The party last night was very pleasant and very retired-ish. Meaning it started promptly at 5:30 PM and we were all safely home by about 8:00 PM. And I think it is safe for me to say that Deidre and I were probably the youngest couple there. One of the captains I met was 94! But it was fun, we met some new cruisers and we were introduced to the organization. And the food was great!
As previously explained, we now have a mail forwarding service, and we had arranged for the next batch of mail to be forwarded to the host. So we received a large box of mail that afternoon and had a lot of bills to pay, plus a couple of tax returns to sign and mail. Plus we received our new MTOA burgie and it is now proudly flying on our bow.
The tide maxed out at 7:00 AM and the place was a bit shallow for us, so we were up and away by about 7:45 AM and since the run to St. Augustine was only about 20 miles we had arrived by late morning. We had reserved a mooring ball at the City Marina, and we were successfully attached with engines shut down (and batteries 100% SOC) by 11:00AM.
 |
| St. Augustine dinghy dock |
We had followed an MTOA boat all the way and they called us on the radio after they had moored, and invited us to meet them at the dinghy dock and walk into town for lunch. We launched the dinghy, used it to put an extra line on the mooring, and met them at the dock. Lunch was pleasant, then we spent an hour or so wandering the old town.
 |
| Yikes, pirates! |
St Augustine was first settled by the Spanish in 1565 is "the oldest continuously occupied settlement" in the USA. The Spanish and the British squabbled over it for the next few hundred years. Sir Francis Drake burned it to the ground in 1586. The castillo was started in 1672 and has made an appearance in many pirate movies. The town is charming but quite touristy, and I am sure that many "400 year old" buildings have been added in the last few decades.
We have booked a berth at the marina for tomorrow. Deidre needs to do some shopping and the boat needs a good clean up, so it will be a busy day. Plus we have some friends arriving Saturday afternoon, and we all planning to be ashore for dinner. Sunday morning we head for the Jacksonville area.
The PGA is playing at Harbortown. They were just showing pictures of the marina. Brought back some great memories of our trip there. It was beautiful here today. I had my best round of golf since last November. Still not a fantastic score but improving. My friend and teammate, Lori, shot a 77 and our team lost. That shows you how well her 3 team mates played. Actually, her handicap is about a 10 and another friend on another team had a 101 with a handicap of 34 so they both a a net 67.
ReplyDeleteHave to go pack for Houston.
Hope you are having a great day.
Love,
Bruce and Sue