might be for sale, as her name has been removed from the transom.  The captain referred to “the event” during the docking process.  The next day I watched preparations that took the entire day.  They included changing the colour of the outdoor pavilion roof and covering up the restaurant sign.  As we walked to dinner in the evening, we could see banners with the Ferrari logo, in orange that matched the pavilion roof covering.  One wonders why Daytona Beach would be selected for such a high-end sales event, but we suppose the racetrack has something to do with it.  We did not receive an invitation, but never mind, our next vehicle will not be Italian, and we are not in the market for a superyacht either.

Dinner was an interesting experience.  The Italian fine dining restaurant is located in the historic home of President Warren G Harding.  Aptly named “The Cellar”, the lower level of the restaurant is wonderfully characterful, with a tin ceiling, interesting stained glass “windows” and wine racks and boxes scattered everywhere.  The evening did not get off to a good start.  The front door is guarded by a well-dressed gentleman whose sole purpose appears to be keeping away any riff raff who have failed to make a reservation.  After we were seated by the guard dog, our waiter introduced himself.  Water was brought, specials recited, and he then disappeared.  After a wait that was too long, he finally returned to take our order for drinks (a half bottle of Prosecco).  When he also tried to take a food order at the same time, Dick told him quite clearly that “we never give a food order until we have our first drinks”.  After that, the service improved.

There were wine glasses already on the table.  The waiter brought the Prosecco, and started to open it, and Dick asked where the glasses were.  The waiter told us that the large red wine glasses on the table would be fine.  Dick’s comment that we have never been served Prosecco in such a glass sent the waiter over to the bar to enquire, and he came back to say that “She said that those glasses would be fine.” I told him that we said they were NOT fine.  Off he trotted and returned with flutes.  After that, the meal was excellent, perfectly paced, and very enjoyable.  One could order half portions of the pasta dishes, including the risotto, which was perfect for me.  Dick was very pleased to see rabbit on the menu, which he loves and is rarely offered.  My comments about “poor, poor Bunny” were ignored, as was my remark that it is nearly Easter too!  The waiter heard me say that and was highly amused.  The older woman (the owner, we presume) dressed all in black, who stopped at each table to welcome the diners and ask if they were enjoying the food, did not bother with us.  Clearly, we offended her when we insisted on different glasses for our bubbly.

We made a slightly early start in order to get a pump out on exit.  It was a long, but interesting day.  Many nice-looking houses, interspersed with parks and natural areas.  We were part of a parade of boats, both power and sail, all heading north at different speeds.  Lots of polite requests on the radio to pass.  Of course, all those good boating manners count for little when small craft go screaming by at speed.

The river, and the ICW channel in the river, meandered back and forth like a drunken sailor.  It was necessary to pay lots of attention to the charts and also the position of the channel markers, especially the floating ones.  One positive aspect of following other boats is that you can watch where they go in the tricky, shallow areas.  If they come to an abrupt halt, you know there must be unexpected shoaling!

Our arrival at the municipal marina in St Augustine was uneventful.  We had been told that the “Blessing of the Fleet” was scheduled until 3pm, and that no arrivals would be processed until after the ceremony was finished.  We planned to get there at 3:30.  The harbour is notorious for tricky currents, and the wind had come up, but Dick brought Nine Lives in, stern to, with complete aplomb!  This despite two wave runners that were illegally parked at the dock and were somewhat in the way.  Later, I saw the dockhand attach a ticket to them, and so had the amusement of watching the “What the heck?” moment when the owners returned to their craft.  I was pleased to see that they did take the tickets down the dock and paid the fines.

The marina is large, and has two large mooring fields on each side of the Bridge of Lions as well.  There is an extensive, free, dinghy dock, alternatively, boats on mooring balls can call for a shuttle pickup.  The dockmaster was brusque but very efficient.  Interestingly, he will not reveal your slip assignment until after you confirm that you have lines and fenders ready and on the correct side per his instructions.  Given how many boaters we have seen fiddling with tangled lines and putting out fenders as they arrive at the dock, this seems to be a very sensible policy.

Our dinner was at a local winery, about a mile walk.  We left early, but stopped for a long chat with the folks on a large sailing cat down the dock, so a leisurely stroll was no longer on the cards.  The meal was very good, and we were surprised at how few diners there were in the highly rated restaurant.

We have been looking forward to our return to St Augustine ever since we were here with Nine Lives on her maiden voyage in January of 2017.  Our visit lived up to our expectations!  We took the hop-on-hop-off Old Town Trolley around its full circuit on the first morning.  The commentary was excellent.  St Augustine downtown is a wonderful mix of very old houses and larger buildings.  Some date from the early 1700’s.  Modern hotels incorporate older buildings or are designed in a complementary style.

The fort was built by the Spanish in 1672.  It has never fallen in battle.  It is a masonry, star shaped fort, built of coquina, a material that is carved from the sea floor and then dried to become an extremely hard type of building material.  The star shape was designed to be resistant to cannon fire, and the rising ground and dry moat ensured that attacking soldiers had to cross a killing field to get to the walls.  The story goes that when the fort was under attack, after the day’s bombardment was concluded, soldiers would descend to the moat and collect the cannon balls, which were then loaded into the defender’s cannons and fired back at the enemy. 

