Heading to St. Augustine, Florida
/I know, I know … we were supposed to head over to San Juan for a few days and hang out, but surprise! We've changed our minds. We're looking at the calendar, feeling pressed to be moving north more quickly than we'd prefer, but hurricane season is soon upon us and the further north we are, the more relaxed we'll feel. So … instead of a leisurely island hop north, we're heading to Florida all in one passage, then head north to the Chesapeake from there. This passage looks to be 1100+ nm. The GRIBS show good winds and, of course, we'll have the favorable Gulf Stream to help us on our way once we make the Florida coast.
We decided upon St. Augustine as our first Florida destination because 1) it's a good point of sail; 2) the inlet to the bay is not far from the sea and the entrance is easy; 3) we remember St. Augustine fondly as a friendly, easy to get-around kind of town with lots of amenities within walking distance; 4) it's America's oldest city, founded by Spanish conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés in 1565; and 5) we have a mooring waiting for us at the Municipal Marina just inside the Bridge of Lions.
We've finished all the #1s on our to-do list and actually completed a few #2s. Since we're already technically in the USA and since we're heading to Florida directly, there's no need to check-out with officials or file a float plan. We're already good to go. We visited the two little, but oh-so-well-stocked grocery stores today to stock up on a few freshies and the few items on our provisioning list that we can't live without. (Note: Never run out of TP or PB.*) We've left the last of our trash at the dock receptacle. I've stowed and lashed and prepared for a week-long passage. David is doing engine and deck checks as I write. There are two Stugeron tabs sitting on the saloon table, waiting for bedtime consumption. Time to move on and as always, we're humming “On the Road Again” as we make the final preparations to leave at first light tomorrow. We love arriving and we love leaving.
NB: *Everyone probably realizes TP is toilet paper. Non-Americans might not deduce that PB is peanut butter, a necessity no American cruiser would opt to live without.