St. Augustine

If I had a bucket list this destination would be a check!  It may be cheating (lol) but I tend to add and check off items after the fact.  We stop in a lot of charming and interesting spots but to me a destination has to have a little magic. St. Augustine meets my criteria for a destination. It is the oldest city in the US and was founded in 1565.  We took two days to explore the city, the first day was a walk around looking at all the beautiful old buildings.  

We had a great lunch at O.C. Whites, est. 1790 which even has its own ghost!  Mrs. Worth, who lived in the building in the 1800’s, reportedly haunts the premises.  I don’t know for sure, but any establishment that can claim a ghost has got to be old.  We did not have the good fortune to see her, but had great food and service.

This is our birds eye view of old town from our balcony table.

We also took some time to walk through the public marketplace.

St. Augustine’s public market is bordered by the cathedral and the Government House providing a storefront for residents to offer goods for sale to the public.  The grid design of the central plaza and city streets were part of King Phillip II’s royal decree of 1598, which was a plan for all Spanish colonial towns. 

The second day was spent at Castillo de San Marcos the still imposing fort overlooking the harbor.  This fortress is such an integral part of St. Augustine’s history that it calls for at least a condensed timeline. 

The city was founded in 1565, work began on the fort in 1672 and completed in 1695.  In 1763 Florida was given to Great Britain through the Peace of Paris Treaty at which time it became known as Fort St. Mark.  In 1783 the same treaty recognizes the independence of the US and returns Florida to Spain.  So back to Spain but in 1821 Spain cedes Florida to the US at which time it was renamed Ft. Marion.  In 1924 Fort Marion is proclaimed a national monument and in 1933 it was transferred from the War Department to the National Park Service.  In 1942 the Park Service restored its original name to Castillo de San Marcos. 

                               

The birds eye view from Wikipedia

Spanish importance of this area became evident when Ponce de Leon discovered the best return route for their treasure ships from the Caribbean was along the Gulf Stream, through the Bahama Channel and past the shores of Florida.  Florida needed to be protected to prevent pirates and their enemies from using the coast to raid their ships. 

                             

Soldiers Bunk

Sally Port

 Officers Bunk

Here Comes the Big Guns

The tools to clean and load the big guns

Finally, a shout out to Gene because I know you are reading this!  Have a good day!

Next destination is Cumberland Island to see the wild horses..................

North on AICW

Went through our first lock of the journey on the St. Lucie River (Stuart, FL).  After all the locks we went through coming down the river it was a cake walk.  

Spent our first night on the hook in Hooker Cove near the mouth of the St. Lucie River.  It's been a year since we lived onboard but it feels just like yesterday.  The second night on the hook was just north of the NASA Causeway Bridge.  

We first tried south of the bridge but the current and wind were fighting for control of the bow and sent us spinning, didn’t look forward to that movement all night so we moved.  Our last anchorage was in Daytona before arriving in St. Augustine where we planned to go into the marina. 

Main St. Bridge  Daytona Beach, FL

We didn’t touch ground until St. Augustine.  So, what do we do at anchor when we don’t leave the boat?  If it is just an over nighter, we rarely take the dinghy out.  After setting the anchor we have a drink while watching our anchor (to make sure we are not dragging the anchor) and listen to music.  Sometimes we just sit and watch the anchor for a while and have a second drink, lol.   After the anchor watch we make dinner, clean up dishes, watch a movie, read a book, check on the anchor and go to bed.  On a good day it is pretty uneventful but very relaxing.  On a not so good day we may have a mechanical or if the weather is bad we are more watchful of the anchor dragging or someone dragging into us.  Most days are uneventful.  

Looking forward to St. Augustine............

Taking Sea Hawk Home

Taking Sea Hawk Home

More on our explorations, coming soon……  That was the last you heard from Sea Hawk Journeys back in March of 2018.  We are back in Florida and ready to take Sea Hawk home to Duluth.  What’s happened in the interim?  We put the boat on the hard in April, 2018 and almost filled a U Haul with boat stuff, but left a case of Glenfiddish on board, lol.  We arrived home one day after a major blizzard, that was quite a reality check!  We didn’t have winter gear with us but toughed it out until we got home and weathered the rest of a northern MN winter.  Summer did come and we did a lot of chores, gardening, cleaning up leftover storm damage from our 2016 tornado event and had fun. 

