Fort Pierce to Fernandina Beach | 30.9 Hours | 214 Miles
The alarm sounded early and we quickly took care of last minute prep. There was a final stash of loose items, taking out the trash, unplugging the power cord, and prepping the dock lines for an easy exit. The dozens of white egrets in the bush off our bow had not even begun to stir as we slipped off the dock at 6:30am. By the time we turned east into the inlet, the sun had risen over the south jetty. Soon it was a glaring ball of fire directly in our line of sight. We were far from the first folks moving. Dozens of center consoles zipped ahead of us on their way to their favorite fishing spot. We took that as a good sign for calm seas.
A wonderfully calm ocean is what we found. A low and gentle swell created our only motion. For the first time in what seems like months, the breeze was from the west. We set a waypoint at Cape Canaveral and settled in for what we knew would be a long two-day journey. Around 11:00, I spotted a dolphin jumping off to our starboard. Then there were two, then three. They excitedly headed in our direction for an opportunity to swim in our bow wave ... and they brought along their friends.
Barry and I both spent time watching at least 20 dolphin play all around Crossroads. While most were content to escort us north from the bow, some did swim alongside us and gave me a better camera angle. The spotted dolphin stayed with us for close to a half hour before eventually going back to their regularly scheduled activities. We spent much of the day on the flybridge which gave us a great view of fish (saw two mahi in addition to the little guys below which I believe were remora), multiple turtles, flying fish, and one shark fin parting the water.
The waves built a bit to three-foot, eight-seconds as predicted, and the wind clocked around to the east, but remained low. It was a beautiful travel day.
We reached our waypoint and spotted the rocket on the launchpad. Our next waypoint was entered for Fernandina Beach. The sun set into increasing cloud cover and I headed downstairs for a nap. While I was asleep, Barry watched the rocket launch and booster burnback from the cockpit. I returned to the helm at midnight and was entertained for a few hours by a distant thunderstorm. Heat lightning illuminated the clouds and horizon which was good because there was little apparent wind and it was very humid. We were also out of range for internet service. I was very glad when my shift was over at 3:00am. While I was asleep, we lost the push from the Gulf Stream and slowed down. The passing storms brought rain and clocked the waves around to our nose. I returned for my watch at 6:00am to see the sun eventually climb above the cloud bank. As we passed the St. John's River into Jacksonville, there was a lot of radio chatter as two US Navy Warships (USS Farragut and USS Mason) were returning to their home base of Mayport. We even had the opportunity to scoop up a wayward mylar balloon. Our internet service came back and all was good.
Right up to the point where a new batch of thunderstorms rolled through. The wind picked up to 20 knots with higher gusts. The waves built to five footers and we were catching a lot of spray. All doors and windows were quickly closed. These conditions were definitely not in the forecasts. Thankfully we were not far from our turn into the St. Mary's River. Actually, conditions got worse before they would get better. The high waves from the east were battling the strong outgoing current to create a roiling cauldron. The autopilot could not hold the course so Barry got a workout by hand steering. He used all the throttle we had and we only managed a slug-like 3.8 knots. By the time we got between the jetties, conditions began to settle. Folks walked the beach in front of Fort Clinch oblivious to the rough conditions around the point. Friendly waves from Pat and Tom (Slip Away) were a great reward for the end of a long morning. We were tired, but thankful for being able to knock out close to 400 miles in 56 hours of run time over four days. We dropped anchor, had lunch, took a nap, and then took showers. Later in the afternoon Linda and Joe on 401(Play) and Cindy and Steve on Kallisto pulled into the anchorage close to us. Selenes are well represented tonight in Fernandina Beach. Steve and Cindy stopped by to say hello as they headed to shore.
I took dinner out of the oven and then we sat back and watched a beautiful sunset, complete with a pair of dolphin.
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