Thursday - 6/18/20 - St Augustine to Ortega River Marina, Jacksonville

                                                   Sunrise with no regrets....but egrets

We awoke at 6:30am to another pretty sunrise and sat on the aft deck enjoying the cool air while watching the egrets continue to stalk the minnows around the back of the boat. 

After our usual morning routines we shoved off from St Augustine Municipal Marina at 7:20am.  The weather was predicted to be nice again for our anticipated 63 mile journey to Jacksonville.   St Augustine skyline from the ICW in the morning was very pretty with the morning light highlighting the colors of the many old buildings.

Ft Castillo de San Marcos with the morning light as we were leaving port

A tad bit of a finger over the camera lens
pretty skyline with the sun shining on it 

Just a short couple of mile outside of St Augustine the terrain of and around the AICW became remote and peaceful with a narrow channel but many miles of winding water paths through the lowlands.  It made for very tranquil cruising with no speed restrictions aside from occasionally slowing up to not wake morning fishermen.   This area would be paradise for a kayaks or other small boats.  There were still some very nice homes along the waterway but they sat well off the channel and were spaced far apart.

A peaceful cruise this morning through grassy channels

About 20 miles into the day there was a section of about 10 miles that was all no wake and had significantly more homes and docks along the shorelines.   The homes in this area are generally much more modest than those we had been seeing in the southern portions of the waterway days earlier, however they were still very nice.   Quite a few new homes were being built as well.

One way that we could tell that we were nearing Jacksonville was the couple of flybys of military helicopters.   Renee insisted they were coming after me for creating too much wake.....Erik insisted they just wanted to see her laying out on the bow in the zero gravity chair!  Likely that they were just flying their usual training flights.

They're coming to take us away....ha ha

They're coming to take us away...oh no

As we entered onto the St Johns River the water depths got much deeper, often times as much as 60 feet deep in spots.   The current in certain spots also picked up where other adjoining rivers and waterways met.  We started to feel like maybe we had made it home to the Ohio River when we saw a couple of tows pushing barges along the rivers.   The area very quickly became very industrial with multiples of shipyards, sand and gravel pits and other commercial stuff.   Soon the skyline of Jacksonville came into view. 

We saw several cruise ships docked as we were entering Jacksonville area
Someone told us that the crews of the boats are still living aboard 

That is a lot of ship to be sitting in port for this long!  

As we rounded one bend in the river we started seeing many dolphins swimming about, surfacing and several even doing big leaps out of the water.   We slowed up and stopped for a few minutes to enjoy their antics.

                           Many dolphins in the St Johns River!  Love watching them play

So far in today's voyage we did not pass under any bridges that were too short for our air draft (~16 feet) and we cruised right under them all.   However, as we came into downtown we came upon a low railroad bridge (5 ft high) and when we radioed the tender of the bridge we were informed that they were operating on limited openings due to maintenance being performed.   Their next opening would not be until 2pm; It was currently about 11:45am.   Bummer....but this is cruising and we have learned to make the best of every situation.   We pulled over to a city dock that was in very poor condition but sufficient for us to tie off to for a couple of hours.   After warming up and enjoying our leftovers from last nights dinner in St Augustine Renee worked on finishing up her math homework for the week while Erik baited up the fishing poles and threw lines into the waters.   No lucking on the fishing but Renee did get most of her work completed.   At a little before 2pm a couple of other boats came up on the railroad bridge also requesting an opening on the VHF radio.   Just before 2 the bridge did open and we crawled through at idle speed before entering into a no speed restriction zone that lasted the remainder of the 6-7 miles of the trip. 

Arriving at Ortega River Marina we were greeted by James, a very nice older gentleman who we had communicated with a couple days ago.   He helped us dock and get tied off while telling us of his Great Loop journey a few years ago.   He was very helpful, even offering to give us a bunch of fuel stabilizer after we had asked him where the nearest auto parts store was to get some.  We will be filling the tanks for the last time this year tomorrow on our final short leg to Green Cove Springs and need to add stabilizer to the tanks since that fuel will sit unused for 11 months or so.   It turned out that the stabilizer he had was for diesel fuel, not gasoline, so it was not useful to us.

After getting everything hooked up and settled in we communicated with Susan, a friend and fellow Looper whom we had met two years ago at the AGLCA Fall Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State on the Tennessee River.    At that time she and her husband, Phil, had just recently purchased an almost identical Marinette as ours (same year, same size, just slightly different floor plan) and were making plans to start their Loop in about a year.   Unfortunately, when we got here to Jacksonville today Phil was off in Nashville at their home helping their son with some automotive repair work.    We were unable to get a spot at the marina where they have been 'holed up' since early March due to the covid stuff.   The slip we did get though is at the marina directly next to them.   So, after communicating with Susan she stated that their pool was better then the one at our marina and invited us over to swim for a bit.   The pool was cool and refreshing and had some friendly folks there to talk with.   Cooled off and getting hungry, we walked down the dock to see their boat; It is always fun to see the love and care other people have for their boats/homes.   We left making arrangements to meet her at High Tide Burritos for dinner. 

'Callin In Gone' fellow AGLCA members Susan and Philp's 1989 Marinette Sedan

Dinner was good and the company even better as we shared stories of our Looping adventures thus far.   They have so far made it from their home in Nashville down to Marathon Key and now back up to here in Jacksonville.   Their original plan was to make it up to Chesapeake Bay area this Summer but covid had other plans!   As of now, they are here in Jacksonville likely until next March or so when they will continue up the coast......not a bad place to be 'stuck'.   They are enjoying their time here.

Back at our marina and on the boat we were exhausted from the day and were both in bed even before doing our usual nightly shower routine to wash off the sunblock and sweat.   Looks like tomorrow morning will be laundry time to wash bedding.....lol.