Friday July 16, 2010 6PM

So here it is Friday night and I’m writing a blog, not out on the town. Actually I didn’t realize it was Friday night until I started to write this – such is the life of a cruiser.

St Augustine is a very picturesque city. Here are a few of the pictures we’ve taken:

Here is the Fort San Marcos (taken from our boat at anchor)

The Lions bridge also taken from the boat – the picture doesn’t do it justice.

Some buildings around town:

This is the town square where we went to listen to a free concert last night. The music was not bad and the people watching was pretty good. The band played on the stage and we snagged a seat at the base of the monument.

It looks like we’ll be here until Tuesday morning and then we’ll be off to Beaufort NC. It’s a 3 day trip so we’ll be there by the weekend.

We’ve slowed down because we wanted to see more of the areas we stop in. Our goal now is to be in Norfolk by August 1, something we probably won’t quite make, but it’s a target. I did some hurricane research and the average date for the second named storm of the season is Aug 1 so we’re playing the averages.

So what are we doing with our time when in port - it’s like this. Our last 2 trips have been 24-30 hours long  following the coast and they take a lot out of me. I don’t get much sleep as I’m working the navigation problem of not arriving at the inlets too soon or too late. The winds and currents  don’t know our schedule so we are left to adjust. On arrival I’m usually very tired and crash for most of the day.

The next day it’s time to fix what broke on the boat (something always seems to break) and if I don’t have the parts I need to find out where I can get them. On this last leg the alternator quit, the engine quit (easy fix - change fuel filters) and we had an oil leak. The alternator powers the engine tachometer and interestingly our tachometer continued to work even though the batteries weren’t being charged. I’m glad I caught it before I ran the batteries too low. First I had to make sure it was the alternator and not a wiring issue and then find a repair guy. Found somebody within walking distance who repaired things overnight – sweet.

The oil leak turned out to a pressure sensor, this on an engine that is no longer made. Trying to cover all bases I took the sensor out and put some JB weld on it hoping to stop the leak and then headed to the auto parts store in the hope of finding a replacement. It looks like I was successful with both approaches, time will tell.

Now that the boat is on the mend, the next issue is grocery shopping. Getting groceries usually means figuring out the bus system – figuring out some bus systems like St Augustine’s is up there with figuring out the meaning of life. Once you break the code though it’s like a revelation. So today was grocery day. When dealing with buses there is no such thing as a quick trip so the morning was shot doing the one thing.

Finally there is laundry – nothing beats the excitement of spending a couple of hours watching washers and driers.

Add to all this some sightseeing, a dinner or two ashore and the next thing you know a week has passed - welcome to our world.