Now I’ll try and wrap up our Bahamas trip from my journal.  

The best part of a shoal draft keel is getting close enough to swim to the beach.  This is the middle cruiser beach at Big Major Cay and there must have been 50+  boats behind us. 

We left Staniel Cay the end of March, arriving in Fort Pierce early the morning of April 2.  We stayed at the city marina for about a week enjoying the farmers market and music by the marina.  The Sea Hawk was left on the hard at Indiantown Marina and we headed home by land. 

March 29, 2019

Left Indiantown Marina and headed east on the St. Lucie Canal.  It felt just like yesterday we stepped off the boat.  Back to boat life and it feels great!  We plan to sail the boat home by traveling up the east coast. 

While at the dock hanking our main sail on an artist happened to be there painting our boat.  We purchased the painting and now have a nice painting of the Sea Hawk.  Here it is propped up for the camera so it's a little skewed.  

Soon......................................

Forest Gump Moment and Staniel Cay

The Sea Hawk at anchor

"I'm pretty tired, I think I'll go home now".  That is what Forest Gump had to say when he stopped running.  We left Duluth, MN on June 12, 2017 and almost 4000 miles ago, we have been moving south ever since.  Well, we zipped through Highborne and Norman Cay after leaving Rose Island and kept going south.  We got to Staniel Cay and set the anchor, sat down in the cock pit, looked at other and said almost simultaneously, "Let's just stay here for a couple of months and stop going south".  So here we have been for the the last month, exploring the cays around Staniel.

There is a small grocery store at Highborne Cay

The Highborne Cay mascot

Staniel Cay is a fun place with Thunderball Grotto and Pig Beach (Big Major Cay).  There is a small settlement with two stores, Berke's and Pearl, AKA the blue and pink stores.  There is also the yellow house where you can get great bakery items.  Bruce was able to pick up a new bathing suit at Lyndsey's Boutique.  We have our laundry washed at Ruth's which is also a liquor store.  The Bahamian Kalik beer is great!  There is a BTC office and an airport.  What more does one need?

 Outside Staniel Cay Marina

Swim with the nurse sharks at your own risk!

The sign says it all

Cocktails at Staniel Cay Marina

Sundowners on the Paradise

Lazing the afternoon away in front of Staniel Cay Marina

Staniel Cay is our home away from home for now.

More on our explorations, coming soon................

Rose Island, Snorkeling and Beach Campfires

We left Chub Cay at 0440 to head for Rose Island.  I hate not having my time to wake up slowly and gently with a great cup of coffee in the morning.  But when we make relatively long passages we like to make sure we will be there before sunset, this allows for any problems along the way.  So I suck it up and put on my big girl pants even though I want to stamp my feet and say, ‘No Go’.  It was certainly worth it as we sailed slowly into the lee side of Rose Island just a few miles northeast of Nassau.  There were several shallow reefs with a narrow passage into the anchorage which took visual piloting reporting (AKA VPR) but we entered without incident and anchored in about 7 feet of water.  

Nassau in the distance from our anchorage.  That is Atlantis on the far right.

 View of the beach from our cockpit

The reefs surrounding our anchorage offered great opportunities for snorkeling of which we took advantage.  The beauty of the reefs was breathtaking and I realized that the pictures and videos I had seen had in no way enhanced or exaggerated the beauty, colors and variety of fish that I was seeing.  There were purplish, bluish sea fans, brain coral, colorful tubelike sponges and many I could not name.  I saw Foureye Butterflyfish (with the big eye on their body), blue tangs (Dory fish), Banded Butterflyfish, and I believe I saw some snapper.  

Although these pictures are taken from Google Images it was exactly what I saw.

Foureyed Butterfyl Fish

Blue tang

Sea Fan

Those were just the fish I could name.  The marine life I saw was simply overwhelmingly awesome. 

We even had sundowners over a campfire on the beach one night.

As Louis Armstrong once said "It's a Wonderful World"

Not All Sun and Fun

Cruising on a boat (sailboat in our case) is not all sun and fun; it’s a bit of work.

We have a 30 foot sailboat, though completely restored it still involves regular routine maintenance to keep it from developing major issues. 

