daytona beach, st. augustine, ortega landing and green cove springs.

we left cocoa on march 30, 2015.  it was good to be on the move again.  we had planned on spending the night anchored around new smyrna beach but we made good time and did not stop until we got to daytona beach and anchored just south of daytona beach memorial bridge.  it was a bit different, not having to drop the dinghy and not getting off the boat at all.  certainly less work but... well, we had a routine and now that routine is gone.  for now anyway.  still, it is an adjustment.  we still keep forgetting that there are certain things we don't have to do anymore.  quite frankly, we would rather do them just the same.  in any case, i forgot to mention that we passed the island just south of the haulover canal that had all the roseate spoonbills.  they weren't there when we headed south but they were certainly there as we headed north.  we were not close but you could see a lot of pink things in the trees and flying around in the sky!

the next morning, we left early for st. augustine.  nothing was keeping us in daytona.  the only comment i can make about the anchorage was that i miss the peace and quiet and beauty of little bay and the wide expanse of the southern chesapeake with all its little nooks and crannies.  seems to me that a lot of these anchorages along the iCW involve proximity to bridges with the accompanying road noise and oh, by the way, i don't think i've heard quite so many trains as i have since coming to florida!  there was a lot of critter action on this leg though - lots and lots of dolphin, osprey fishing and a pelican that got hooked by a fisherman casting from underneath one of the bridges - the fisherman reeled in the line and the pelican was moving backwards.  unfortunately, we did not get to see the end of that story.

st. augustine, as always, is a great place to stop.  we took a mooring at the municipal marina and dinghied in to the marina office to register and then went into town, had ice cream and  then we finally got to tour the castillo de san marcos.  we got in for free with tom's senior citizen national parks pass.  we tried to go in last december but we had consuelo with us at the time and she wasn't allowed so we passed on it then.  the next day, we met up with our friend, linda, who also happened to be celebrating a birthday.  she drove us around to see all the marinas along the san sebastian river, as well as the one across the bridge of lions on anastasia island before taking us to publix for provisoning.  yes, we are weird in what we like to visit but linda didn't seem to mind and then we all had dinner at barley republic in downtown st. augustine to celebrate her birthday.  it was a fun day for all. 


i decided to post a photo of a mooring for those who don't know what it is.  some marinas have mooring fields where anchors are sort of permanently sunk and marked by floats to which are attached lines that you can pick up with a boat hook and attach your boat to.  it's much cheaper than getting a slip but you still have marina privileges like use of the dinghy dock, laundry, showers, lounges and wifi password.  no electricity, of course, but you can come in and fill up water tanks or get a pumpout.  here are photos of a mooring. 

the next day, we left early for the st. john's river with every intention of going to green cove springs.  at least this time we were able to look around the tolomato river as on our way south, all we saw was very thick fog!  tom had mentioned that it was going to be a very long day but before we got to the st. john's, i asked him how come we didn't just stop in jacksonville and then rent a car to drive to green cove springs?  he looked at me for a bit and then said: the same reason we didn't just drive up there from cocoa while we had mikey's car, i didn't think of it!  haha....  one gets so focused on the end point sometimes and forgets that there are different ways to get there.  i didn't think of it either until tom had mentioned biking three miles to get to st. brendan's isle.  well, three miles is nothing for me and tom always insists that it's because i have a regular bicycle instead of the fancy folding one that he has and he was not looking forward to those three miles.  not to mention that we would likely be anchored, meaning  that we would have to dinghy both bikes in as well - a royal production.  so i said, well, use my bike then!  and he said, but both of us have to go.  i rolled my eyeballs and said, you ride my bike and i will ride yours!  no response....  in any case, i thought about it for a while and then said what i did about renting a car.  a little later, tom started making phone calls. 

once we got to the st. john's river, the current just about killed us - we fought it all the way past downtown jacksonville until we got to the ortega river and into the marina at ortega landing which is a VERY NICE marina and within walking distance to a publix and west marine.  of course, it is 25 miles up the st. john's river and completely out of the way whether you are going north or south on the ICW.  but we were going to st. brendan's isle at green cove springs to pick up mail and take care of florida residency and driver's licenses and stuff so we had to take that detour. 

enterprise car rentals picked us up the next morning and brought us to their office and then we had a car, drove to green cove springs and finally saw our address - 411 walnut street.  we picked up mail and were reminded that it was good friday and that offices might be closed - oh no!  well, the court was closed but we already took care of that stuff by mail from cocoa and it was just the driver's licenses to do and that office was open, thank goodness!  things can get a bit complicated when you live on a boat and don't really have a fixed physical address but st. brendan's isle helps with all that stuff and makes it easier.  green cove springs is a nice little town with very friendly and helpful people and tom and i both got our florida driver's licenses with not too much hassle. after that, we drove around looking at marinas and boatyards again and then went grocery shopping, picked up some chicken wings for lunch and parked in sight of the river on our way back to ortega. i looked at my new license and noticed that the address on it was tom's annapolis house in MD and i mentioned this to him.  a little later, he called st. brendan's isle.  i mean, it was odd.  at first, we thought it was just the way they did things for people like us, but things just didn't seem right and sure enough, they weren't.  scott of st. brendan's isle ran over to the county office and talked to some people and we drove back there and met up with him.  it's a good thing we hadn't driven all the way back to the marina yet.  anyway, it all got straightened out eventually and off we went again, back to the marina where tom dropped me and the groceries off and took the car back to the enterprise office. 


as i was walking back to the boat, there was a manatee at the marina that was enjoying another boat's A/C water discharge, letting it massage its face and chest.  it was so cute, waving its flippers in the air in ecstasy. 

so, anyway, mission at green cove springs is accomplished, and in the morning, we will leave for cumberland island but plan to stop at fernandina beach along the way to fuel up.  well, we got to see some of the st. john's and we really hope to come back this way at some point and go all the way to sanford like we had originally planned.  ortega landing and green cove springs were really nice little stops but tomorrow, georgia will be on our minds. 

more photos from st. augustine visit:

el galeon

sunset at the st. augustine mooring field

sunrise in st. augustine