28.09.1N 80.36.5W

Our bank had decided to replace our Credit Cards, so we waited in Fernandina for my brother Michael to  send  me the new ones. (Thanks again for that Michael). They arrived on Monday the 23rd Nov, so we set off south again on the 24th. The weather forecast was for stormy seas in a few days, so we took advantage of a lull and headed out to sea for a short day sail down to St Augustine. Had a nice evening in town.... though it is all done up in Christmas lights already.

We tried to get an early start next morning and head down the ICW. But when we were approaching the St Augustine Bridge we noticed that the tide gauge showed 61ft clearance.......... We need 62ft!! Yes it was an exceptional high tide..... (We were wondering why nobody else was moving!! The only consolation was that we saw a couple of other sailboats do an emergency stop before the bridge and turn round). So we had a couple of hours wait till the water dropped sufficiently.

By this time the weather had turned bad as predicted. Even though we were inland, the rain was very heavy....... and always seems to get worse just as we are about to anchor? After Daytona , we headed for Titusville and are now in Melbourne Fl where we have met up with some American friends we knew from our time in Haiti. Can't  stay long though as we are heading down to Vero Beach to meet some other friends from earlier this year. It seems that all American cruising sailboats are around this area somewhere.

The weather is forecast to be all wrong for crossing  to the Bahamas for a while. But there may be a change towards the end of next week. So we may be here for a few days. Will update when we get across. In the meatime, the temperature  seems  to  have  picked up  and we are in shorts again for the 1st  time  since summer. Lovely!!

Best Wishes,

John and Georgina