Fernandina Beach to Lake Worth

Fernandina Beach to Lake Worth – November 19 to December 9, 2009

There are very few mechanical things on Polar Pacer that Tom did not replace before we left Toronto. Two of those things were now starting to give us some grief and needed attention before we headed offshore. The port rudder had been rattling and keeping one of us awake at night. Tom thought that both rudders would have to come off and have the bushings replaced with new ones. The other thing was the pump for the hydraulic steering. The original hydraulic steering pump was not performing as well as it should with the new Raymarine Autohelm system. We did not want to cross the Gulf Stream and have a repeat of the Cape Fear to Charleston experience and needed a hydraulics expert to help with the installation of the new pump that we had on board. Arrangements were made to haul the boat at Sadler Point Marina in Jacksonville and we were ready to work on the boat project list.

When we crossed from Georgia into Florida our first stop was Fernandina Beach where the whole town was already getting ready for Christmas even though they had not celebrated Thanksgiving yet. Christmas lights and decorations were up on the main street and the merchants had snowmen displays in their windows. Many of the houses had their lights, wreaths and other outdoor ornaments up. They seemed a little out of place with the freshly mown green grass and the azaleas in bloom.

Decibelle

In Fernandina Beach we caught up with Decibelle, another 37 foot Prout catamaran, that we had met on the water in Georgia. Ian and Linda joined us for drinks before dinner at the Palace Saloon which is apparently the oldest bar in Florida. They were also getting ready to go to the Bahamas.

When we woke up the day after our arrival in Fernandina Beach this is what the forward cabin looked like. We had known that the liner would need to be replaced but thought we could do it on our own schedule. The effect of the high humidity on the original water soluble glue moved this project up a few notches on the urgency scale. I really don’t understand why anyone would use water soluble glue for anything on a boat! We would need to find a replacement headliner to match the section we had already done in the galley, remove the old stuff that was not falling down on its own and clean off the old glue so the new glue (that we would also need to find a source for) would stick. Very messy! Oh yes, we would also need to find somewhere to stash all the stuff that we had stowed in that cabin while we did the work!

Another project!

Sadler Point Marina is located on the Ortega River, a few miles upriver from Jacksonville Landing. To get to Jacksonville we left the ICW and traveled with the current up the St Johns River several miles. We kept expecting the current to turn against us but managed to ride the tide all the way.

Approaching downtown Jacksonville

196 When we arrived at Jacksonville (Jax) Landing they were assembling a giant Christmas tree and putting up decorations around the central square and getting ready for the parade of lights on the river.

Dressed for Christmas

We tied up in Jax Landing to a dock that was just down the way from CSXT headquarters.

Docked at Jax Landing

As a working, self help boatyard Sadler Point Marina is not a pretty place but is practical and convenient for getting work done quickly and at reasonable prices. They have lots of people to give you advice if you need it and are great at sourcing supplies and products that they do not have in stock. We arrived at their docks around noon on Sunday, were hauled, power washed and up on blocks by 9 AM Monday and were back in the water by 11 AM Wednesday with everything crossed off the to-do list plus a few more jobs completed that were never on the list. Fixing the headliner in the forward cabin turned into a full scale makeover with an ugly shelf being replaced with a nice new teak one and all of the teak getting a fresh coat of epiphanies (teak wood finish).

Before

After

Many thanks to Brooks, Chip and the rest of the gang at Sadler Point for all their help with the boat and for picking me up from Publix with my groceries. Thanks also to Pete and Stephanie on Brilliant who sent us there. Our only regret is that we never made it to the giant bookstore.

This was home for a few days.

Very early in the morning on American Thanksgiving we left Jacksonville Landing in patchy, dense fog Good thing there was not much traffic on the St. Johns River as the visibility was very limited. We kept the air horn close by and kept a close watch out for the channel markers, obstructions and other boats. We used the AIS system to locate large ships, barges and dredges on the river before we could see them through the fog. Thankfully, the small fishing boats seemed to keep clear of the marked channel. It was also very cold 62^o F/ 18^o C. Toques and foul weather gear in Florida!

A barely visible channel marker

An obstruction to avoid

St Augustine was on our list of ‘must see’ places in Florida. It was only a short stop but we managed to squeeze in quite a bit in a day and a half. We were welcomed into the harbor bay the canon firing from the Castillo de San Marcos, a fortress that was built by the Spanish in the late 17^th century to protect their empire in America. It is now a National Monument and part of the National Park Service. The stone that it is built out of is called Coquina, a unique sedimentary rock with high seashell content. When we walked around later in the day we were on the other side of the canon when it fired.

Coquina

Right in the Firing Line

Henry Flagler, the cofounder of Standard Oil, is responsible for much of the beautiful architecture in St Augustine. He built three luxury hotels in the town in the late 19^th century that are still in use today. Flagler College was originally the Ponce de Leon Hotel, City Hall was the Alcazar Hotel and the Casa Monica Hotel has been refurbished and still operates as a hotel.

Flagler College

Of course we had to make a trip to Sailor’s Exchange. We found excellent prices on some items we needed to complete the makeover in the forward cabin plus a few more things that we didn’t know we were looking for. The prices were great on both new and used items. Every boater should go, it’s well worth the walk.

Sailor’s Exchange in St. Augustine, one of Florida’s many marine salvage stores.

Getting fresh water to your boat can sometimes be a challenge. We saw this arrangement in the harbor at St Augustine. This is why we have a water maker.

Filling the water tanks the hard way.

The Kennedy Space Center was visible in the distance as we passed to the west of Cape Canaveral. There were no launches scheduled for the time that we were in the area.

Cocoa was another very short stop. Just long enough for dinner with Kismet and Passages (VT) and Jim and Joyce from Tranquility II who had come to Florida by car. We had met them previously on their boat in the Thousand Islands (Lake Ontario) when we began our trip in August.

Picture with Santa at Cocoa

Sunrise as we left Cocoa

Vero Beach (affectionately referred to by cruisers as Velcro Beach) is a god place to stop if you need anything before you leave the US. So many boats stop there that it is normal to have two or three boats tied to the same mooring ball. We were there for a week making several trips to West Marine for more parts, Publix for groceries, Wal Mart for more groceries and a blanket light enough to use in the Bahamas, Business Depot for a camera to replace the one Tom sat on, Dollar General for more groceries and a new garbage can, Target for an airtime card for the Net10 phone and Goodwill for some very inexpensive designer t-shirts. The bus system is free and picks you up right at the marina. It stops at all of the major stores and makes a special announcement when it arrives at West Marine.

Some sights around Vero…

Live Oaks – host for Spanish moss and ferns

Christmas decorations in the live oaks

Polar Pacer on the mooring ball

Some type of spoonbill?

Waiting for the bus

A small grocery trip

Where have all the manatee gone? We started seeing these signs at the Isle of Palms in Georgia and watched for them all along the ICW to Lake Worth. We did not make one positive sighting.

What manatee?

Our last stop in Florida was on Lake Worth where we would wait for a weather window to cross the Gulf Stream. We signed up for Chris Parker’s weather service and would rely on his forecasts to make our decision when to go.