St. Augustine

Greetings from St. Augustine, FL

Due to the "Arctic  Blast" we decided to take a slip rather than a mooring ball.  Good choice, as the dinghy ride to shore would have been on the nippy side, and the winds last night and today has created a pretty good chop at the docks, probably very uncomfortable in the mooring field.  Today we are enjoying cool temperatures, wind and light rain. We have been justifying using marinas more than we had planned on with the fact that if we spent every night in a marina at $2.00 per foot, it is less money than our mortgage in DC.  Slip fees have probably averaged about $1.75 peer foot with the highest in Savannah, $3.00 per foot and the lowest in Jacksonville, $.90 per foot.  The length of our boat has been variable also.  On the stern we are identified as a Nauticat 33.  The 33' is referring to the length on deck, while the overall length is 36.5 with the bowsprit, and the dinghy hanging on the davits adds another 4'.  Some marinas want to include the dinghy davits, while others don't.  At only one marina did the harbor master step off the length of our boat, so we have settled on a compromise, and now refer to our boat as a 38 footer.

Bridge of Lions

The St Augustine City Marina we had to open the Bridge of Lions, a double bascule.  It opens on the hour and half hour between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., except on at 8 a.m. noon, and 5 p.m.  I can understand the restriction at 8 and 5, but the one at noon seems a little strange.  We were able to time our arrival so as to have only about a 10 minute wait.

Former Hotel Ponce de Leon

Built in 1888 as Henry Flagler's flagship hotel, the Ponce de Leon is now Flagler College, a four year liberal arts college.  We also toured the Memorial Presbyterian Church that Flagler built in memory of his daughter, that includes the family mausoleum.  Both structures are made of poured in place concrete and exemplifies architecture when money and craftsmanship are not a restraint.

Much of the town was toured on our bikes that did not seem to bother these guys.