St Augustine, Florida - 29 53.69N 081 18.56W
OOJAH's AWESOME ODYSSEY
Peter & Christene Tanner
Tue 8 Apr 2014 00:35
Our visit home was intensive & our apologies to those we did not manage to see, the priority being close family. We returned to Canaveral to find the masthead VHF aerial had gone, snapped off in 60kt winds while we we're away (we were glad we didn't know about those at the time!). A few other maintenance tasks were awaiting spares we'd bought back with us so it was 4 days before we were ready to depart.
The final leg of this odyssey really splits into several parts - up to Norfolk Virginia, Chesapeake, New York to Rhode Island, & Boston onto Maine. Apart from Chesapeake Bay there are relatively few navigable inlets in the 1,000 nm between here & New York. Many are shallow & subject to shifting sandbanks & the stream pours in & out making them very challenging. The Intracoastal Canal goes inland parallel to the coast from Miami to Norfolk, Virginia. It was built to keep American trading vessels safe from the marauding British navy but while nominally 12' deep many States are not dredging it, & any draft over 6' requires care (we need 7'4"). In addition the bridge clearance is generally 65' but a small number are 64' (cock up?) & our mast is 63.5' with the VHF aerial removed or 65.5' with it in place, so we are not sure whether it's worth the stress of going up "the ditch" as the Intracoastal or ICW is affectionally known.
While the offshore weather is good we are setting off up the coast with some anxiety about the inlets. The first one, Ponce was 60nm North of Canaveral. We got in ok only to run aground on a unmarked sand bank just inside. We were stuck fast close to high water but a tow was quickly on offer at huge expense - no lifeboats or offers of help from passers by in the land of free enterprise! We had been warned to take out towing insurance but had not got round to it, probably on the basis that it couldn't happen to us. Worse still we were exactly where the chart said we should be. No wonder the salvage vessel was hovering! At least we only had to deal with hurt pride & a hurt wallet.
We left in the dark the following morning to ensure we reached St Augustine another 60nm North by high water. What a difference - temporary buoys laid to mark the shifting channel & a nice buoy to tie to on arrival. St Augustine was established in 1565 & is the oldest European City in the USA. What has survived of the historic centre is not that old but it is attractive, even though most of it is given over to eating & drinking or retail establishments. It was a more relaxing day than the two preceding ones!
Peter & Christene