As we left Fernandina Beach, FL, we went to the fuel dock to take on diesel and behind us was the Voyager. For those of you from the DYC, you may remember this was the schooner that Jay Scott owned and from which we held our Fleet Review in 1994. Small world.....
Today was a day of forts. As we left Fernandina Beach, we passed Fort Clinch, complete with cannon, and a preview of things to come - this was going to be a military day.
Just as we passed Fort Clinch, Coast Guard inflatables with bow and stern mounted machine guns curtly informed us that we had to hug the south side of the channel, as they were escorting in a war ship. This proved to be a submarine, and quite a thrilling sight up close.
From today's most modern war ship to vessels of yesterday, we saw them all. This schooner passed by while we were at anchor in St. Augustine.
We anchored off the fort Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine - and the oldest city in North America. The fort kept us at attention, with daytime hourly cannon salutes. For some reason, Monarch has a phobia about this town. Four and half years ago, when we were bringing the boat to Detroit, our transmission failed near here, and we limped in for repairs. Now, we found the raw water pump on the port engine leaking. After Jerry was wedged between the engine and fuel tanks for three hours, we decided to get some professional help this morning. Back into the same marina we stopped at in 2003, and they had us put back together in no time - including fixing a faulty AC unit.
While in Comachee Cove Marina, we felt very safe and secure as this fleet of six US Immigration and Customs boats were docked right behind us. With each boat carrying four 225 horsepower outboards, they made quick work going in and out of the harbor during the day. It was interesting to watch them - all carrying side arms, inflatable life vests and bullet-proof vests.
As we were taking our evening walk, this sailing vessel was leaving the harbor. It had two large weighted yellow bags hung from the top of the mast. At first, we thought it was to heel the boat enough to be able to traverse the the shallow entrance of the harbor, but relalized it was also to get under the 65' clearance of the adjacent bridge.
We watched from the end of the dock, as they used the extra ballast to heel over and allow the top of the mast to clear the bridge. We had heard of this method of bridge clearance, but never before witnessed it. Thank goodness Monarch doesn't have this issue!
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