[Hilde's log]
Tomorrow we leave St. Augustine for parts south, but not far. We will be aiming for the Matanzas River, about 15 miles from here. Anchorages are not plentiful between St. Augustine and Daytona. One was close, one was far – so we just decided to take it easy and go to the closer one tomorrow and the farther one the day after, rather than making a forced march to the farther anchorage.
The weather has finally relented and turned beautiful, after about three days of cold, oppressive, overcast skies, and strong winds. How dismal it was for me to be trapped below on the lunging boat, with the wind shrieking in the rigging. Depressed and grouchy, I was no fun to live with.
We did manage to dinghy in to shore in the dark for the 7 pm Christmas Eve service at the local Episcopal Church. It was a lovely, if cold, ride across the anchorage. I sat in the bow, holding the flashlight and looking at the liquid reflection of the lights on shore spill across the black water. The dinghy doesn’t have a mast with a steaming light, so I hold the flashlight and pretend to be a mast. We joked that we must be the only people we knew who were taking a dinghy to Christmas Eve services. The church was full of people and poinsettias and the hymns were familiar, but I surely did miss the warmth and friendliness of Christ Church in New Bern, which has been our church home for the last year.
Christmas was celebrated with a big meal made from the last of our fresh vegetables (roasted carrots, brussels sprouts, and parsnips), plus mashed potatoes and gravy and a can of potted beef. Dinner was topped off with a dessert of packaged cake that I bought at Big Lots back in New Bern. All we lacked was the Yorkshire pudding, but it’s too much trouble for too little reward as far as I’m concerned.
Finally, the weather turned and we were able to get out for more than the soggy slog to shore to walk the dog, walking all over the “ancient city” (St. Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S., established by Spain in 1545), up and down narrow cobbled streets past all sorts of architectural marvels and past every sort of shop. There are cathedrals, mansions, forts, European style homes with their outer walls flush with the street, and all sorts of inns, pubs, and bed and breakfasts. The greenery is tropical, with palms and St. Augustine grass (!), not to mention enormous trees draped with beards of Spanish moss. In short, it looks a lot like Old San Antonio. We enjoyed a sampler of local brews at an ale shop and wolfed down English pub fare (and more ale) at a pub. We walked over two miles to the Sailor’s Exchange, a store we have wanted to see since our first stop in Key West almost two years ago – only to find they were closed for the holidays. I found Caitlin’s birthday present at an alpaca store full of clothing and rugs. We dodged tourists from all over the globe. Mostly these long walks were doggy walks, since Schnitzel’s idea of a good time is to sniff and leave p-mails all over town.
We anchored in the river and paid $10 a day for the use of the city marina facilities – dinghy dock, trash disposal, showers, and laundry facilities. These reasonable rates gave us access to really nice facilities. The monthly fees here for a slip at the docks are not cheap ($13.50 a foot), but then it is St. Augustine, which is both right on the Atlantic and right on the ICW. We’ve met a few folks here this week, but not a lot. We’re in a city again, and I’m no longer used to folks ignoring each other as a way of life. It’s not cold, it’s just indifferent, and very weird after a year in friendly New Bern.
Tonight we have pulled out the boxes in the quarterberth to examine the country flags given to us by Raven’s previous owner, a very well traveled gent. We found 16 different flags, which was exciting, even though at the moment we only plan to use one of them (the Bahamas). I can hardly wait to run a courtesy flag up the rigging by our tattered old Texas flag as we slide into port. My guess is that we will have to fly the Texas flag a bit lower or risk insulting folks who don’t know Texas’ history as a sovereign nation. I don’t want to annoy people whose language I don’t speak. We’ve also come across a cruising guide to the tropics that covers such things as coral reefs and tropical climes, so I think we’ve found our bedtime book for the next month.
The weather has finally relented and turned beautiful, after about three days of cold, oppressive, overcast skies, and strong winds. How dismal it was for me to be trapped below on the lunging boat, with the wind shrieking in the rigging. Depressed and grouchy, I was no fun to live with.
We did manage to dinghy in to shore in the dark for the 7 pm Christmas Eve service at the local Episcopal Church. It was a lovely, if cold, ride across the anchorage. I sat in the bow, holding the flashlight and looking at the liquid reflection of the lights on shore spill across the black water. The dinghy doesn’t have a mast with a steaming light, so I hold the flashlight and pretend to be a mast. We joked that we must be the only people we knew who were taking a dinghy to Christmas Eve services. The church was full of people and poinsettias and the hymns were familiar, but I surely did miss the warmth and friendliness of Christ Church in New Bern, which has been our church home for the last year.
Christmas was celebrated with a big meal made from the last of our fresh vegetables (roasted carrots, brussels sprouts, and parsnips), plus mashed potatoes and gravy and a can of potted beef. Dinner was topped off with a dessert of packaged cake that I bought at Big Lots back in New Bern. All we lacked was the Yorkshire pudding, but it’s too much trouble for too little reward as far as I’m concerned.
Finally, the weather turned and we were able to get out for more than the soggy slog to shore to walk the dog, walking all over the “ancient city” (St. Augustine is the oldest city in the U.S., established by Spain in 1545), up and down narrow cobbled streets past all sorts of architectural marvels and past every sort of shop. There are cathedrals, mansions, forts, European style homes with their outer walls flush with the street, and all sorts of inns, pubs, and bed and breakfasts. The greenery is tropical, with palms and St. Augustine grass (!), not to mention enormous trees draped with beards of Spanish moss. In short, it looks a lot like Old San Antonio. We enjoyed a sampler of local brews at an ale shop and wolfed down English pub fare (and more ale) at a pub. We walked over two miles to the Sailor’s Exchange, a store we have wanted to see since our first stop in Key West almost two years ago – only to find they were closed for the holidays. I found Caitlin’s birthday present at an alpaca store full of clothing and rugs. We dodged tourists from all over the globe. Mostly these long walks were doggy walks, since Schnitzel’s idea of a good time is to sniff and leave p-mails all over town.
We anchored in the river and paid $10 a day for the use of the city marina facilities – dinghy dock, trash disposal, showers, and laundry facilities. These reasonable rates gave us access to really nice facilities. The monthly fees here for a slip at the docks are not cheap ($13.50 a foot), but then it is St. Augustine, which is both right on the Atlantic and right on the ICW. We’ve met a few folks here this week, but not a lot. We’re in a city again, and I’m no longer used to folks ignoring each other as a way of life. It’s not cold, it’s just indifferent, and very weird after a year in friendly New Bern.
Tonight we have pulled out the boxes in the quarterberth to examine the country flags given to us by Raven’s previous owner, a very well traveled gent. We found 16 different flags, which was exciting, even though at the moment we only plan to use one of them (the Bahamas). I can hardly wait to run a courtesy flag up the rigging by our tattered old Texas flag as we slide into port. My guess is that we will have to fly the Texas flag a bit lower or risk insulting folks who don’t know Texas’ history as a sovereign nation. I don’t want to annoy people whose language I don’t speak. We’ve also come across a cruising guide to the tropics that covers such things as coral reefs and tropical climes, so I think we’ve found our bedtime book for the next month.
1 comment:
Happy new year to you both! Stay warm. xoxo
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