St. Augustine Fun

St. Augustine

October 19 - 21

Pretty sunsets at the fort

We had left north from Marineland at 8:30 AM taking some friendships along with us.  Can't get over how generous and friendly folks were there.  Motoring was our destiny as the wind was against us BUT the current was heading our way! Even with pondering and planning, going with the current on both sides of an inlet on the Intercoastal can be an elusive task. Gleefully, Sunny Ray arrived in St. Augustine 3-4 hours later and tied up to a city mooring ball, just south of the intriguing Bridge of Lions.

Lions on both ends of the bridge

Kathy & Frank showed up at Marineland & passed us on the way to St. Augustine in their Ranger Tug.  Glad we got the chance to spend two evenings with you! Hope our paths cross again!

Lighthouse at St. Augustine

Saturday, the day after we arrived, was tour the lighthouse day.  

We dingied around a peninsula that holds the lighthouse.

Lots of steps!

My cute guy!

Bridge of Lions

Dale feeding fish at the Santa Maria

 Ray in front of walls made of coquina

The architecture was amazing.  Some very old buildings still exist in St. Augustine.

 Dale near the fort

Fort from the water

Sunday morning came along and it was time to head back to Stuart, Florida to replace our shredding sails.  Just hoped that they sailed us back!  Dan had fixed the jib with rivets, washers and sail tape.  Dan had also put his foot through the nearly 20 year old trampolines 2 weeks before but fortunately didn't lose any teeth!

It was obvious that we couldn't go much further north with questionable sails and dangerous tramps, so sadly we missed those we planned to see in that direction. Plus, it's starting to get cold!! (for Arizonans anyway).

Soon after arriving offshore, Dan tossed in his hook and landed what we think is King Mackerel!  Wonderful meals ensued.  Thank you mackerel.

What we thought might be a 2 or even 3 night trip to Stuart ended up as a wild and crazy, lurchy but fun (if you were outside) 33 hour ride to Ft. Pierce!  Everyone but Dan (since he is a helm hog!!) felt a little queasy now and then.  We had a downwind run that turned into more of a beam reach with big waves on the beam.  First time we've seen our speed at 10 knots and the whole time we traveled over 8. The main was even reefed!

Ft. Pierce inlet looked to be the best place to tuck inside the barrier islands as we didn't want to get caught in the dark at Stuart.  There are some shallows that are easier to avoid in the light. It was a relief to get out of the waves but the wind was still conducive to pushing us towards our destination in the Intercoastal.

Nettles Island

October 22 - 23

The Marina at Nettles Island was very inviting after the exhilarating but tiring run from St. Augustine.  But, wow, what a strange island it is...... a person-made island of boats and RVs, dogs and cats and manufactured homes!  Not sure what it is made of and not sure that I want to know!  Everyone was sweet to us, however, the winds from Sandy were starting to build (Frank - you called it!) and the slip was not very protected so we sailed on to Stuart, only another 9-10 miles to the Loggerhead Marina.  We felt being tied up here like a spider would be more stable than anchored in the ever-changing current of the St. Lucie River.  We've drug anchor before here!

Stuart, Florida

October 24th - present

We felt winds with gusts to 40mph that Friday the 26th but by Saturday afternoon, it was calm again.  My heart goes out to those less fortunate, whose lives Sandy is still affecting now, a month later.

Hope you are all well.  I'll tell you more about our new, fast sails later!  Marty

Sunny Ray, Pictures of the Boat

Many thanks to friends and family who have contributed to the project of restoring our boat.
Sunny Ray, is a 1994 38ft Manta Catamaran, hull number 3.

Sunny Ray in the city where she was built.  St. Petersburg Florida.  Picture was taken soon after our Gulf crossing from Port Aransas TX, to Tarpon Springs Florida.

All 4 points of the boat are visible from the helm, a very important safety feature.  Aluminum hardtop bimini, which is a great place to mount solar panels and collect rain.

Simple, reliable, shaft drive propulsion.  No transmission required because the electric motors can easily reverse direction.

Clean quiet motor from Electric Yacht.  No diesel smell, no oil changes, no fuel filters, etc,  Annual maintenance consists of greasing 2 bearings.

