Best Life

 After witnessing a beautiful sunrise and the dolphins playing with their breakfast (they were tossing fish out of the water!), we took the dinghy out for a ride.  We landed on a deserted beach that looked like it had been visited by prehistoric beings.   Check out the animal tracks and lack of human trace. We thought to hike on the trails that extend for miles but, the mosquitos and spider webs and creepy crawly things sent us back to the beach!   The beach was way more interesting and with the breeze, bug free. Paul was feeling on top of the world!

 This morning found us pulling up anchor in a brisk wind with a strong current.  We were ready to move on to our next stop on our way to Jacksonville.  Goodbye creepy neighbors! Okay, so there was no one in this monohull.  However, we had to listen to her clanking all night long and her mast light shone.  So, goodbye to her ghosts! There was a heavy police presence in the river between Matanzas and St Augustine.  Three different police boats with 4- 7 men, we kept to the speed limit!  Which actually just means no wake.  We haven't seen that many officers since Riviera Beach.  Moving on! We passed by Downtown St Augustine with minimal traffic.  (Some tour boats taking photos of us but few real boats.)  A beautiful city with tons of history.  We have been here before so we skipped anchoring nearby. Castillo de San Marcos.   The great cross erected in 1884 to commemorate the arrival of St Augustine in AD 597! The bridge ...

 Today we decided on a picnic lunch at Freedom Island Beach.  We had seen lots of boaters hanging out across the waterway from us so we decided to check it out.  Soft sand, warm water, a nature trail to nowhere and time to kill.  An obvious choice on a beautiful day! It was a perfect place for our afternoon quiet time! This morning we took the dinghy to town so we could replenish the extra gas can for the dinghy.  While walking to and from the gas station from the boat launch, we were offered help from 5 different people.  Very heart warming that they all wanted to help us!  (We still opted to walk though since we needed the exercise!) And the sheriff stopped by QT to check on us and make sure all was good.  A first for us! I think because of all the derelict boats and that no other boats have joined us here for more than a single night, we stand out.  All is good! We have made contact with our training captain in Jacksonville and are headed ...

 A very strange day.  The morning started with clouds and rain (not predicted).   Cooler weather, rain, big winds, strong current - obvious thing to do today?  Sign up for online classes to review sailing.  We have tentatively hired a captain to sail with us from Jacksonville to Savannah.  So best to review terminology, parts of the sail etc before we leave.  We signed up for 3 classes.  The first said approximately 4 hours.  Took us a little longer but I love the humor of these guys! First, I should have taken more screen shots of their humor.  Second, it so reminds me of the modules I had to do at work!  Every answer should have been HUH? We didn't finish the last two but I think we did good completing the first. Still super windy and way cooler but enjoying our spot!

 We decided to stay put at this anchorage for the weekend.  It is quiet with a moderate current, no neighbors and little boat traffic.  St Augustine, being an inlet, would likely be choppy with increased boats and increased current. Paul hung our new flag! Here are some other flags that fly along the ICW. From sunrise... to a dinghy ride... to a walk on land... to sunset... we have enjoyed our day!