Overnight Sail Completed!!

Monday morning we prepared Kinvara to depart the dock by 7:30.  We first had to go through a lock then a lift bridge and pass through a channel shared by cruise ships to the ocean. 



Harbortown Marina, Merritt Isl, Florida
Kinvara's home for 2 months.

 

Jane holding the bow line in the lock.

Peter holding the stern line in the lock.

Royal Caribbean ship in port.

There were loads of manatee in the channel. These creatures are very large, somewhat slow moving, and very vulnerable to getting cut by engines. You have to slow down and be very careful to watch where they swim. They are a protected species in Florida.




This was next to the boat in the lock.
It is just the top of it's back.

 

 Our first encounter once outside was a cruise ship returning to port. We felt very small indeed.  As we were passing through the channel to open water we saw large turtles and dolphins. The day started off very exciting! 

A Norwegian Cruise line ship.

It seemed to take forever before we could turn and head North to Georgia. When leaving Port Canaveral you first have to travel south east to avoid shoals then you have to remain very far off shore as a security zone for NASA.  The last shuttle, Endeavor, lifted off the day we left for England, May 16. It landed back at NASA the day after we returned from England, June 1. 

 Once we did turn North, however, we could see launch pads and the assembly buildings for a long time!!   We could see the final shuttle at it's launch pad. We think it is the Endeavor shuttle but not sure. It is lifting off in late June and will be the very last shuttle launch. The picture is a little fuzzy because we were more than 3 miles away and there was a lot of heat haze. The shuttle is in the second set of structures from the left. There is a small white dome next to it. By the time we passed it the time was 11:30AM and 4 hours into our trip.

We could clearly see the shuttle and external
fuel tanks with binoculars.

We have traveled the Florida east coast from Jacksonville twice now but only in the Intracoastal waterway so we knew which landmark was coming up next. This trip would have taken us four days if we stayed inside on the waterway. By going on the ocean side we completed it in 26 hours.  Once the first 7-8 hours had passed we settled into a routine and the time seemed to go by faster.  Around 7PM Jane cooked a skillet dinner and we ate in the cockpit watching the sun setting.  It was a little strange how few boats we saw on this trip. There were some small private motor boats coming or going into the smaller inlets  but only 2 other sailboats of any size.

Pretzel quickly settled in and found a comfortable sleeping area in Jane's seat. When nighttime came she slept in her carry case which zips closed. Pretzel was the only one on board who slept!!

After dinner Jane tried to sleep first with little success. So she took the helm and Peter tried to sleep. He was unable to doze off too. We had such an adrenaline rush of excitement that we were both awake most of the night. It was Jane's first time sailing an overnight and found it not scary at all. We could see lights all along the coastline.  You can follow the google map to see the route we took.

By 5:45AM dawn was beginning. We were approaching the St John's River that leads to Jacksonville,FL. We knew this would be a busy intersection because it is a major military and cargo ship port.

Shrimp boats dragging their nets.

Navy destroyer leaving just as we
passed across the river entrance.

 Lucky for us we had enough light to see what was going on. There must have been at least 15 shrimp fishing boats with their nets down moving all around. Then a cargo ship entered the river in front of us and a US Navy destroyer left the river behind us. So glad this was all in the dawn's early light instead of darkness!! The sunrise was spectacular!!

A very welcome sunrise!

Wild horses on Cumberland Island.

Finally, after 26 hours we made it to the St Mary's River. This is the border between Florida and Georgia.  As we passed in through the river channel we could see wild horses on Cumberland Island. This island is a protected National Park and It's just beautiful. We counted 11 horses on the beach.

We proceeded another 2-3 miles up the river to St Mary's Georgia. There we fueled up and got dock space for a bargain of $1 per foot. Where else can you get a room overnight for $43? As we were fueling we watched 2 little otters swimming around the shoreline. Good thing Pretzel didn't see them! After an outside dinner at a Greek cafe we returned to the boat for some much needed sleep.

St Mary's Georgia
A quiet place to be at this time of year.

Tomorrow we head to our final destination for hurricane season  at Brunswick, Georgia.