We left Cumberland Island at almost daylight to ensure an arrival in St. Augustine before dark. There are a lot of shrimp boats working the GA and FL waters this time of the year. We saw lots of them at night, plus a few that hadn't gone in for the day yet off of the FL coastline. It seems that we always see them in groups of 3.
The weather held up most of the day, but about 2 hours out of St. Augustine, the rain hit. and it continued to rain. and it was cold.
Fortunately, friends Heather & Ken were already in St. Augustine and greeted us with a warm boat cabin, dry socks, and great dinner. A nice way to finish up a cold, rainy day.
Turns out that this past weekend was the Christmas parade and the British parade in St. Augustine. So, we left the boat early and headed to town for the day. Haircuts for both of us at the local barber (wish I had a picture) and then to an ABC store for supplies. They were giving out samples! at an ABC store! I love Florida! Here are Ken and Luke getting their little jiggers full.
A little more sightseeing and then dinner at Scarlet O'Hara's. The greasy fried food was a great antipoison for the organic lunch we had!
After dinner, we watched the nighttime Brit parade. Lots of fun and lots of local participation.
Both boats left early on Sunday for a run past Daytona to New Smyrna Beach. Yes, here's Daytona, highrises and all.
Look at the bridge supports on the Memorial Bridge in Daytona --- pretty cool, huh!
South of Daytona, we passed the Ponce Inlet, the major inlet to the Daytona area. Beautiful lighthouse protecting the entrance.
We spend an uneventful night at anchor in New Smyrna Beach, then left in light rain this morning for Cocoa. The rain has stopped for now, maybe showers later. I guess this makes up for the complete lack of rain we had last year. I thought it never rained in FL... but the weather has changed and it's WARM!!! I LOVE it! 60 at night, 75 for the next few days.
En route this morning, we passed the strangest thing.... hundreds of comorants and white pelicans just milling about in the water. We had to slow down to an idle to creep through them. They would finally move, but not far. This picture captures only a few of them. Just amazing.
Onward to Cocoa later this afternoon, maybe for some cheap pizza! The plan is falling together. We've met up with Heather & Ken, will see Vero Beach for a few days, then the Lauderdale area, then further south to look for a good spot and weather window to cross to the Bahamas.
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