Sunday, March 28, 2021.
Weather: Temp: 84/69, Humidity: 91/48%, Top Wind: SW16 mph, Precip: None, Miles Traveled: 25
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Are we crazy? 🤨🖐 WAIT! Don’t answer that.
I prayed that things would work out smoothly this morning and that we’d be able to get into a slip at the marina when we arrived. I know God always answers prayers, yet not always with the answer we expect or hope for. But today, I was really hoping He would answer my specific request to get us into a slip right away. I told you about slack tide issues at St Augustine. Our two best chances to not have any insurance claims were at 9:30 and 3:30. We wouldn’t be able to get there by 9:30, but the current should still be reasonable at 10:00, which we could do. But then there was no guarantee that our slip would be vacant until 11:00, and at that point, the marina wouldn’t let us come in. And then what would we do?! The wind was predicted to pick up to 15mph by 4:00, so arriving for the afternoon slack tide not our first choice So….. up and atum and out of bed at 6:00 AGAIN 😴 so that we could leave before 7:00 for our 🎶three hour tour🎶. This getting up in the dark stuff is for the roosters! And we are not even IN Key West!🐔.
Our little red rocket fuel injector did a fine job preparing us for the day. We got the coffee and all the pre-flight check list chores done, and we were off the dock starting our voyage by 6:53. The picture above was about 10 minutes later. We could see well enough and this was an easy place to go out in the twilight since it’s a straight easy ditch sort of channel… no shallow swampy stuff on the sides to wander into – just homes with docks to stay in-between. I even caught a glimpse of the full moon getting ready to set in the west.
I didn’t do this on purpose, but I was surprised when I looked at the picture and saw that the moon looks like a lantern hanging from this old snag of a tree.
It was a really pretty morning, and fairly warm! We were in shorts and t-shirts and no socks, by golly!
When I took this picture, I thought it might be striking in black and white, but then the colors turned out so good, I left it alone.
When we left the dock, it was just after a minus low tide. Here in Palm Coast, the tidal change was only about 18” between low and high tide today. But the farther north we went, the bigger the tide would be. And it was coming in. The nearest pass to the ocean was to our north, so that meant the water was coming in at us, pushing against us, and slowing us down. Like 9mph isn’t slow enough. We got to the first pass, which was Matanzas pass, and the green markers (which belong on our starboard/right side as we motor north) were waaaay over to the left side of the waterway. Evidently, like all Florida passes, there is a lot of sand shoaling from the ocean that goes on in these inlets. Thank goodness the Army Corps of Engineers generally keeps the markers maintained and positioned to indicate a good deep channel. And this one was good. You just always have to pay attention, because the markers can go all zig-zag across what LOOKS like reasonable water but can vary from 6 inches to 30 feet in depth.
We got past Matanzas Pass, and got a tiny little push from behind for like 10 feet, and then we were in the stronger tidal current pushing at us from the St Augustine inlet to the north of us. It is a big and powerful inlet that was having a six foot tide today. So we were back to fighting the current, going up-river. There were places where there was marsh, and we were very thankful again, for good markers showing us how to zig and zag.
This was just a neat looking house that was begging to have its picture taken.
We arrived at the marina just before 10:00. High tide was at 9:00, so now the tide was starting to go out and run to the north. The current wasn’t running hard yet, and the wind was from the south at about 12mph. So the current and the wind were both going the same direction – to the north. Captain radioed in and acknowledged that we knew we were early, but was there any chance there was a slip ready for us? Stand by. YES! (Thank you Lord!). Our slip was available, and the dockmaster gave us great instructions on how to get to it. There was a dock hand waiting there for us. Woo-Hoo!!! So I got our lines and fenders ready and we tootled our way to our slip. Both the wind and the current were coming from the south. If we went bow in, we would be going into the current and wind, which is the preferred way to maneuver since you have more control going into it rather than having the wind and/or current taking you where IT wants to. So we went bow in. The dock is 45-50’ long, so we can get off of the stern of our boat onto the floating dock just fine. We were so happy that we didn’t have to wait until this afternoon to get in here! And then we found out that the boat that was in this slip had JUST left when we radioed in…. it was actually still at the fuel dock when we came in! PERFECT timing!
