ST. AUGUSTINE
How nice to see you again......

We were up at 0630, full breakfast of bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, coffee and orange juice by 0730, and underway by 0821.  The bridge below is the Ortega River Bridge, with a clearance of 9'.  It is a 1920s-vintage classic and is the most frequently opened draw-bridge in Florida, with about 15,000 openings per year.  The water was very calm this morning, making for a nice picture.  If you look closely you will see the buildings of Jacksonville in the background, amongst the fog.

 The railroad bridge, pictured below is normally open, unless in use.  When we approached this morning it was just being raised. A closer look at Jacksonville from the St John's River.

 One of the many interesting things we see while traveling America's river systems, is crab fishermen checking their traps.  Usually there is only 1 person on board and it's amazing how quickly he/she pulls the trap, checks the contents, and drops another trap in it's place.  There are usually 10-20 pelicans tagging along, hoping to get any of the unwanted trap contents that the fisherman throws their way.  Some are even so lazy that they ride on the back of the boat.

 This is one of six bridges we passed under on our way to St. Augustine today.  We had to share space with a tug boat coming under this one.

 Below is the Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, built in 1672.  It is the oldest masonry fort in America, in the oldest city in America. 

 Just down the Intracostal Waterway from the fort is the St Augustine Municipal Marina, also know as the City Marina.  As we approached we saw the wonderful ship pictured below.  It is the El Galeon and is an exact replica of a ship that traveled the coasts of FL between the 16th and 18th centuries. The galleon was a large armed vessel used in transoceanic trade.  Pedro Menendez, founder of St. Augustine, along with Alvaro de Bazan, is credited with developing the galleon prototype. The El Galeon is a 170 foot, 495 ton authentic wooden replica of a Spanish galleon.  It is owned and operated by a company in Seville, Spain and is 'wintering' in St Augustine.  The folks at the City Marina are hoping that the ship returns next year to participate in the 450 year anniversary celebration of the city of St. Augustine.  It is an amazing vessel.

 Now, our old boat, good old Ju-Li IV required a bridge clearance of 18'.  Maggie Mae needs a minimum of 22'.  There are several ways to determine bridge clearance.  The cruising guides give a (mostly) up to date measurement and each bridge (usually) has a measurement guide located on the lower right approaching wall, consisting of large black numbers painted on a white background.  As the water rises and lowers the appropriate numbers are visible for reference. The book said the bridge below had a 25' clearance.  Now that's all well and good, but as we approach the Captain says, 'can anyone see the height guide numbers?'. We grab our binoculars and see that it appears the clearance at this time is 19'!  Tim grabs his binoculars and reads the small print that says there is an additional 4' of clearance in the middle.  So, as long as you are skilled enough to steer your boat right through the middle, you are OK.  As we pass under, both Joe and I hold our breath as we watch to see if our antennas are going to scrape, but 'psssh', our Captain is good!! No problems!!

The waters here contain some unusual creatures this time of year.  This guy is known as a cannonball jellyfish and so far we have see 4-5 of them.  The marina employee who helped up fill our gas tanks said that they don't usually bother people, but sometimes they get busted up on the shore and people will come out of the water itchy because they brushed up against their body parts.  Ewwww!!!

 This is a picture of the City Marina as we are heading into our slip.

 Jesse (left) and Sam (right) stopped by.  Jesse had to go home, but Sam drove us to her home where her husband John, her mother Fran, and her father, Joe had prepared a wonderful supper for us (once again!). Remember the great time we had last year with them?  They are such wonderful hosts, and always entertaining.

 Here is John cutting up the angelfood cake, for strawberry shortcake.  He made Sam so proud tonight.  John is truly a meat and potatoes man.  He refuses to eat anything green.  Well, tonight he had 2 servings of fresh green beans (4 beans each time!!).  Hey, it's a start!

 Remember last May when we were in The Keys and attending a beach wedding?  Well, Pete and Vickie were able to join us at John and Sam's for dinner.  Here Pete is 'finishing' up the strawberry shortcake.

 And, using the 'big boy' spoon!!

All in all, a very good day on the water.  The seas were calm, we saw 2 more eagles and were fed and entertained by some very good people.  The sun wasn't out much, but we hope to see more and more the farther south we go.
Also, we may have found our aft cabin (K-Mart) bench.  Sam, Vickie and John bird-dogged the internet and it appears they found one in stock in Fort Myers.  My brother, Dave, lives in North Fort Myers and is going to check it out for us.  Hopefully it will be awaiting us when we arrive there in a couple weeks. 
More tomorrow.........................