for probably quite a while.On Wednesday I sailed and motored up the St. John's River from Jacksonville NAS all the way to the Atlantic Ocean. Some absolutely great winds for sailing on the river. Probably sailed about 10 miles and motored about 20 the first day. Jumped out into the ocean hoping to sail a little but the winds and the swells were making me a little uncomfortable so after about 10 minutes of motoring around trying to figure out the swells I motored back into the river. Oh well, but at least I have had my boat in "blue water".
Stayed overnight at Jacksonville Marina in Mayport FL. Tied up during a thunderstome (actually it was the edge of the storm...a little rain but some exciting wind gusts for about 20 minutes or so). Two guys on the dock tied me off and when I went down below to grab a couple of fenders I looked up through the windows and saw my bow swinging around. The loop on my front cleat had slipped off. So I got to do it all again.
Didn't sleep real well...probably just too excited about my first overnighter. But it was a beautiful night with a nice breeze to take away the heat and the bugs.
Next day I motored down the ICW from Mayport to St. Augustine (35 miles). It was awesome. 17 mph with my might Merc monster with no ballast. Passed another Mac going the other way. I think it was an
. Anyone on this board???Saw literally hundreds of dolphins. Got down to St. Augustine and sailed the wide part of the river/ICW for about 3 hours. That was where I took my first two ASA courses.
My Dad drove the trailer down to St. Augustine so that I could put out down there. The problem was I did not look closely at the public ramp ahead of time. At low tide (which it was) the channel leading to the ramp and the water around the ramp is only about 2 to 2.5 feet deep. I was able to get the water ballast out before I went in, but in the 12 mph winds with the engine tilted up and no boards it was just about imposssible to control the boat. I only bumped into one other boat but it was the Dept of Homeland Security boat so they didn't seem to concerned about it. No piers, just a ramp, so I had to motor on the trailer with no boards. Took three tries but we got it.
All in all it was a great first trip for me. And I did it all solo.
We packed up the boat for storage. Put in the fuel stabilizer and fogged the engine per the Merc Manual. Got it all cleaned up. Once I get it to the storage lot tomorrow I will lower the motor to vertical also per the manual and then remove the battery. I have a heavy duty 30'x 20' silver tarp that I plan to cover the whole thing with. We also bought those 30" corkscrew grounding supports that folks use on mobile homes. We plan to tie the boat securely to the ground. But I will take the tie down ropes under the mast.
Leaving for DC and then London on Sunday. I already miss my
and it is still sitting in the driveway. 
But at least my last time in it will give me lots of good memories. If only I had rememered to bring a camera.
Jim
[mod]ModEdit: Moving to E&V ~fc[/mod]
