Our night was ok at anchorage but at one point the wind was behind us and against the current. We sailed up on our anchor chain a bit. We had our enclosure closed which may have added to topside wind resistance. We did better turning the rudder slightly.
We got an early start down the waterway. It is beginning to look a bit like the Florida I remember from our boat rides around Bird Key near Sarasota: lavish homes, canals, screened swimming pools, manicured lawns. It seems that many of the homes are built on land that has been created behind bulkheads, layered first with rock and then with dirt. There is a section called Palm Valley where these homes line one side of the canal and the other is wild marsh. I have the feeling that both sides looked like the marsh side at one time. Then there is a section where homes line both sides.
The area then opened up into the Tolomato river which had beautiful wild marsh on both sides. It was difficult to capture. there was a lovely anchorage along the way.
It was sprinkling a bit as we passed the St. Augustine inlet. Wind was blowing from the east and there were breakers . We did see one large sailboat come in. We also saw one catamaran head that way, take a look, and turn around.
The bridge in downtown St. Augustine is the Bridge of Lions. It has beautiful Spanish towers and lion statues guarding it. It is a drawbridge that opens on the hour and half hour. We had to cruise around for about 10 minutes waiting for an opening. Boats are moored in proximity to the bridge and we and another boat wove in and out of boats waiting for the bridge. We hailed the bridge and gave them our name but they did not answer. We think it may be automated. When it opened, we went through. A pirate ship was on the other side waiting to go through north.
The marina was just after the bridge so we went back and forth until they could talk to us on the radio. We decided to fuel up on our way in and stopped at the fuel dock between two boats. . From there we could see our slip. The tide was about slack which was good and David maneuvered us into our slip well . So we completed the St. Augustine trifecta (bridge, dock and slip) without incident.
There was a problem with our reservation. We thought we had been accepted for two nights but it was only for one and the marina and moorings were full. It turns out that the big holiday flotilla here is Saturday night and there was no room anywhere. We spent some time looking at potential anchorages. There is one south of the lower moorings or we could go back up the inlet to the Tolomato river. We had options. We made another reservation for a mooring for Sunday. We will spend Saturday at anchor on our boat.
With a late start, we set out to explore St. Augustine. Carol and Jeff quickly supplied us with a list of restaurants and places to see. We made our way down the Main Street to the Ice Plant, a restaurant in an old warehouse where they still make the ice. We decided to indulge in a fancy cocktail and some appetizers. Great place and no wait at 5pm.
We then walked around town. Looking at shops, lights, and listening to a few bands. We stepped into the Prohibition House to hear a good guitarist and female singer. Then we stumbled upon the Colonial Oak, a park under a giant live oak that has free concerts. A band from Jacksonville was playing and they had 4 electric guitarists. There were a lot of guitar solos and they were good.
Many families were out with young children. The biggest line was for New York Pizza by the slice. It extended down the street for several blocks. We made our way back to the boat after looking at lighted buildings , trees, trolleys and horse carriages. Quite the night life here.
