Day 12: Mostly Mundane… Until It Wasn’t

Fernandina Beach, FL to St. Augustine, FL

Much of the ICW in northern FL is a straight line.  It can be a bit boring but boring is ok.  I can bake, exercise, and Zoom as we’re motoring.

We decided to use the sail for a bit of extra speed…not that we were ever speeding or anything. Motor sailing got us up to 7.8 knots/hour. 

The *fun* part was approaching St. Augustine.  The ICW gets a bit complicated: shoaling and lots of waves from where the St. Augustine inlet meets the Mantanzas River. Our sail furler got hung up.

Have you ever had a dream where you couldn’t control your car? Maybe in your dream the brakes failed or maybe the steering wheel became detached. While John was cool and collected, my anxiety was off the charts.

When the water is moving in one direction while the wind is blowing in another it’s difficult to know how much the boat is moving – even if we have dropped the anchor. John was working to untwist lines while I tried to keep Lailia pointing into the wind.

John’s definitely the calmer of the two of us. He got us fixed up and we were able to get into St. Augustine marina tonight.

We’re staying here for a day or two to catch up with a friend, get some groceries, and do some laundry.