"Thanksgiving in 2003" Saint Augustine Travelogue by grandmaR

House in Palm Valley

We go through Palm Valley and there are huge houses on the east side but no one around except yard workers and construction crews making more big houses. We did see someone inside one house on the phone. The other side is completely wild.

We came by a house with 4 dogs out on the pier. They run up and down barking and Bob and I bark back at them.

Palm Valley fixed bridge with truncated tide board

The Palm Valley bascule bridge has been replaced with a fixed bridge. I note that the tide board ends at 61 feet, so I guess if your mast is taller than that you have to hope you guess right as to what the clearance actually is.

BLUE MARINE the catamaran passes us. PARADOX, one of the multitude of Carvers that were in the marina last night also passes.

I called Oyster Creek and obtained dockage for 3 days. Oyster Creek says we can come if we promise to leave Friday morning before 11 as they will need the dock then.

Then I called and canceled St. Augustine (which I don't like because they charge for the internet access and Oyster Creek doesn't plus it is more expensive overall) and also pushed back the Daytona reservation which I made for tomorrow to Friday. I figure no one will be open Thanksgiving, so there's no point in pushing it.

A sailboat and breakers across the inlet

We hear folks going through the Bridge of Lions at 1130 and 1230 openings (they don't open at noon).

We went by the little airport and Vilano Beach and across the St. Augustine Inlet. There were breakers all the way across the mouth of the inlet. I have seen it that way several times before. There was a presumably local sailboat sailing out near the breakers of the inlet.

Bob was swore that it was NOT the inlet, but he had to admit that it actually was when the place he thought was the inlet was a landlocked dead end.

BANDERSNATCH - our friend's boat

We approached the Bridge of Lions and found BANDERSNATCH anchored on the green side of the channel. The normal anchorage is on the west (red) side. When we saw that White Rabbit (their dinghy) was there, we called on the phone and talked to them, and then also called across between the boats. We had to wait until the 1300 opening for the bridge anyway.

Our friends said that the channel markers had been moved so that the channel was wider and the anchorage was narrower, but there was plenty of room where they were and the holding was good. It would just be a longer dinghy ride to the dinghy dock.

SCARLETT LADY following us thro the bridge

When it was time for the bridge to open, there was a sports fish on the other side wanting an opening and Bob thought he'd go through first, because he was upstream. But he hung back and then when we started to go through, he went at the same time.

SCARLET LADY (a large scruffy looking yellowish power boat with a for sale sign on it) also followed us through. We'd heard them calling 'the sailboat' for a pass and had no clue who or where they were. Our name is written in letters about a foot high on the stern. Don't know why they couldn't see it.

They went up the San Sebastian River before us and we heard them docking on the radio. The dockmaster was very explicit in his directions - he told us later that as he assisted them to dock, the lines were falling apart in his hands.

We docked on the end of C dock T head about 1400 after a trip of 34.5 sm - maximum speed 11.4 mph, average 5.9 mph. The trip took about 6 hours.

After I checked us in (Boat US discount makes it 97 cents a foot), I used the bathroom and took the computer up to the internet.

I looked up phone numbers of places that delivered food in the phone book in the cruiser's lounge, and we ordered pizza from Papa Johns. It was delivered very quickly.

RosalieAnn on Thanksgiving

Nov 26, 2003

Bob walked to the Sailor's Exchange but didn't buy anything. He also walked down to West Marine. The marina folks said that the restaurant here (which is closed Mon and Tues but which we'd liked last time we went on Sunday night) would be open Weds for lunch, so we assumed it would be open Weds night as well. NOT.

It was closed for "Thanksgiving eve". So we walked down to where the restaurant La Pentola used to be (passing Papa John's on the way). La Pentola had moved downtown, and there was a new restaurant there which had just been in operation for eight days. We had a very nice meal there.

Nov 27, 2003

I wrote up some stuff and went up to send it. Bob cooked the turkey breast and we had Thanksgiving dinner about 3 pm. Bob spent most of the afternoon watching an "At Home with the Braithwaites" marathon. I watched a little bit of football.

JEAN MARY - dinner cruise boat

We cast off at low tide - the stern swung out so we could turn around. We didn't have much water - depth gauge showed only 5.2. We idled slowly down the creek - me at the wheel and Bob stowing lines and fenders. The sky is a brilliant clear blue. I'm a bit worried about the forecast front going through and showers this afternoon, but there's no sign of it now.

We are being given a boost by the tide coming in the St. Augustine inlet. We pass the stern wheeler dinner boat which has been under renovation by the yard farther down the river. We had to be off the dock today because this boat is coming from to be docked at our marina this morning.

Next: Crescent Beach and Matanzas.