Well, I have picked up my travel pace a little. I am averaging about 60 statue miles a day. For those non-seagoing types, statute miles are those you drive in a car, while nautical miles are those on the water. A nautical mile is slightly longer than a statute mile and is base on minutes of latitude (1 minute of latitude equals 1 nautical mile). Why the difference, I have no idea. Why they use statue miles for the waterway is only a guess. The waterway is maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers, and what does the Army know about boats! Makes life very confusing.
My last update found me just south of Savannah. From there, on Saturday, I went about halfway between Savannah and the Florida boarder, after about a 48 statute mile run. Then, on Saturday, Nov 15, I crossed the boarder into Florida, and spent the evening in Bell’s River, across from Fernandina Beach, a 64 mile. Fernandina is interesting it that it has a paper mill on the island, and the aroma is something else. It must be interesting on how that impacts the tourist business on the Beach. Oh, and that day was when I managed to run aground 3 times. Once do to inattention, well maybe more like trying to do too many things at the same time. Twice because the charts were useless. In all cases I was going slow, so I could back off easily. The two times, were very frustrating, because the path I found on the third try was actually right through a charted island! The rapid currents in the area must change the geography very quickly (although some of the depth surveys date back to the 1800s if you read the charts carefully!). In this case, though, perseverance paid off, and I made it through. Temperatures Saturday were in the upper 70s, and I made Florida! What a glorious day. Sunday, I made St. Augustine, FL another 61 Statute miles. Docked at about 3:00 PM and took a walk about town, finding a winery of all things. So, naturally, I just had to do a wine tasting. There is a big difference between east coast wines and west coast wines, they just don’t have as much flavor. That doesn’t mean they are bad, just different. Tomorrow, I will tour the city, see the fort and other attractions. A lay day to recuperate from the stress of the work of traveling the waterway.
So, I am currently at Mile Marker (mm) 778 in St. Augustine of the Intracoastal Waterway. It starts at mm 0 in Norfolk, VA at the bottom of the Chesapeake Bay, and goes south from there. I need to get to mm 1018 in Palm Beach for the crossing to the Bahamas. Only 360 miles to go. At my current rate of 60 miles a day, that would be 6 days, but more realistically, I suspect it will take more like 10-12 days. I have been told by sailing friends John and Connie Fifer that I should spend some time in Vero Beach. And who knows about the weather. But I will get there when I get there. And then…
Florida, it’s hard to believe. Thanks to all for writing now and again. It certainly lifts my spirits.
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