Welcome to Florida

Charleston to St. Augustine |  28 Hours  |  199 Miles 

At first light, we were on the dock unplugging the power cord and preparing our dock lines for departure. We surprised a bird that was sleeping on our stern line and he made quite a noice as he relocated. By 6:45 we were off the MegaDock and slipping past the mega yachts into the sunrise. A pleasant surprise was the sight of a cruise ship in port.

The sun popped over the horizon just before we passed Fort Sumter. A pod of dolphin escorted us out of Charleston channel as the sea gulls, and My Cat, followed in our wake. By the time we made our turn south, we had lost cell service. The conditions on the Atlantic were as expected and the day passed quickly. Before we knew it the sun had completed its daily trek across the sky and was setting on the western horizon.

We then spotted some interesting contrails in the sky and realized we'd just seen the SpaceX launch of an Italian satellite. The best part was watching the glowing booster rocket descend (not pictured). The colors of dusk lingered for what seemed like an hour. We began our nightly watch cycle and tried to catch some sleep. There was little traffic to distract us from star gazing. Nothing beats watching the stars on a clear night against a jet black sky.

At some point around 3:00 we crossed into Florida for a moral victory. The sun rose as we approached Jacksonville. Cell service returned as we neared St. Augustine, announced by the beep-beep-beep chimes of Barry's phone. We once again nailed our planned arrival time to the inlet at slack current. The familiar skyline welcomed us as we turned the corner and lined up for the Bridge of Lions' 10:30 opening. My Cat followed us through the elevated spans and into the mooring field.  

We grabbed the mooring ball like seasoned professionals, even though it had been two years since we had last done so. We settled in and enjoyed the warm sunshine and our view of the St. Augustine Lighthouse while celebrating the opportunity to be in short sleeves. We then dropped the dinghy and headed over to the marina office to check in followed by a quick walk across the street to stretch our legs. Ahhh ... hibiscus and bougainvillea ... I'm loving it.

We checked out Ponce de Leon, the lions and the bridge before heading back to Crossroads for late afternoon showers and a nap.

By dusk, the current had flipped and we got to enjoy a front-row view of the bridge as darkness fell. Tomorrow we'll spend most of the day ashore and see what we can see.