Still on the move

We’re on the move, truckin north. We left Stuart and had a long day to just north of Titusville where we anchored in a small boat basin that had a number of browsing manatees. These slow moving large mammals feed on the grass that grows on the bottom. They move so slowly that barnacles grow on them. At one time they were endangered, but due to waterway rules are making a strong come back. So much so that the power boaters are lobbying to get them off the endangered species act because part of the legislation requires that they go slow in the manatee habitat zones. The single most killer of manatees are power boats. As I was raising the anchor to leave in the morning one of these gentle creatures can up to the bow where I was pulling in the anchor and gave it a look as if to say, “What is this thing in my domain?” He/she of course was over 6 feet long and weighed about 400 pounds. By the time I got the camera it was gone, submerged to the bottom to feed on the grass, bored with the anchor.

On the way to this anchorage I decided to drag a lure to see if we could haul in some fish for dinner. Sure enough after dragging the lure for untold mile we heard the reel buzz as the line ran out. My first thought was that I had snagged a crab pot so I grabbed the pole and started to reel in the line when what ever was on the line decide to jump. Well it was “fish on.” This one I decided was NOT going to loose by going for the dingy. Well after a hard fight I brought it on board and subdued it with a shot of gin poured into its mouth, consider it a pre-marinade. To my eye what we caught was a bluefish, but T disagrees. Look at the picture and decide for yourself. It was fish Provencal on the menu that night, yum.

After we left the Manatee anchorage we were head for what was going to be a two day jump to St Augustine. The day started out well until we got to the Ponce de Leon Inlet when all hell broke loose. One power boat after another passed us in both directions. It was like being in a washing machine. You see it was Sunday and the morning was beautiful so they were out in force, but the weather was beginning to turn bad (wind and rain) so they were all beating it home as fast as they could. This continued until we got North of Daytona where by this time the weather had deteriorated. We of course continued on until we got to a quiet anchorage with the funny name of the cement plant. You see there was at on time a cement plant down this quiet canal, but not there is just a plant that makes Sea Ray boats. Since there were trees on both sides of this narrow canal we were spared the wind, but not the rain, but all in all it was a peaceful night. The Sea Ray plant served as our early morning (6:30AM) alarm clock so that we could get an early start to St Augustine. The weather started out as cloudy, cool with wind and rain then went to clear and sunny when we got to St. Aug. We had a short day from the Cement plant anchorage so we had the luxury of a walk around the city. It is a beautiful one at that, old and quaint. We (I) had a pint at the local brew pub, which served a very likable red ale (nicely hopped, rich and malty) to wash down some well done calamari served with a spicy wasabi sauce. Life doesn’t get much better than that. Then it was showers and back to the boat for a good nights sleep for we were leaving at first light so that we could get all the way to Fernandina, which is on the Ga/Fl border. It was a long but un-eventful trip except for coming across some old friends who we met on the way down it Vero and Stuart. It is truly amazing how you seem to run across the same people again and again.

I am typing this as I sit in the laundry at Fernandina waiting for the clothes to dry. Terri is off to the super market. We have pick up a mooring here and have decided on a lay day, staying two nights to rest, re-provision and relax. We will get off tomorrow and make a dent in Georgia intending on stopping off in Savanna for a visit since we missed it on the way down. The warm weather is holding so we want to get as far north as possible.