Wednesday November 23: Jacksonville, FL

Steve always manages to get great sunset pictures and the night before last was no exception. Yesterday was the last day of our travels for a while: destination -Jacksonville. What a problem with the tides and currents though. I didn't feel comfortable traveling at low tide after the mud incident the day before so we decided we needed to leave bright and early, anchor for about 4 hours somewhere near the St. John's River (which would have 3.8 kt currents AGAINST us as we traveled the 21 miles upstream to Jacksonville) and then leave at 2 pm in order to be at the marina by 5:30. Off we went - waving goodbye to Mary and Lance in Amanzi on our way out. It was really nice to see them again - we may be able to catch up one last time before leaving for Cleveland next week. The third picture is just an example of the factories that are along the ICW - not in Georgia anymore with it's nothing but marshes!

The white pelicans ARE around! Guess we weren't far enough south yet - and they must like being south as much as we do :-) Regardless, it was a very calm and uneventful 3 hours down to the junction with the St. John's River.

We anchored for 4 hours waiting for the ebb current to change but even at 2 pm it wasn't really ever in our favor for much of the 21 miles up the St. John's River. It, by the way, is one of the few rivers in the US that flows north. Of course the Cuyahoga flows north also but apparently there aren't very many others that do. Passed container ships being unloaded again - lots of shipping in the area. We timed how long it took to unload one container: 1 minute! Those crane operators are GOOD!

See Jacksonville from the water? Of course not - it's covered by rain clouds! Some of the tall buildings did appear every so often but the rain didn't last too long and no thunder involved so all was well. By the time we went through downtown, the rain had quit but boy was it getting dark fast - how much farther to the marina??? One bridge was listed on the charts at having a clearance of 9 feet so of course I'm on the radio calling the bridge operator - no response. The sun is blinding - can't hardly make out the bridge but I continued to call. Turns out the bridge is under repair but they leave 1/2 of it open so boats can still get through. Seemed pretty narrow but we made it.

Now find our dock with the sun almost down. Steve did a great job spotting the correct pier and dock - in and tied up by 5:45. Long, long day it seemed.

So today it was pick up a rental car and visit where we "live" in Green Cove Springs to pick up our mail. Second time we've been here in 3 years :-) We even have a fish tank! And finally - we thought of Matt as Steve spotted this parrot on a surfboard in a yard. Mmmmm ... maybe Matt and Wendy need one of these for THEIR yard? Christmas is coming....

Off tomorrow for Terri and Scott's for Thanksgiving. Looking forward to it ... back to blogging next week!