COURAGE’S JOURNEY FROM PROVIDENCE, RI TO KEY WEST, FL
Sunday October 5, 2014
Weather: 70 Sunny –
Departure: 09:30 from Jekyll Island, GA
Destination: St. Augustine, FL
Marina: St. Augustine Municipal Marina 8 out of 10 Arrival: 14:00
Distance traveled: 100 Nautical Miles
WE MADE IT TO FLORIDA!
It was a glorious day! The journey from Jekyll Island to St. Augustine was easy sailing! The seas were calm, the weather perfect – cool and sunny and the boat ran great. We made good time. We traveled Jekyll Creek into Cumberland Sound. It gets a little tricky in the Sound and you don’t want to stray on your way! Cumberland Sound is the home to the Navy’s King’s Bay Submarine Base. Six Trident Submarines are housed here. We were on the lookout but we didn’t see any submarines.
As we crossed St. Mary’s River and entered Florida we noticed a change in the ICW. Georgia’s long, open sounds and wide rivers gradually transform into a series of creeks and rivers connected by land cuts. There is more development.
St. Augustine is the oldest continuously occupied European-established settlement and port in the continental United States. The St. Augustine Municipal Marina is downtown in the Historical District. We caught up with two fellow
boaters that George made friends with along the way and had dinner with them. Finally – Grouper on the menu! No more shrimp and grits and crab cakes. But I have to say I was never a grits fan but I came to like them!
We are staying one more day in St. Augustine.
Monday October 6, 2014
Weather: 70s Sunny – A beautiful day In port: St. Augustine, FL
Marina: St. Augustine Municipal Marina
A DAY OF SIGHTSEEING IN ST. AUGUSTINE
It was another perfect day! We got the bikes out today and toured St. Augustine. Boy is this city old!
The vicinity of St. Augustine was first explored by Europeans in 1513 by Spanish explorer and governor of Puerto Rico, Juan Ponce de León, who claimed the region for the Spanish crown. Prior to the founding of St. Augustine in 1565, several earlier attempts at European colonization in what is now Florida were made by both Spain and France, but all failed.
We broke out the bikes today! George visited the Pirate Museum, went to a meeting and Archie and Kris toured the Castillo de San Marcos fort. You can’t come to St. Augustine without a visit to the Fountain of Youth. We rode through the city and toured Flagler College. St. Augustine in like a bigger, older Key West with less local color.
We had a nice lunch (yes lunch included shrimp, grits and crab cakes) and headed back for relaxing night on the boat.
Tuesday we head to New Smyrna Beach, FL.
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