So here is our Girl, all tucked in for a few days. We reserved three nights here and we’re scheduled to leave on Wednesday. That day looks good weather-wise, but where ever we are on Wednesday we’ll need to stay until Saturday, because Thursday and Friday are forecasted to be super windy. 🌬 When I went to the dockmaster to check in, I asked if we could stay here until Saturday, because we do love this town. All he could do was put us on a waiting list. He said that with the bad weather coming, it is likely there will be some cancellations. We’ll see! At least Wednesday is a good travel day, so if we have to move, it’ll be ok.
Here is the temperature outlook for the next week. Yea – that coldness on Thurs, Fri & Sat is due to the crazy 20-30mph winds that are going to bring it.
In the mean time, we are here in St Augustine on Palm Sunday – just like we were three years ago! We did exactly the same thing that year; we came in the morning just before the marina shut down all arrivals due to the annual Blessing of the Fleet. This wasn’t planned either time – it just worked out this way! Here is what the fuel dock usually looks like. Just wait….
This is the approach for vessels coming through to be blessed. Come around all of the law enforcement boats out there in the middle, around this puffy yellow buoy, come straight at the fuel dock without getting slammed into the pier on the left, then turn and go straight along the fuel dock to the bishop to be blessed, then turn back out into the bay.
Here is a little bit about the blessing. I do not have a Catholic background, so the members and their significance in the procession are not familiar to me.
Blessing of the Fleet is an annual Palm Sunday event, this year on March 28, 2021. After Palm Sunday Mass, there is a processional through the Plaza de la Constitucion led by the papal leadership of the Cathedral Basilica, the Knights of Columbus, and St. Augustine’s own Royal Family. The Blessing of the Fleet in St. Augustine, an historical ceremony dating back to the city’s earliest days of Spanish colonial occupation, takes place each year on Palm Sunday. All vessels — commercial and pleasure — are invited to receive a blessing from the Bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine. With roots from the Spanish Colonial days when seafaring vessels would be blessed so as to have a safe journey, the tradition continues in 2021. All watercraft from trawlers to yachts and more are welcome. Each vessel is encouraged to decorate with flags and bunting as well.
This was pretty neat because they passed right by us, so I just sat out on Island Girl’s bow and watched them all parade by!
Like I said, I don’t know the significance of the costuming, or who is who, but it was really neat.
This fella had a helmet, so I assume he was a Knight?
It was a warm day in the 80’s, so I imagine these ladies were steaming.
And these guys were so fancy! They were my favorite as far as attire goes.
Here is the challenge for being blessed…. come from the bay putting your boat sideways to the wind and current, pass by this pier without getting blasted into it by the current and wind, turn into the current and proceed up the dock. It was a little hair-raising to watch, because some of these boats were swept REALLY close to the pier!! They’d start their turn out by the yellow buoy and end up where this sailboat is, just skimming by! YIKES!
The bishop waved what looked like a silver ball on a wand, I assume either containing or dipped in blessed holy water, as each boat motored by.
There were lots of people on the dock, and it was neat to be able to go out and watch.
This was a fun event to watch, and it’s always a pleasant surprise when we happen upon something like this on the Loop. We were feeling pretty darn blessed by being able to be in our slip and not have to battle the stronger current and wind to get here this afternoon! I think the whole Blessing event was over within a couple of hours, so it was shorter than the marina planned for. For the rest of the afternoon, I got to just chillax in a lounge chair on deck and read for awhile while captain took a nap. I was tired enough for a nap, but if I take one I usually don’t feel well for the rest of the day and then I can’t sleep at night. So I’ve learned that I just need to power through somehow!
We got out the instant pot with it’s snazzy air fryer lid and I fixed air-fried grouper and salad for dinner. It feels really good to just relax and know that we‘ll have a few days to chill out. Our overall general plan for doing the Loop is to on average travel 50 miles per day three days a week, so 150 miles/week. 🤔 Hmmmm…. this is our ninth day, we have traveled eight of those, and covered 430 miles. It’s definitely time to chillax, dude! And this is a good place to do it. We’ve always enjoyed St Augustine. There is so much history, lots of great shops, bars, restaurants, things to see and do nearby. I’ve written about our fun times here before, so we’ll try to find some new things to see and do. Thanks for traveling with us! 🥰
Love this!… Be blessed and have fun!