 Easy water access, with the solid stainless boarding ladder and transom steps.

Emergency escape hatch... Will hopefully only be used for fun and ventilation.

Flower power supplying house 12V.

Bow pulpit seats.  Excellent spot for watching dolphins.

Galley up, 3 burner propane stove and oven, double stainless sink.

Salon table.

Starboard aft cabin, similar to port side.

All sail control lines are led aft for easy single handed sailing.

The forward 8 feet of the bows are foam filled in case of collision.  The forward 4 feet of the keels also have foam filled crash compartments.

Forward cross beam of honeycomb nidacore construction.  This crossbeam arches upward in the center to avoid wave collision. It's very strong and stiff compared to most aluminum spar cross beams usually found on cats and it provides a nice platform to stand on while anchoring.
The more I get to know this boat the more I love it.

The music continues.... conch shell playing at sunset

Sunset at Marineland

29th September - 19th October

Ray is tickled pink to try out Sharon's conch shell!  He is the first of us to get a sound out.

After 3 weeks at Marineland, (a few miles south of St. Augustine, Florida) we are heading back to Stuart, but not without some new skills and wonderful friends too.

Lots of beautiful sunsets and many opportunities to play conch!

Sharon shows us her technique.  

Duet of Ron & Sharon saluting the sunset.

Dan's next vaporizer.  Think anyone would notice in a meeting?

I knew that imitating the sound of racecars shifting into gear with my lips could someday come in handy.

A big sound comes out of that little girl.

Stan, what do you call that shell?

Trying to squeeze juice out of a shell!

Ken has obviously practiced!

My guy Ray.  He worked some good tones out of that shell.

Dan, Ron, Sharon, Juel, Stan, Dale, Ray and Marty

Thanks for the nice send-off you all!  

Ken & Laura being their happy selves.  Sorry we missed you!

Sharon & Ron, we'll see you in the Abacos!

 Sharon & Juel


Stan and Dan the Man

Who can resist that boy?

Save the beer!

We met so many nice folks at Marineland.  The hospitality of the marina, Dockmaster Chris, Eric & all, plus the beauty of the surroundings made it easy for us to turn our planned 3 day stay into 3 weeks.  Chris and other Ripple Effecters even entertained us with music!  More factors kept us from continuing north also...... our jib (that's the sail in front, Michelle! :)) started falling apart.  Temporarily fixed with rivets and sail tape! 

Marineland Marina is surrounded by parks and conservation areas.  It is also right across the street from the ocean and Florida's first attraction, Marineland oceanarium.  It's gone through many changes since 1938, mostly from Hurricane Charly.  I loved the historic pictures displayed. Ray went through his books and found one by the National Geographic that contained pictures of their dolphins from 1976.  They were so excited to receive the book from Ray.  It may end up in the historic section too.

Scenes from Marineland

Dan on a kayak tour with Ripple Effects.

Ray was a good paddler.

Dale, learning all about mangrove propagules.

The hammock forest was spectacular.  We rode our bikes on the path that looped around. I would have put a hammock up in the hammock except for the no see-ums. Ouch!

The beach was beautiful too......

My sweet family.  (No, Ray is not standing on anything!)

Dale saving lives of little fish caught high and dry when the tide went out.

 Thanks again, Teri & Oleg, for the outboard.  Ray & Dale have especially enjoyed using it.  

All kinds of fish live in this harbor.  It's fun just to watch the action of fish chasing fish and of dolphins playing.  Dale, Ray & Dan have caught flounder, red snapper, pompano, perch and another scary-looking ribbon fish (we threw that back!)

Photo opportunity at Marineland!

Dolphin at Marineland

Chris treated us to a ride on their boat which runs on veggie oil.  He took us to Matanzas Inlet which is on the other side of this fort, Fort Matanzas.  It was the satellite fort to help protect St. Augustine.

Flower Power!

Dan painted our wind generator so we could look happy and non-threatening. Is it working?

Missing all of you friends and family.  Let us know what you are up to!  Love, peace and flower power.

Marty