May 6 - On to St. Augustine

We departed Jacksonville early, with the outgoing tide with us and made good time to the ocean.  Unfortunately the ocean was tossing 8 ft seas and a due south wind so we quickly turned around and headed back to the intracoastal.  Another day of motoring, trolling, but not much sun.  It was an overcast day with intermittent rain.

 Another BIG boat in the St. Johns

A commercial fishing boat, not sure if they were fishing or catching birds.

Rain isn't too much of an issue because you can operate the boat under the canopy but it was also chilly, requiring putting on the foul weather gear.

The weather cleared up, we even saw the sun once or twice.  After we made it back to the intracoastal, Beth took over captains duties and guided us south.

Beth did a great job keeping us in the deeper water of the channel, guiding us under bridges while I rested, actually I took a nap.
Just before passing under the Pablo Creek bridge, the engine sputtered and quit.  We had actually run out of gas and of course on Beth's watch.  With my nap cut short, I switched tanks ( we have 3 ) and Beth continued on.  After motoring for a couple more hours, the engine again sputtered and quit.  Not believing that we had run the second tank dry, I checked the fuel gauge.  It read 3/4 full and was determined that it lies.  The tank was empty.  Switching to our last tank which is only a 6 gallon reserve we started calculating how much fuel we were burning an hour and how much further we had to go to St. Augustine.  We were about 2 hours out, the tide was starting to come in and we decided we could make it. ( There was also 3 gallons in the dinghy as a real reserve )

Along the way, another blue decided to pay us a visit.

This one didn't join us for dinner and with questionable fuel supply, Beth suggested I quit playing and get us to St. Augustine.

Approaching St. Augustine.

Dolphins and an Osprey were all around.

Approaching the bridge of lions and on to the fuel dock and our slip for the night.
The slip was an actual slip, not the side ties that we have had up until now.  I have not had to actually park the boat in a slip since we left Lake Lanier but I managed to slide it in without hitting any other boats or doing damage to this one.  The space between the docks was much less than on lanier and the slow speed handling of this boat is less than desirable but docking was successful.

A short walk around town with the babies and we called it a night.
We have decided to stay here 2 nights. Saturday we will be sightseeing St. Augustine.  Looking at an early Sunday Departure.


As for the AIS.  I talked with a few people and they suggested an antenna change might improve reception.  I have a spare onboard and when I feel like climbing the mast, I will change it to see if that helps.  If it doesn't, We will look into better tracking so you can follow us.