The next morning 12/08 2008,we set out for St. Augustine, one of our favorite places to visit. Upon landing at the docks, we recognized the boat beside us and began carrying on a conversation with the couple as we were docking. We learned their yacht club was having a gathering out on the dock and we were invited to participate. We told them we'd be delighted to join them for appetizers after we took care of a few chores (laundry, boat cleaning and of course showering ourselves), the captain had also promised to take me out to dinner.This was going to be a very busy night. After all the chores were done, and we were decent enough for company we paid a quick visit with the group. Amongst the group was a couple we had met at an MTOA rendezvous. When they heard we were heading for Palm Coast in a couple of nights they invited us to spend a night at their dock, now isn't that grand.
There we were talking with the group, amidst brightly decorated boats and great conversation. Shortly thereafter we went for a lovely dinner, and toured the downtown area which too was brightly decorated.The next day, we had one of those lazy mornings, relaxed and enjoyed breakfast. Later on we decided to go tour all over St. Augustine, the Spanish architecture is lovely and the little shops and museums are great fun to explore. That evening we were invited again to participate with the yacht club and we joined in. Just before dinner, shortly after dusk it was time to turn on the lights decorating the boat. At the precise moment I plugged in the lights, the whole dock and all of St. Augustine went dark,,,, OH! OH! big OOPS! The captain emerged from the boat and said,, Elle what did you do??? LOLOL. Well, to be honest at the moment we were also experiencing heavy winds. The lights were out for about 10 minutes and then everything turned on. It was a beautiful sight and my heart began to beat again... On 12/10/2008 we left St. Augustine marina to head for Palm Coast. Leaving St. Augustine proved to be a little hair raising for the both of us, the current was running swiftly and the boat wanted to go in a different direction then the captain was steering. With a little help we managed to get off the dock and head south for Palm Coast. The trip down was beautiful and believe it or not we were actually wearing t-shirts instead of track suits,,, YEAH!!!! Upon arriving at the dock we were greeted by Phil and Sara and they rafted us up next to their 2003 55'Fleming Sara G. They explained that their neighbourhood enjoys seeing the boats come into their little cove. Phil and Sara's boat is a beautiful boat which they had lovingly restored from sinking. It had been sunk in Hurricane Francis and currently up for sale after a beautiful restoration. They told us we were invited for dinner , there were going to be at least 6 couples from the MTOA, who were all near by, how delightful. That night weather came in and there were tornado warnings, so we stayed right where we were.
On 12/12 2008 we left Palm Coast and headed for New Smyrna Beach where we had a lovely dinner at our friends' Al & Fran Freem's home. They had invited another couple to join and we had a great time together.
At our next stop 12/14 2008 we needed to purchase fuel and with the help of our favorite website Salty Cruisers Net we found diesel at $2.08/gal. The last time the captain paid that rate was 2004!!! We decided to stay at the marina for the night because the skies weren't looking too promising. We tied down at the slip and enjoyed the night at the marina. One of the neat things we enjoyed were watching the Cormorants coming in to rest for the night. Usually they are found swimming underwater and hunting for fish. At sunset it was like watching aircraft coming in for a landing at the trees nearby. You could literally hear and feel the breeze as they came in for a landing. They would land on a branch and call out to one another their position. They sound like geese, a deep throaty call and look out if another Cormorant doesn't approve of your landing position.Can you sing...deck the halls with boughs of Cormorants???
See you on our next blog.
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