Final Destination April 12-14 Green cove Springs, FL

After a wonderful night in Jacksonville we decided to take our time before leaving to catch the river current running in our favor. Peter found a great place, Village Bread, to have coffee and bagels for breakfast. The mall was essentially closed so we had the place to ourselves. By 8:30AM we left the dock, passed through a train bridge, under the I95 bridge, and turned south. It was a beautiful sunny day with lots of favorable wind so we took our time and sailed again. While there are shallow edges the river is so wide we didn't have to worry about navigating. Under sail we traveled about 24 miles comfortably, averaging 6-7 miles per hour.

Our final destination was Green Cove Springs. This is 25 miles south of Jacksonville on the St John's river and considered fresh water. It was a hurricane hole for the US Navy after the war. There are about 10 long 1/4 mile long concrete piers belonging to different companies. Basically it is a working area for some commercial boats and a storage area for sailing yachts. There are a lot of Canadian registered boats in the yard and also live aboards around.

Our friends helped us get some things together, pack up our car and part of their van. They left Tuesday morning in our car (packed to the roof). We spent the remainder of Tuesday packing the rest of our things into their van. When we finished it wasfull to the roof behind the front seats!! Wednesday morning we finished preparing the boat to haul out for the summer (similar to winter preparations). It's bittersweet knowing our friends up North are launching their boats for the summer. We decided to haul Kinvara out of the water. We have been on board since May and are ready to spend some time in our house. It was easier to haul the boat out since it is a 3 hour drive to Green Cove Springs from our house. We removed anything that was not wired or bolted to the boat. This is the first time we are storing it in the hot humid atmosphere. We spread lots of charcoal, dryer sheets, and bay leaves to avoid mold and bugs. This is on advice of others who have been here before. We'll see. We plan to move Kinvara to their working yard in September to get the bottom repainted and a few minor repairs. Launch time may be October.

We were suppose to be hauled by 12:30 Wed. but it got too windy so we sadly left Kinvara sitting at the pier, first in line for the travalift to do it's magic on Thursday. We will make a return trip next week to check on her. Wewill leave the thru hulls open, stuff them with screening, and cover the deck with shade cloth to cut down on UV rays.