May 9-11 Overnight Bus to St Augustine

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5AM. We're both awake and jump into making the boat ready for a gulf stream passage. Everything that might shift around is stowed. Lines are made ready. A quick breakfast & some sunscreen.



Last night Lois put together meals for  2 days in packages ready to heat up quickly. Cooking below deck is no fun on a passage because of the boat motion.  We'll be able to get in, warm the food & be back above deck in short order.

The sunrise was as good as any we have had.  Anchored behind three remote and unnamed cays way out on the Bahama Bank we took time to look around and say farewell to a great time in the Bahamas.


As soon as the anchor came up Second Star swung her nose around to the north west and began the journey home.  We have traveled 1675 nautical miles on this journey so far.  We find our cup full of wonderful anchorages, diving, exploring, and just enjoying the moments.  Now, it is time to head home.

If there was a way, we would click our heels together three times and find ourselves entering our Chesapeake Bay.  Reality is hundreds of miles lay between us and home.  We will take the trip in stages with hopefully some enjoyable stops along the way.

Stage one is the overnight run to St Augustine. The weather forecast was spot on.  The sky is cloudless, the wind is blowing a perfect 15 kts and the following seas have a not unpleasant roll.  So far so good. 

8:46AM We're moving along at 7kts and have gone off soundings: the water is deeper than our depth sounder can measure, more than 999 feet.  In the first half of the crossing we slowed the boat a bit to allow some weather to pass in front of us, sailing a northerly line 90 to 100 miles off shore east of the gulf stream.  This is the wild ocean.  Flying fish scattered before our path.  Frigate birds squawked at our disturbing their gam.  Only occasionally could we detect another ship, usually many miles away.  

In the late evening at a calculated waypoint we slipped into the gulf stream flow.  Slowly at first but then increasingly the gulf stream pushed along adding as much as 4 knots to Second Star's speed.  In the hours after midnight we latched on to the winds behind a small front, laying down some quick miles in a boistorous sea.  The noise of boat crashing through tall seas was not as pleasant sleeping as swinging on the anchor at a remote cay, but we both managed a few hours sleeping while trading watches on the helm.  We jibed (sail evolution to change direction) at the change of the watch so we had two sets of hands and sets of eyes to handle these fussy maneuvers on a moonless night. 

The night was uneventful and the view of the stars was incredible.  We alternated 3 hour watches,  but even though we slept when we weren't at the helm, fatigue set in. The new sunrise helped just a little. Our good traveling  winds died off fairly early in the morning with 40 miles left to reach the St. Augustine inlet.  Reluctantly we turned on engines to motor sail, then with 35 miles left and winds down to 3.5kts, we furled the sails and just motored the rest of the way.

We picked up our assigned mooring in the north field of the Municipal Marina, ate a quick lunch and slept a couple hours.  A long hot shower was the last item on the agenda.

Those who have been in this marina will not be surprised to hear that we much prefer the south mooring field where we were when we stopped here in March.  This north field is not only directly in line with the inlet off the ocean (and therefore more affected by storms rolling in) but it is also right across from the waterside bars.  Late into the night it's noisy with people yelling & loud car and motorcycle engines. During the day tour boats cut through the anchorage, weaving between the moored boats. Luckily, we're still tired enough to sleep through it all.

May 11 
The weather forecast says winds  from the north for several days followed by a 2-day storm. So looks like we'll be in St. Augustine for a week before the next going-north weather arrives. We have time to get well rested, clean the boat up, order some  parts that we need, buy groceries, do some walking in the city.  We enjoy St Augustine, so another week here will not be difficult.

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