Monday, November 7, 2011

Ft Matanzas - at anchor

Ft Matanzas - a very small fort, it protected one of the approaches to St Augustine
The winds abated somewhat with a promise from the weatherman of a better day so we set out around 8:30 for points south. Pablo Marina which is now Harbortown Marina was a great place to wait out the storms and high winds but it's time to move on now.

One of the reasons we delayed yesterday was having to pass through part of the St Augustine inlet over an 8 ft bar but today it was a piece of cake. We stopped for fuel at the St Augstine City Marina. The dockhand said that yesterday was the roughest day he had ever seen on the docks there since hurricane Diane! The winds were just terrible and against the current causing square waves, no fun. Today, however, it was fine and we took on fuel. Meanwhile I noticed the engine was running warmer than usual so I checked the impeller and found it was fine. Later on I back flushed the water intake and hopefully that will help, will know if it did on Tuesday.

Ft Matanzas is one of our favorite anchorages. The holding is superb in the sand (clean anchor in the morning!) and there's a sandy beach to take Hoolie ashore - never to be underrated! Also, it's pleasant scenery with the silhouette of the fort in the background. The visitor center is a great place to spend the afternoon but we don't have the time this trip, perhaps on the way back. The visit to the fort and the visitor center is free, a great bargain and the ocean is a short dinghy ride away too.

Tuesday we're headed for the Rockhouse Creek anchorage which also has a sandy beach for Hoolie. The weather is predicted to be in the 70's for the rest of the week, I can take that...

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

It was 60's here in CT today, which was a treat considering last week... thanks for sharing the warm weather!
-P