Mer Sea

We were eager to get underway again after our layover in Stuart, and also eager to try out the refurbished prop. We left the marina at oh-dark-hundred on a perfectly beautiful morning. As soon as we were out of the marina area, we slowly spooled Mer Sea up to put her through her paces. WOW! We were able to achieve slightly more RPM than we’d ever achieved before, and a whole knot more speed! No question, that prop man knew what he was doing, and Mer Sea was again at least as good as new!

 

We had a lovely day on the water, with calm seas, beautiful blue water, dolphins playing in our wake, and clear, sunny skies. It just doesn’t get any better than that. Along the way, we occasionally heard a familiar voice on the radio, and, sure enough, it was the broker who’d sold us Mer Sea, also traveling north in his 41’ Tug. We made contact, and discovered that we planned to anchor in the same spot that night.

 

We watched from a distance as Greg and Monica pulled their boat, Brown Eyes, into the anchorage, and then we followed them in. It was an anchorage where we’d stayed before, and it offered good protection and holding. After we’d set the anchor and put on the bridle, Greg called over and invited us for a drink at 5:00. Sure, we said, as long as you’ll let us bring some hors d’oeuvres. Done.

 

While I got the galley cleaned up, started the genny, and prepared the snack, Roy lowered the dinghy, fired her up, and took her for a ride to give her some real exercise. When he got back, we loaded up the stuffed mushrooms, our beers, and ourselves and rode over to Greg and Monica’s boat.

 

Boy, is that 41’ American Tug big! Greg gave us a tour, and she’s beautiful, but a whole lot of boat! I’ll take Mer Sea anytime. We had a fun time catching up with Greg and Monica, and then took our leave and headed back to Mer Sea. Roy got the dinghy back on the davit, and I made dinner. Then off to bed, ready for another decent run tomorrow.

 

The next day wasn’t as picture perfect, but it was just fine for boating – sometimes it’s easier when the sun isn’t producing so much glare. We had a good run up to Daytona Beach, where we’d decided to anchor in an effort to save some money. We knew of two possible anchorages, and made our selection once we got there.

 

The anchorage we chose had elaborate, somewhat confusing instructions as to how to approach. We crept along after we’d left the waterway, doing our best to follow them, but the depth meter was dropping. Now, having just come from getting our prop repaired, we were slightly more nervous than usual when we saw the water disappearing underneath us. We’d just about decided to abort, in fact, were in the process of making our way back to the channel, when someone called us on the radio. He was in the anchorage, and had seen us struggling, and gave us some clear instructions, including the information that we’d be crossing over a bar, but would have plenty of water to do so, and that the water would improve after we got over the “hump”.

 

True to his information, we found our way into the anchorage with no problem after that, and got the hook and bridle set. Whew! It was another tense moment, but we got through it with the help of a friendly boater. It never ceases to amaze and delight me how members of this wonderful community go out of their way to help each other. Certainly has saved our potatoes on many occasions, and is one of the things that makes this lifestyle so wonderful.

 

The next day we were headed for St. Augustine. We had originally planned to stay at the Municipal Marina, but we hadn’t realized that it was Easter weekend. It’s amazing to me how totally out of touch I am with such things from my current perspective on the boat. What a difference from my former land life! Anyway, it’s apparently a popular time to go to St. Augustine, and we were on a waiting list for the Municipal, but had reservations in the bag at the other, also excellent marina in the area. Each has its advantages, so we would be happy whichever way things worked out.

 

As it turned out, we went past the municipal and pulled into Comachee Cove. This is one of the best run marinas we’ve ever encountered, the only drawback being that it’s not easy to get into town from there. They do have a courtesy car, which makes shopping easy, but there’s of course a time limit, so you can’t really take it sightseeing. We chose to do some shopping since we were there, and Roy had a chance to really wash the boat, which was as salty as I’ve ever seen her!

 

It looked like there might be some weather coming in, and we were trying to catch up with our friends on KatieSue, who were ahead of us in Jacksonville Beach. That was just a short hop from St. Augustine, so the next day we toodled on up there and met them. What a fun reunion!!

