Its Monday morning and its not foggy, not raining, just windy and cold. We had a hard freeze last night and at 9 a.m. it was 40 degrees. We completed a few more jobs including picking up another round of meds for Peanut. This is her third round of antibiotics for a bacterial UTI, poor little girl. The decision was made, lets go!! Just bundle up and go. Now, would our new fishing boat/dinghy actually handle being pulled up on top with the crane? You betcha! Tom did a great job of figuring out how to attach the lifting chain to the boat and found the balance point for the clip that attaches to the crane cable. Dinghy up, bikes on board, Ken and Rick, friends we made in the yard from Vancover, Canada came down to help us push off . The North winds were blowing straight at the marina keeping Laughter tight against the dock. As we pulled away we were surprised and thrilled with the sounds of bagpipes. Rick was playing for us as we left! It was awesome.
The fly bridge was surprisingly warm as the midday heat of the sun warmed us through the plastics. In fact the it was warmer on the fly bridge than in the salon. Our first day on the water was a short run to Ortega Landing Marina. The prediction of another cold night with freezing temperatures lured us to the convenience of electricity to run the boat furnace. Tucked in warm and toasty we were happy! We are on the water.
The alarm went off at 7am, but the frost on the windows prompted another 1/2 hour under the covers! Dressed in an undershirt, long sleeve shirt, sweatshirt, coat and leggings under my jeans I headed down the dock with Peanut. We were both anxious to take care of business and get back on the warm boat. Our goal today was St. Augustine. Again the warmth of the sun through the plastics made our journey comfortable, although I would still prefer to be in shorts and a t shirt in Florida.
Our first dolphin siting of the New Year, happened today, Whoot Whoot! Love watching them swim towards us then dive under the boat at the very last minute. My favorite bird was also out in abundance today. Have you ever really watched a large, awkward looking pelican on land dive straight down like a torpedo into the water? Pretty cool!
Our approach to St. Augustine took place about 3:20p.m. Decision needed, do we stop or press on to Marineland. Marineland it is. As luck would have it Marineland had one slip available, which was good news since we didn't call until 4:00p.m. The alternative would be to find a spot to anchor and run the generator all night to stay warm on another hard freeze predicted night. Not near as comfortable. We were tied up, hooked up to electric with heat on by dusk! Snug as a bug in a rug! Night all.
Jacksonville.
How many semi trailers do you think will fit on a freighter?
Cuba! Wow, so,wish we were going with you. Look forward to following the excitement. (S/v Charm)
ReplyDelete