Back at the Helm

We were up with the sun on Father's Day, looking forward to beginning our northbound sail from Satellite Beach to St. Augustine. We started with a quick dinghy ride to shore with Jake so that he could stretch his legs before our overnight trip and had completed our pre-departure checklist by 8 am.

After the engines had warmed up, I began lifting the anchor. After about 10 feet of chain were pulled in, I noticed that the chain was wrapped in some sort of green aquatic growth.  I told Steve that it would take a few minutes to clear and then set about trying to free the chain. I removed a bit and then pulled in more chain, thinking that we would reach the end of the matted material soon. The more chain I pulled in, though, the more material wrapped itself around the chain. And unfortunately, this stuff wasn't your run of the mill plant. It was like a very fine mesh. In fact, at first, I wasn't sure whether it was aquatic growth or a net. After struggling for a while to pull the stuff off the chain using a boathook pushed through the trampoline netting, I called Steve to the bow and told him I was going to need help. He tried the boathook method of removal for a while but as we continued to raise the chain, the stuff kept coming. At that point, he suggested that he deploy the kayak and remove the filamentous algae (as we later identified it) from a more advantageous position sitting in the kayak as the chain was lifted. This approach was much more effective and much quicker. It was well worth the time spent lowering the kayak, since it turned out the entire 100 ft of chain was wrapped.

After about an hour, the anchor (with debris-free chain) was lifted, and the kayak was resecured. We got a later start than we hoped, but at least we were underway!

A Small Sampling of the Filamentous Algae That Had Encased Our Anchor Chain

As predicted, there was very little wind that morning., We had four hours or so before we reached the Port Canaveral Inlet and planned to raise the sails right before we passed through the inlet to the Atlantic Ocean.  Our typical speed while under motor power, assuming no wind and current, is about 5 knots. This morning, we were going only 4.3 knots and we assumed it was due to additional drag caused by the growth of barnacles on the hull - even though we had cleaned the bottom six weeks earlier before leaving the Bahamas.

Losing nearly a knot over the duration of a one hundred nautical mile trip would result in an additional five hours of travel time and would put our arrival at St. Augustine during daylight hours in jeopardy so we decided to stop at an anchorage near Cocoa Village, gear up, and clean the bottom.  We spent about an hour in the water brushing and scrubbing and fighting the current but, once we were underway again, were very pleased as we motored along at 5.2 knots.

We got lucky with timing of the opening of the Canaveral Locks and bridge, and once through, raised the sails. By 6 pm we were finally in the Atlantic heading north.

As we passed Cape Canaveral, I was surprised to see three launch pads there now. It makes sense, as I think about the number of launches going up these days...I had just never thought about how many individual launch sites are required.

Launch pads at Cape Canaveral

Bright Lights!

The sail to St. Augustine was absolutely perfect! We maintained between 5-7 knots the whole way, on a beam reach (wind perpendicular to direction of travel) and 2-3 foot seas. It was a beautiful start to our summer adventure. We arrived in St. Augustine in the early afternoon and stopped at the marina dock on the way in to fill up our water tank and rinse the boat. We moored in the south mooring field at the St. Augustine Municipal Marina and were greeted by the crew of a neighboring catamaran, who gave us props for our smooth mooring skills.

A bit later that afternoon Steve and I noticed a couple of waterspouts forming in the distance, but luckily, they disappeared quickly before they were fully developed.

Waterspout Forming Near St. Augustine Mooring Field

St. Augustine is one of our preferred stops as we make our way up or down the east coast but we typically haven't spent more than a day or two there. This time we had allotted a week so that we could visit some of the attractions in addition to spending time with some of our friends who live nearby.

One of the places at the top of my list to see was the Lightner Museum, which was formerly the Hotel Alcazarr , commissioned by Henry Flagler in 1889. The Lightner Museum is a collection of artworks and furnishings from the Gilded Age. 

The hotel itself was a luxury hotel which in its heyday focused on the health and wellness of its wealthy clientele. There was an indoor swimming pool, Turkish and Russian Baths, tennis courts and a bowling alley. In addition, there was a ballroom and casino for nighttime entertainment 

Courtyard of the Former Hotel Alcazar

Ornate Tile and Relief Work Inside the Lightner Museum

One of the displays that I found quite interesting was in the "music room". There were several different machines which could play instruments - similar in concept to player pianos.  I had not known that there was such a thing as a "player violin"! 

Automatic Violin

Beautiful Architecture and Design Showcased in Every Hall

The Lightner Museum also houses a lovely collection of Tiffany stained-glass lamps and other furnishings.

Tiffany Dragonfly Design

In addition to the permanent displays, the museum also hosts exhibitions on the third floor. 

While we were there, a collection of paintings from the Netherlands was on display: "The Hague School: The Second Golden Age of Dutch Painting".

The painting below, in particular, caught my attention. It's difficult to tell from my photo, but the detail of this painting - the way the light reflects off of the woman's face - was so realistic it almost looked like a photograph rather than a painting. I found the piece quite captivating.

Portrait from the Second Golden Age of Dutch Painting

We spent the weekend at our friends' house in Jacksonville and enjoyed our time with them relaxing, chatting, and taking in the river scenery aboard their watercraft, kayak fishing and cruising on their powerboat.

Miss Darlyn Trying to Catch a Hummingbird

Steve: Early Morning Fishing at the River of Grass

After the weekend, we began monitoring the weather situation in earnest (not that we ever ignore the weather forecasts LOL). We needed to be north of the Florida state line by July 1st, as required by our insurance company, and it was now the 24th of June. If a good window for offshore sailing did not present itself, we'd have to motor up the Intracoastal - which many of you know, we hate!

In the meantime, we took advantage of the additional time in St. Augustine to go see its lighthouse which we'd told by a neighbor in the mooring field was worth a visit because of the beautiful view from the top. It was about a two-mile hike from the marina, and we were delighted to find a quaint maritime museum on a lovely site ensconced within a Florida maritime hammock. There were several displays, including the lighthouse itself, the lighthouse keepers' house, a functioning boatbuilding workshop with boats built by volunteers, a video and poster presentation housed within a building that had been built and used during WWII, and an exhibit describing some of the archaeological techniques used in extracting and preserving artifacts that have been retrieved from the ocean.                     

A Walk Through the Maritime Hammock

Beautiful Oaks Provide Shade 

Boatbuilding Shop Adjacent to the Current Lighthouse built 1871-1874 

Lightkeeper's Tools and Uniform

View of Anastasia Island and St. Augustine from the Lighthouse

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Lighthouse Keeper's House - built 1876

Oh, and I forgot to mention the gift shop! I'm not a shopper and I rarely buy souvenirs, but this one (literally) had our name written all over it!😁We really enjoyed our visit and plan to stop by again!

The next two days were spent preparing for our departure and on routine boat maintenance. The prediction for Thursday, June 26th looked pretty good with seas less than 3 feet, light winds and gusts less than 20 knots. We hoped to sail directly to Charleston and calculated that the journey would take between 36 and 42 hours. We therefore planned to leave at 6 pm and spend two overnights sailing so that we would arrive in Charleston in daylight.  

Please join me for the next installment, coming soon!