New Crew on Board

After 5 1/2 months on the boat Jan and Duke were ready to return to our dirt home in Dunedin.  That meant I needed someone to help move the boat from Jacksonville to Dunedin.  Fortunately our friend Roger was able to help.  He also drove our truck from Peoria, where we parked it last May, to Dunedin.

Roger Nelson

We returned to Huckins Yachts to find Adagio back in the water with fresh bottom paint, new zincs, and a shiny hull.  After a quick trip to Publix and a ride back from Enterprise, we headed down the St Johns River with an out-going tide.  River traffic was light, only a single tug all morning, no ships, and few pleasure boaters.  That changed when we reached the AICW south from the St. Johns.  Fishing boats lined the channel for the first couple of hundred yards.



We opted for a short first day and stopped at Beach Marina in JAX Beach; don’t go there.  While the docks were good and the dock hands helpful, the restrooms were awful.



Our second day was a little longer, we stayed at St Augustine Municipal Marina.  Docking there can be difficult due to the strong current.  We wanted to arrive at slack tide, but missed by an hour.  The marina tries to put you in a slip so you have the current against you to make things easier coming in, but we had to dock with it behind us.  I’ve been to St A several times before, while it can be somewhat touristy, I always enjoy the free Greek Orthodox shrine and museum.  This time, with Jan at home, I stayed as long as I wanted.

Dolphins following Adagio

Leaving St A, a sailboat called on the Vhf and asked for a bridge clearance status.  It seems tides are running much higher than normal and some sailboats can’t get through bridges where normally they might have 65’ clearance at high tide.  We saw 62’ when we went through.  We passed Fort Matanzas, built by the Spanish in 1740 to protect the “back door” to St Augustine.  Jan & I stopped there, I remember thinking then the Spanish then must have had a very small stature.  The doorways were very short as were the soldiers’ bunks.  We also passed Marineland which was a great stop for us in 2012.

Fort Matanzas

Rather than staying in one of the larger marinas in Daytona Beach or further down in New Smyrna, we found a small place right off the AICW and only a few blocks from the Atlantic.  Adventure Yacht Harbor was easy getting in, easy docking, and the dock staff were great.  After beer and shrimp at Boondocks, we returned to the boat where Roger cooked up some scallops we had left from R.E. Mayo’s.

Headed to the beach

Today we moved on to Titusville.  Since Jan & I reached the Chesapeake back in September we had been following Active Captain hazard locations and comments by “Bob423.”  Bob was doing a super job of providing updated information for all the AICW problem areas; shoaling, markers, etc.  When we pulled in to Titusville, Bob423 was docked next to us.  I knew it was him as I also follow his blog, “Fleetwing.”



Roger is a left-wing, Obama loving, railroad union thug.  My political hero is Barry Goldwater.  So far no punches have been thrown, but we’ve got a few weeks to go.