Jasksonville to St Augustine, Florida

Left Jacksonville at daybreak19 December and had a very fast trip to St Augustine with the ebb in the St John's River taking us back to the ICW and then the flood along the ICW until HW and then the ebb to St Augustine - sometimes things work out right. VHF antenna pinged on two of the supposedly 65 foot bridges whose tide guages were showing 64 feet - but we are used to this by now.

The route took us along a mix of twisting rivers through grassy marshes and man made cuts, some of which were lined with expensive waterfront properties with their own jetties and boat lifts.

Some of the jetties were ready for Xmas .

Saw several dolphins on the way plus the usual mix of pelicans, cormorants and other water birds. Anchored before the Lyons lift bridge at St Augustines (mile 778) by 14.15 hrs. Anchorage is very protected from the west and the wind is luckily forecast to stay WNW for the next couple of days. Saw the unusual sight of two Ospreys paddling and ducking their heads in the shallows of a nearby drying bank.

The weather has turned cold again so we are back to wearing thermal underwear, fleeces and heavy weather gear. However the stormy rainy weather from yesterday has gone north resulting in the heaviest snowfall since 1920 in Washington DC.