There were two options for anchorage last night -
one to the left of the mooring balls and a short jaunt to the dinghy dock, and the other was to the far right of the mooring balls (a big field of them) and a longer ride to the dinghy dock. We tried going to the left, but with our 6'4" draft, we ended up dropping anchor on the north (right) end. The dinghy ride was a little longer, but as we spent 2 nights anchored here, the security of the deeper water was worth it.
one to the left of the mooring balls and a short jaunt to the dinghy dock, and the other was to the far right of the mooring balls (a big field of them) and a longer ride to the dinghy dock. We tried going to the left, but with our 6'4" draft, we ended up dropping anchor on the north (right) end. The dinghy ride was a little longer, but as we spent 2 nights anchored here, the security of the deeper water was worth it.
We woke up bright and early to go explore Amelia
Island/Fernandina Beach. We hopped over
to the dinghy dock ($3/day) and set out.
The puppies we very excited - at least until they realized it was a 1.8
mile walk to the beach - one way. The
humans loved it, but Molly and Libby insisted on being carried part of the way
back as well as taking a break at one of the many benches along the sidewalk.
View from a bench |
The beach was beautiful and practically empty. I have been searching for shells to use in my
jewelry and found a particularly cool one to use as a pendant. We'd packed a backpack before heading out so
we could lug our laptop and the "real" camera with us - so I whipped
out the camera to take some beach shots.
Too bad the SD card was not in the camera. :( I
used the phone instead (I have a particularly strong dislike of using phone
shots on the blog, but it happens from time to time), then we headed to the
Comfort Station (that's apparently how they refer to the restrooms here...) and
shed some layers of clothing for the trek back.
We stopped at Peppers - a Mexican restaurant with a patio, so we could
bring the dogs - and free wifi so we could plan the next leg of our trip. And delicious "skinny"
margaritas. Have you guys seen these on
menus? They are just using orange/lime
juice and agave instead of gross, fake margarita mix. They are delicious and apparently lower
calorie. I just get them because they
don't have a million chemicals in them.
Unless you count the tequila, which is all natural, so I don't. Over veggie fajitas (her) and chicken fajitas
(him and them) we plotted our course for Wednesday. It's a trip down the ICW, past Jacksonville
and likely on to St. Augustine. We've
been to St. Augustine a million times via car, as it's only a few hours from
Savannah, but never by boat, so we'll see how it goes. I'm thinking anchor, dinner, sleep, travel on.
Of course, as I pulled out the laptop I remembered that, duh
- I have the laptop. That's where I left
the SD card - when I was uploading pics to the blog. AND of
course, being the responsible photographer, I also remember that that little
container velcro-ed to my camera strap?
Yeah, it has at least one back up SD card in it. Yet I used my phone camera. *Palm to forehead. We had a good laugh over
lunch.
After lunch we headed to the marine store - and while they
have loads of things, they didn't have the few little gizmos we were
wanting. No big deal - just wants, not
needs. Then we ran the puppies back to
the boat for their naps while we continued to explore Amelia Island. It's pretty small.
Pirates everywhere. We liked it alot - and they have pretty good gelato in the coffee shop.
"go stand by the pirate" apparently means "go block the pirate from view" Oh well, Mark's cuter than the statue |
Also some cute little art shops. And loads of touristy trinket souvenir shops. :/
There are also loads of little alley way cafes and pubs
here.
I wanted to try out
29 South - a local restaurant that uses locally sourced foods, but we had leftovers, so we headed back to
the boat to eat and to crash. Maybe
we'll have a chance to eat there on our way back North.
We still had enough sun for Mark and Molly to get in a
paddle and for me to lounge on deck and soak up some rays. But it gets cold and dark early, and we get
pooped sailing, so it's been early nights and early mornings for us.
This boat was coming into anchor while I was lounging on
deck. When we replace our sails one day,
I'd like to use bright colors (even though they're usually reserved for spinnakers.)
Nausea Update:
Since halfway thru day 1, I have been wearing one earplug in
my non-dominate ear (per the Women Who Sail FB group's advice) and although I
was skeptical, it seems to be working. I
know that I forgot to put it back in after a shower and a few hours later
noticed I was nauseous again. Certainly
better than Dramamine that makes me sleep and Bonine, which works, but makes me
a little loopy. I love theWWS group :)
The up date is fascinating and the pics are sooooo good and what is a "spinnaker"? glad you are having such fun and SHARING it :) Please continue ;)
ReplyDeletecandy :)
What a great shot of Molly on the SUP! I can't wait until we get our SUPs out to some clean water. I hope Betsy will be able to ride along just like Molly! Gunner is surely too big to fit on there with me :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, I'm thrilled to hear about your experiment with the ear plug trick! I've been wanting to try it out as well but Charlotte Harbor doesn't have enough action to make me sick. I suppose I could always ban myself to the galley while underway and give it a shot then ;) We will be adding extra ear plugs to the provisioning list for SURE!