Ft Matanzas - at anchor

We do get up occasionally for sunrises. The fog developed later in the morning. 

This part of the ICW has many good anchorages for those with dogs. In addition to having a full protected anchorage at Ft Matanzas, you can also take your dog ashore, coming in on a sand beach. It's a national monument and there's no entrance fee for touring the fort or for taking the nature trail which is a wooden walkway over the swamp. This time we didn't take advantage of either offering due to Ann's knee problem which, by the way, is slowly getting better. A sign of that is the dinner tonight which consisted of Chicken Kiev served with garlic potatoes and Harvard beets from Jacques Pepin's cookbook.

The fog sets in

We're anchored right opposite the fort and there's as steady stream of tourists taking the fort tour. They even fired a cannon in one of the re-enactments during a tour. Hoolie didn't even flinch. Our previous dog, Lance, would have been under the table and quivering.

We're actually in the middle of the channel - got to apply a mental correction

After dinner I took Hoolie ashore and walked him in the parking lot but was questioned by a park ranger that was just leaving for the day. The park closes at 5:30 pm and he asked what I was doing there (uh-oh).  Well, I said, I came in from a boat. You used my dock! (he said). No, I replied, I just beached my dinghy. He mentioned something about a $125 fine but he left without saying anything more. Unfriendly sort. In the morning I'll use part of the beach further down, away from the ranger station.

And at the end of the day, a sunset. The square form at left is the fort. Fleetwing has a light on top. 

The good weather continues but we were taken aback this morning when we were greeted with fog! It was like being back in Maine, fog in Florida. It's the first time we ran into that in three years of cruising in Florida. It cleared out by 9:30 and the rest of the day was beautiful. On Sunday we're headed to Rockhouse Creek and the anchorage there. There's a beach nearby for Hoolie and it's a short hop to Titusville, our next stop.