ICW # 6

We motored into Florida under sunny skies and, although we still had many miles ahead of us before we could cross over to the Bahamas, we felt that we had finally left the cold behind us and had officially “arrived.” As we sailed on past the colourful town of Fernandina Beach, we were tempted to drop an anchor along with the dozens of other transient boats bobbing in the bay. Instead, eager to keep on schedule, we pushed on and stopped for the night behind a pretty island just 10 miles north of St. Augustine. The next day as we sailed past that beautiful Spanish city, little did we know that within a few hours we’d be returning—under vastly different circumstances.

Northern Florida’s wide rivers and dredged channels had lulled us into a state of complacency. We were careless. Instead of constantly scrutinizing depths and alerting Vince to potential dangers, I had begun to simply look for markers and keep track of where we were. For his part, Vince allowed himself to stray off of the course he had plotted, missed a red marker, decided to leave the helm and go down below at the worse possible moment and Bam!—back into the mud!! Because the tide was rising we thought it would be a cinch to get off this time. Wrong! After more than ten minutes of revving the engine forward and back, we realized that we were really stuck. We called Towboat U.S. but by the time they finally arrived the boat was in fact “floating.” Just as they were leaving and we were beginning to head off, a horrible grinding/rumbling noise erupted from under the cockpit. Desperately we called out after them to “Come back!” We turned the motor off, they threw us a line and slowly we were towed back to St. Augustine. We were taken to the Comachee Island Marina where we were assured a qualified staff would be able to fix whatever was wrong. Unfortunately it was Saturday morning, and the qualified staff would not be in to work until Monday.

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And that’s just what we did. How fortunate that this happened to us at St. Augustine—arguably one of the most fascinating cities in all of Florida. What luck to be at the Comachee complex with its wonderful facilities, technicians, accommodations, restaurants and two courtesy cars. And best of all, we had friends here! Mike and Angie, an English couple aboard “Lady of Lorien” had taken a slip for the month of December, so the first thing we did after settling in was to pay them a visit and tell them we were here. The next day was warm and sunny. A free shuttle took us into the city and we spent a wonderful day seeing the sights. St. Augustine with its narrow cobbled streets, stuccoed shops, red tiled roofs and marvelous restaurants would’ve been more “at home” in Spain than in America. Arriving at 9:00 we splurged on a guided tour of the city visiting museums, spectacular Flagler College, the “Old Jail” and a variety of interesting shops before returning tired but happy at 4:00. How ironic that “misfortune” had brought us to such a charming place. We had a wonderful day!

The next day however, was anything but. After having the boat hauled out of the water and inspected by the qualified staff who had finally shown up for work, much of the “charm” was wearing thin. This was especially true after being told that major damage had been done to the boat. Apparently, while trying to motor off the shoal we had hit something very hard and pulled it up into the prop. It also appears that Vince forgot to put in a “vented loop” when he was installing the water lubrication system of the shaft. As a result of these two things, we now had a worn shaft, bent prop and worn cutlass bearing. This translates into repairs, replacement parts, two days labour and $$$.

Luckily “The Inn at Comachee Cove” is part of the wonderful marine complex here and we were able to move off the boat and into an attractive well-appointed suite at a very reasonable rate. We are now enjoying life with a king-sized bed, TV, living room, kitchenette, bath and breakfast served in the common room every morning. Next door is a lively restaurant and so for the next few days we will be living in the lap of luxury. I’m beginning to see this trip as the “shake-down cruise” that we didn’t have time to take last summer. It’s good to be working the bugs out of the system now and not having things break down in the middle of the Gulf Stream or in the Bahamas where labour and parts are in short supply. I’m grateful that professionals are working on the boat, that we are living comfortably in a beautiful environment and most of all that we can afford it all. The worst that can happen is that with time lost, we may not be able to cross the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas this year. And if this is what happens—so what? There’s always next year and although disappointed, what a wonderful season we could have exploring the keys and coasts of Florida! Que sera, sera.