Day 153: Fun in Fernandina Beach

St. Augustine to Oasis Marina, Fernandina Beach, FL (mooring ball)

June 17, 2022

We left St. Augustine a little before 7:00 AM so we could get through the Bridge of Lions when it opened. The tide was in our favor so we had the easiest undocking we have ever had.

North Florida’s ICW is much more wild than in south Florida. The Bridge of Lions was the only bridge that was less than 65 feet, so we had no waiting for openings. There is some dredging along the channels but there aren’t megayachts and folks on speedboats throwing up giant wakes.

Instead of megayachts, there were pods of dolphins. The water is smooth enough that we could see them throughout the day.

There was another SpaceX rocket launch this afternoon. It flew over us at an odd angle so we only saw the contrail (and heard it) after it passed us.

We are on a mooring ball in Fernandina Beach. We have access to marina resources like showers and laundry but are not right at the docks so we have to use our generator to run the air conditioner at night. There’s enough to do in town that we don’t need to be on Lailia much during the day while we are here.

We managed to walk to three of the four breweries in Fernandina Beach this afternoon. Each had its own offerings and ambiance. I like that two of them had ciders.

While we were at the final brewery, someone from Rock Hill recognized John from his McHale’s days. John used to cycle with Macy’s mom, Barbara, too.

There’s some serendipity that we have met up with Rock Hill folks at the last two stops we have had.

We plan to stay here for a couple of days. There is a farmer’s market tomorrow and there is Saturday bus service that I can take to the grocery store. It’s also a really walkable town that we can explore.