4/6/2010

Wow! April is zipping right along, eh. Speaking of zipping, Scooter caught a good tidal current boost today. We now find ourselves sitting at mile marker 735; last night we were sitting at mile marker 802. Pretty impressive stuff; at least in our book. We took off at a decent time this morning, hoping to catch a rising tide as we approached the dreaded "Gotcha Inlet". In more politically correct terminology, that would be the Matanzas Inlet. Ugly history here, matanzas is the spanish word for massacre. But, that happened in 1565. Now, the inlet itself is shoaling very badly, very quickly, and in an ever changing fashion; hence Scooter's crew calling it the "gotcha Inlet" Actually, to my chagrin, it almost did. All seemed to be OK; we moved on to St. Augustine for fuel & ice; two items that we can't move far without. Once refuelled & reiced, we pressed on to Jacksonvile, FL. Actually north of Jacksonville, in a small creek just off the ICW. Known as Sister's Creek, it is just north of the St. Johns river. We can see the humongeous freighters sliding by from Scooter's bridge

Along the way we were attacked by a swarm of river lice; the little multi-colored units that hum & buzz like chainsaws as they flit about the tail end of your boat. Annoying at first, you can only hope that they don't manage to get in the way or, worse yet, get hurt in some manner. They thrive on waves generated by the passage of the bigger boat thru the water. Beyond that amusement, the trip was relatively peaceful. Same scenery as usual along the waterway; oodles of excess punctuated by moments of sanity and independence. There was even some nature type scenery. One of the problems that we have experienced along the way on this trip, is viewing the effects of all the cold weather on the local wildlife & fauna. There is an obvious amount of damage to both. We have not really seen that much in the way of animal activity.

Tomorrow's adventure will see us moving further north to Fernandina Beach. We have been there before, but it makes a convenient stop for food & fuel prior to tackling the lower end of Georgia. Once again, thanks for checking in; we'll catch you later.