 

We hadn’t seen John and Betty since Chattanooga, way back in October, so it was great to have a chance to catch up. In fact, John was our unofficial dockmaster, since he was the only one who answered when we called the marina on the radio. He gave us good instructions as to how to find the fuel dock, and was even there to catch our lines when we got there!

 

We have a history of finding the worst restaurants in town when we eat with John and Betty, and were determined to break the streak. I was given the task of finding someplace decent, and spent some time on the internet doing research. I came up with a couple of choices, which I presented during lunch. They said to go ahead and choose, so I tried to make reservations after we’d finished lunch.

 

Well, did I mention that it’s Easter Weekend? I wasn’t able to get any reservations at a reasonable time, and John and Betty had found another, easier-to-get-to restaurant in the meantime. We all agreed to try it. As it turned out, it was delicious!!! I mean, a really good restaurant!! What a treat!

 

We had such a great time with John and Betty – catching up with their adventures, and filling them in on ours. We had a marvelous, leisurely dinner, and laughed and talked and ate and drank our fill. Good friends are a true treasure.

 

John and Betty were leaving the next day to do some cruising on the St. John’s River, and we were headed to St. Simon’s Island. We left together, and parted company at the river. Until we meet again…

 

It was a beautiful day, although a bit chilly, and we enjoyed the change of scenery as we left sandy Florida and entered the marshy Low Country. We timed our passages through the trickiest parts at mid to high rising tide, and had no problems. We were a bit late arriving at St. Simon’s as a result of that timing, but the dockmaster (a woman – some of the best dockmasters we’ve encountered on the waterway are female) was there waiting for us, and we got fueled up and secured in short order.

 

The temperature was dropping, and we were once again grateful for Mer Sea’s wonderful heating and cooling system, which is able to keep us comfortable no matter what is going on outside. We snuggled down for the night and looked forward to a day on St. Simon’s Island tomorrow.

 

It was cold and overcast the next day, but we were undaunted. We enjoyed the fresh muffins that were delivered to our boat by the marina staff, along with a newspaper, and decided to get some chores done in the morning and then to take our bikes down and ride into town in the afternoon.

 

It threatened to rain all morning, but never actually did. After lunch, we bundled up and headed out on our bikes. That is, after Roy fixed mine, which had the brake stuck in the “on” position. I like my exercise and all, don’t get me wrong, but that is a little more than I signed up for! Anyway, Roy was able to fix it, and we were off.

 

We biked over the bridge from Lanier Island, where the marina is, to St. Simon’s. As we came off on the other side, Roy reached for his map, and realized that he’d left it on the boat. Now, they have bike trails all over the island, and it’s not that big an island, so we really were in no danger of getting alarmingly lost. We just followed our noses, and probably didn’t take the most direct route, but we did get downtown.

 

We parked our bikes and took a walk down the main street. Lots of shops full of touristy knick-knacks and stuff, but it was a cute downtown area, and fun to stroll through. Roy took a walk on the fishing pier, and I made my way to the lighthouse and museum. On the way, I met a pair of Canadian ladies, and had a nice chat with them. One of them is from Kelowna, where our daughter-in-law is from, and where we were for the wedding a couple of summers ago. Small world.

 

Roy joined me at the lighthouse, and we took in the museum and then climbed the 129 steps to the top. It’s really well done, with six landings on the way to the top, each with some enlightening information to read, so that you have a chance to pause on the way. Good thinking! And what a view!! Once there, I walked all around the top and saw the 360˚ view. It was breathtaking! I rejoined Roy and down we went. Sure seemed faster going down – but to be truthful, neither of us really found it too bad.

 

When we got back to town we treated ourselves to an ice cream cone (not really the weather for it, but who am I to refuse ice cream?), and then rode back to the boat – by the shorter route this time. It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, and we were once again grateful to have the bikes on board. We don’t use them that often, but they’re great when we want them, and they’re easy to stow.

 

Our plans called for anchorages for the next three nights, as we continued our quest to save money and strategically place ourselves to traverse trouble spots at rising high tides. We were looking forward to trying out some new spots, and being a bit more self-sufficient on this trip, since we had a new generator aboard. We think that it’s one of the fun parts of cruising, with which we’d thus far had very little experience. More later…