January 6-16, 2026
Tuesday, Jan. 6
Left Palm Cove Marina 2 hours after low tide and this friendly guy met us to say goodbye.
Tomorrow we call the free water taxi and spend the day in St. Augustine. We were here in March 2025 so have seen a lot of the old city but there is always more to see. It is warm, sunny and not snowing!
Perfect day on the ICW. Current pushed us at 6.5 knots most of the way. 4 bridges at 65' that we fit under perfectly. Saw amazing homes along the way.
Had to manage getting through the Bridge of Lyons, a very old draw bridge.
Booked a mooring ball at City of St. Augustine Municipal Marina for two nights. We have #30 but somehow the 0 was not there so it said 3. We circled around in the mooring field until we figured it out with help from other boaters around the "3". First try and Kim snagged the line and we were hooked!
Wednesday, January 7
A calm quiet night on the mooring ball. Woke up to a amazing sunrise. Made a good breakfast and reserved the water taxi to go into town at 10:00 am. It's free! Yes, we did tip the driver!
Went to the old Alcazar Hotel which is now a museum. Lots to see but only included our highlights.
After all that pirate stuff we needed lunch. Walked past DJ Clam Shack and saw that it had been featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives! Kim got his lobster roll and I played it safe with chicken tacos!
Long day but loved every minute of it. Took our water taxi back to our boat to watch the sunset. Leaving tomorrow. Will we go on the outside (ocean) or stay in the ditch (ICW). Still deciding.
Since we were here in March and did so much in the 4 days we were here, we looked for something new. Walked around and came across the Pirate Museum. Of course we had to go in.
These two trees were a random find. A live Oak tree and a Palm tree growing together. After our 6 miles of walking it was time for music and drinks. The Mill Top Tavern never disappoints.
Thursday, Jan 8-9
Sadly it is time to move on south. We loved the mooring ball #30 but unhooked at 7:50 am to start the next leg of our adventure. We asked the bridge master for next opening and away we went.
The day was perfect. Smooth waters with a light breeze. We hoped the overnight and Friday went as well as today.
FridayIt was looking like it was going to be a very long day. Sunrise was beautiful.
Around 10:00 am the winds picked up. We put both sails out and that heeled us over but we were moving. 6 hours of being uncomfortable but we would get in by 4:00 pm instead of 7:00 pm.
Our hope was that we would see a whale or two. This is breeding time for Right Whales and they come closer to shore to have their calves. According to the charts we should see them.
What we saw instead were dolphins! Lots of dolphins!!! And a hammerhead shark and loggerhead turtle.
The plan is to spend 24 hours on the Atlantic Ocean to get to Fort Pierce Inlet. We filed a float plan with the kids with time we left St. Augustine Inlet to ETA for Fort Pierce Inlet. We would up date them along the way.
Kim took the night watch and I got up at 5:00 am to take the next watch. What a difference the sea state was when I got up. The waves were closer together ( 3-4 seconds apart) and about 2 feet. The current was pushing us back so we were only traveling about 4.5 knots. Our 24 hours was now looking like 36 hours. Weather was good otherwise.
It's hard to capture all that we went through since I am not filming when it gets rough. Going on the outside spared us going in shallow water, 30 bridges to go under and 5-7 days on the ICW. We ended our trip of 33 hours in a slip at Harbor Town Fort Pierce. We will be here for 6 days to regroup and plan the next leg of the trip to the Keys.
Saturday, January 10
We got some much needed sleep and showers. They have a great Farmer's Market every Saturday so we walked the 3 miles into town. Fresh produce and bread was on my list. They is always music and food.
We walked by a house that really takes Christmas seriously. Also saw red head lizards. Had lunch at the Funky Cuda.
Some of our neighbors have big boats! Every night the birds come and sleep in the trees. These are cormorants.
January 11-13
Not much to report on. Groceries with the giant backpack, boat projects, cleaning, NYU work. Kim thinks he finally found the problem with tripping the breakers when we plug in the power cords at some marinas. We sat by the pool yesterday for a bit but today it's cloudy but still warm. Cold front and rain is coming in tomorrow through Thursday.
January 14-16
We are hanging out still here in Fort Pierce due to weather. High winds (20-30 mph) and waves (6-8 feet) is not ideal travel conditions. Will look at Friday as possible moving day.