Florida

• 11/28/22 Hilton Head, SC to St. Simons, GA (82.6 NM)
• 11/29/22 St. Simons, GA to Jacksonville, FL (56.1 NM)
• 11/30/22 Jacksonville, FL to St. Augustine, FL (33.5 NM)
• 12/1/22 St. Augustine, FL
• 12/2/22 St. Augustine, FL to Marineland, FL (15.8 NM)
• 12/3 – 12/14/2022 Marineland, FL

The Calm Seas: 

• 4 million Christmas lights in St. Augustine – Nights of Lights
• Dolphins swimming and jumping in the front of our boat as we cruised into Florida

The Rough Waters:

• Tripping out the salon door, falling-thank goodness not falling out of the boat but ending up sore with lots of bruises
• Piles of sand on bike paths

Anchorages GA and FL

Finding a spot to keep the boat while we traveled back to MA for the holidays turned into a challenge after hurricane Ian.  So, we were relieved to receive a phone call that our number one choice marina had a slip for us.  They asked if we could get there early, so we decided to skip Georgia  and cruise straight to Florida.   Plus, the predicted weather and temperatures in Florida were very appealing! We will spend extra time in GA on our trip north.  The marine forecast was on our side so we took the ocean route to move from Hilton Head to  St. Augustine. FL.  It took three days of cruising for  a total of 172.2  miles (25.5 hours.)  The first day back on the ocean was a bit bumpy, but still a nice break from the ICW to be in wide open seas. Using the St. Mary’s inlet, which provided a safe and easy in and out, we tucked into the Mackay River off St. Simons Island and dropped anchor on night one.  Day two was split between the ocean (this day was super calm seas) and the ICW dropping anchor in Jacksonville, FL at Sister’s Creek. Day three was back in the ICW to St. Augustine.

St. Augustine, FL

Not planning our stops left us on the waiting list at St. Augustine Municipal Marina.  About an hour before passing by the area, we got a phone call they had a spot!  We took a mooring ball and it was a great location south of Bridge of Lions and Castillo de San Marcos National Monument.  A two minute dinghy ride landed us in downtown St. Augustine. Little did we know, the place to be in December was St. Augustine with the Nights of Lights and Nights of Pints festivals happening.   With 4 million lights, walking around downtown was quite a sight.  I thought we should grow up and do the museum circuit but instead we spent a day touring St. Augustine Distillery, San Sebastian Winery, Bog Brewery and Dog Rose Brewing Company.  The day prior we visited A1A Ale House, Ancient City Brewing, Prohibition Kitchen and an amazing new place called Peace, Love, Donuts.  We did try to out run the storm clouds in the dinghy, but we lost!  Just a little wet but thank goodness the brewery was right across the street!