Years before the fort was built, the Spanish king discovered that the French had built Fort Caroline on land belonging to Spain near present day Jacksonville.  Adding insult to injury, the colonists were Huguenots, Protestants, instead of Catholic.  In 1565, Jan Ribault sailed from France with 600 soldiers to resupply Fort Caroline.  General Pedro Menéndez de Aviles was charged by Philip II of Spain with capturing Fort Caroline and removing the French.  In September of 1565, the Spanish came ashore and named a new settlement St Augustine.  St Augustine claims to be the oldest city in North America, although Fernandina Beach disputes this and makes a similar claim.

The French sailed south to attack the settlement, but were blown off course by a hurricane and shipwrecked south of present-day Daytona Beach.  Meanwhile, the Spanish sailed north and found no soldiers in Fort Caroline, so it was easily captured.  Some of the remaining men escaped and were able to return to France, and the women and children were spared and sent to Havana.  The shipwrecked French soldiers were trying to return north to Fort Caroline, but were blocked by an inlet.  Menéndez discovered that they were stranded there and marched with 70 soldiers to intercept them.  The French surrendered, and most of them were killed and thrown into the bay.  Only the few Catholics and an artisan needed at St Augustine were spared.  Later, another group of the shipwrecked French arrived at the inlet, surrendered, and most were killed.  Since then, the inlet and its associated bay, formerly called The Bay of the Dancing Dolphins, has been called Matanzas, which means Slaughters, in Spanish. Ick.

Another fascinating story was about the Solla-Carcaba Cigar factory. Research confirms that the factory produced up to 5 million cigars per year during its heyday.  I always enjoy the anecdotes told by city tour guides.  This one said that one million cigars per year were hand-rolled in this factory, exclusively by women.  No men were hired for this tedious but exacting job, because women have smaller hands and roll the cigars more tightly.  However, the factory did employ men.  They were tasked with keeping the women from getting bored.  They sang, danced, and read from current novels and newspapers.  Certainly a unique way to keep your workers happy!

After the trolley tour, we walked around the shops and galleries.  In one, we found work by Harlan, the artist who created the print that we bought for Nine Lives’ salon before we even owned her.  The gallery where we made that purchase is still there in Ft Lauderdale and still carries his work, but it was interesting to find another venue in St Augustine.  In another gallery, we found that the artist who created our salon lamp is still showing his glass works, along with work from all three of his sons and one grandson.  What a talented family!

After hours of sightseeing and shopping, we felt both hungry and weary, so we stopped for a long break at a wine and charcuterie garden.  The venue was lovely, with beautifully tended plantings and charming furniture in leafy shade.  Our cheese and charcuterie platter was the best we have had since Saugatuck in 2021 (excepting of course the spread we put out for docktails on Nine Lives).  After the wonderful feast, a nap was required, so we staggered back to the boat and enjoyed some quiet time until it was time to head out again for dinner.

Our reservation for dinner was at a small restaurant called Collage.  The chef presents food from a variety of international cuisines.  After our late lunch, I decided that two starters made more sense, so I began with delicious grilled beef tenderloin on pieces of toast.  Instead of an entrée, I enjoyed a spicy dish of shrimp in a tomato-based broth.  Dick’s starter was a creative concoction of large scallops wrapped in prosciutto and served on a cauliflower puree.  His main course was veal scallopine with mashed potatoes, an interesting sauce, and two grilled shrimp.  A very civilized palate cleanser of sorbet was served between courses.  We shared an excellent raspberry cheesecake to complete the meal.

Our second day in St Augustine was quieter.  I worked on the blog while Dick went to the Post Office.  Each time the oil is changed, samples are sent away for analysis.  This looks for things like fuel, seawater, antifreeze, and wear metals.  Different wear metals will show where to start looking for a problem.  For example, if there is evidence of water and copper, it is likely that you have a tube leak in one of the heat exchangers on the engine.  The important thing is not so much the absolute numbers as the trend, you are looking for things changing.  Dick has always had this analysis done after every oil change.  After dropping the packages off at the Post Office, and scouting the best walking route to the restaurant, Dick did some sightseeing.  He retraced some of the routes covered by the trolley tour and took lots of pictures.  After he returned, it was my turn to head out and explore a few galleries and shops that we had missed earlier.  I also picked up the interesting gourmet treats in the foodie shop that I had made note of the day before.

Dinner was at a very authentic French restaurant in another lovely old house.  We had an excellent meal, accompanied by a bottle of our favourite Pouilly Fumé.

We made an early start the next morning, as it would be a fairly long journey to Jacksonville.  This is our last side trip, and the last time in unfamiliar waters.

On a bend in the river, part of a parade of 6 boats, we came up on a group of men with hoverboards.  They were not very good, kept falling in, and were right in the channel, all but impossible to see once they fell off.  I went out and shouted to one of them that we can’t see them and they should stay out of the channel.  His response was “okay okay”, and immediately one of his buddies went straight across our wake, whoopin’ and hollerin’, and fell off, again in the middle of the channel.  So dangerous.

As we passed under a bridge near Jacksonville, we saw power line pylons with Great Blue Herons nesting.  I have never seen them in such high up and exposed nests.

After an interesting trip up the ICW and then west on the Saint Johns River, we passed through Jacksonville, first the port, and then through the downtown area.  The Ortega River bridge opened immediately for us, and we were tied up in our slip at Port 32 Marina by 2:45, somewhat earlier than we had expected.

We will stay in Jacksonville for a few days, and then return to the ICW and head north. We expect to arrive in Hilton Head on the 30th. We will return to Wexford Harbour for a couple of days, to truly complete the circle where we left from in 2018.