This involves making water every third or fourth day, doing laundry, washing and cleaning the outside of boat to keep salt and rust at bay, washing our bodies, and also servicing consumables (filters changes every so often).  Other parts are performing boat system maintenance at rated hours.  For example changing engine oil and filter, fuel filter, replacing zinc anodes on heat exchanger and prop shaft, changing out a water pump impeller, complete pump due to leaking seals, adjusting belts, inspecting and adjusting stuffing box packing, and so on. We also service the seacocks regularly (greasing and working back and forth) to keep them operating correctly. Another maintenance item is inspecting our fire system monthly so they are ready for use in the event we have a fire on board.  Anchoring system is also very important to maintain; servicing the windlass (cleaning and greasing) and inspecting chain so we can weigh anchor each and every time without difficulty. 

Sail rigging is another area we inspect and service.  Such as checking for cracks, adjusting standing rigging, inspecting running rigging and roller furler.  There are several other systems we inspect which would make this a longer list for another time.

So, it isn’t all sun and fun, but it does break up the monotony of daily living on a sailboat when we aren’t having sun and fun.

I added this section to Chris’ blog because I think folks believe it is all sun and fun sailing in paradise on a sailboat based on YouTube videos that some folks watch on cruising in exotic places.  I believe if folks can truly see what cruising really is they can make an informed decision on whether they would like this lifestyle.  Well, that’s it for now from Chris’ other half.  Fair winds and following seas to all.

Chris’s Voice

In addition to being Bruce’s gopher when he is in the midst of a big job, I clean the inside of the boat daily.  Our boat is too small to allow it to become disorganized by clutter.  I pick up and return everything back to its allocated spot, sweep, make the v-berth bed, cook and wash the dishes.  Washing the dishes is usually not a big job and if it is, Bruce will help with that chore.  Usually I am washing a dish or two throughout the day, because there is no room for accumulation of unwashed dishes.  Most days I will also have one extra job that is usually done on a weekly basis that includes cleaning the brass, dusting, (it is amazing how much dust you can accumulate on a boat), adding tung oil to the bright work (done less frequently), etc.  I also have been baking our bread since reaching the Bahamas it is not as easy to find.  The one bright side of cleaning the cabin is it does not take long. 

So that is the summary of the other things we do on the boat when we aren’t having sundowners (isn’t it 5:00 somewhere?), snorkeling, checking out the local bar, having sundowners, trying to fish, or whatever takes our fancy.

Living in Paradise

Great Bahama Bank to Chub Cay

We left Bimini February 4 at 0640 arriving at Mackie Shoal at 1600 where we anchored for the night along with Ugowego, Last Chance, Kristteny, and Paradise Hunter.  In 12 feet of crystal clear water we could see clear to the bottom.  The Great Bahama Bank is a wide shallow body of water that lies mostly between the westernmost islands of the Bahamas.  The sea here is less than twenty feet deep in places and coral heads are scattered throughout.  The Bank stretches out for miles and there was no land in sight when we dropped the anchor for the night. 

We continued the next morning leaving before sunrise at 0515 to Chub Cay.  It just doesn’t seem right to get up and leave while it is still dark and I was just a little bit grumpy.  That disappeared quickly when we sailed into the beautiful bay with the crystalline waters striated into beautiful hues of blue. 

Sea Hawk is second boat from the left.

Chub Cay is a private island with a Marina and a beautiful resort.  In the past they have discouraged boats anchored near the Cay from coming in.  They have changed this policy and were very welcoming to us. Dan Scott beckoned us in to take us for a tour of the resort in his gulf cart.  He is great PR man and explained that with a change in management came a change in attitude.  Instead of chasing away people not staying at the Marina they welcome them to the restaurant and even let us use the pool.  We had an enjoyable lunch in good company at their restaurant and will definitely stop here again next year.

Pictures from our Tour

Chub Cay Resort

 Dan Scott

 Water storage for the island.

Resort Villas

With a few lessons from the experienced fisherman in our group, Jerry from Ugowego, we caught our first lobster.  Even though it was only one, it made a great omelet for the two of us. 

Having sundowners on the Paradise Hunter brought a great close to the day watching the colorful sunset. 

Does it get any better than this?

On Island time...........................