St. Augustine and Jacksonville

Thursday, December 1, 2016

We have arrived at the Municipal Marina in St. Augustine for a 2-night stay.  What a pleasant surprise to discover this is the oldest city in Florida, founded in 1565.

The marina is next to the town square, shown here.  Although this is a bit of a tourist trap, the town has lots of history and beautiful architecture.

One block past the square lies Flagler College, housed in the former Ponce de Leon Hotel.  We learned that Florida has been a snowbird destination for many decades and this hotel was built for that reason.

The ornate ornamentation on the exterior is equaled or exceeded by the interior.  Following are some additional photos - don't forget you can click on each photo for an enlarged view.

Robert and Boka take a break in the college courtyard.

In addition to all the historical buildings, St. Augustine is also a shopping mecca.  This pedestrian mall extends for blocks and is lined with a variety of nice shops and restaurants.

Now that Thanksgiving is behind us, we are seeing Christmas decorations everywhere.  The town square is nicely lit at night - very festive!







Saturday, December 3, 2016

As we prepare to depart St. Augustine, we wait for the next scheduled opening of the Bridge of Lions.  We had planned to go all the way to Jacksonville today, but the city marina is full due to a weekend football game at the nearby stadium.  So we will stop at a small marina in Jacksonville Beach for two nights.





Monday, December 5, 2016

We are finally moving north toward Jacksonville along Pablo Creek.  The terrain is changing to include large areas of marsh grass, in addition to the pine / cypress / oak woods we have seen all along the east coast.

Finally the ICW intersects the St. Johns River.  We follow this very large river inland, past the port facilities of Jacksonville and tie up at the city-owned Metropolitan Park Marina.  With very nice floating slips, power and water, our only cost here is for power at about $8 per day.  Such a deal!





Tuesday, December 6, 2016

We are very near downtown Jacksonville and walk to the waterfront district past this Maxwell House coffee processing plant.  The roof is covered in a complex assortment of machinery, pipes and such; unfortunately they did not offer public tours.





We enjoy lunch at the Jacksonville Landing, an entertainment district on the river.

Wednesday, December 7, 2016

Today we will move further up river on the St. Johns.  We have had a hard time finding a marina on the river that is not booked.  A combination of snowbirds moving south and boats moving from marinas damaged by Hurricane Matthew have left most of the Jacksonville marinas packed with boats.

We leave downtown after a delay to wait for this railroad bridge to open.  We have been able to arrange a slip at an area yacht club, thanks to the efforts of our home club to sign a reciprocal agreement.  We are timing our arrival at high tide and almost slack current, since the marina is a bit shallow and the current in the river can be fierce.  Shortly before we get to the yacht club, one engine starts overheating (a lot)!  Yikes!



We shut off the engine and Robert determines we have most likely gotten some debris trapped in the water intake (which cools the engine).  Several attempts to unclog the intake are futile.  So we ease into the marina on one engine.  Robert does a masterful job of negotiating a tight turn into a narrow entrance and backing into our slip.  We can finally enjoy a nice sunset!

Thursday, December 8, 2016

Sunrise over our slip begins an exceptional opportunity to stay at a very historic facility, the Epping Forest Yacht Club.  First, we are able to arrange a diver to check the boat and, sure enough, we have a gallon Zip-loc bag jammed in the water intake.  We appear to have no engine damage, so all is well.

This is the main entrance to Epping Forest Yacht Club.  Built by Alfred I. du Pont in 1926 as his winter home, it has housed the yacht club since the 1980s. 

And the back view from the marina.  The marina is surrounded by a semi-circular concrete breakwater, also original to 1926 and designed by du Pont.

Beautiful fountains adorn the formal gardens.  This gated community includes the yacht club, marina, fitness center, about 30 condos and 100 homes.  We have met several boat owners and neighborhood residents and all are very friendly.  In addition, the club restaurant is wonderful!

We will attend a club social on Friday and have been invited to our slip neighbor's Christmas Eve party at their home.  What a wonderful place to spend the holidays!








When we first arrived, several people told us to make sure we saw the "wheel house".  So we finally found it and what a unique machine it is!







The building is locked, but it is possible to see some of the mechanism through the windows.  The wheel is still operational!





We will stay here until shortly after Christmas when we will begin cruising south (up river) on the St. Johns.  We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!