Saint Marys to JAX

Happy Valentine's Day. May all you sweethearts rejoice, no matter the gender, it is your day!. Ah, and what a beautiful day it was; one made for romance; perhaps a luncheon, perhaps a dinner at that special place, for sure  a special card, you know one of those that almost drips with sentiment when you open it. Well, if none of that applies to your case, I suspect a long upcoming year may be in your future. Well, yeah, Chuckie, flowers count.

Some quick comments re Saint Marys; main draw is the Cumberland Island  National Park, Visitors run about 300 per day in season. Absolutely worth the trip. Town itself got hammered by the last round of hurricanes; Irma and the group. They are rebuilding. Pretty spot, birds of all sorts inhabit the marshes; themselves a wonderland of scenery and wildlife activity

They say that time and tide wait for no man, but, boy, does man wait for tide. The concept of a rising, or falling, tide running your time schedule is humbling at best. Trick is to time your trip; speed, departure, etc so that the tide will be high enough to get the boat through the low spot you need to pass 30 miles down the river. Can become a challenging enterprise on a windy day. Anyway, we rode the falling tide down the Saint Marys river to Florida. Oozed around the shallows at Fernandina Beach, down the Amelia River into Sisters Creek. As Scooter passed by various ocean inlets, our speed over the ground would vary by as much as 3 knots. Sometimes the incoming tide would turn left and end up on our nose, sometimes to the right and give us a boost. Pretty much on schedule, Scooter and hard working crew arrived in Jacksonville, FL. The city

has installed some nifty floating docks just north of the main harbor. Use is free; no power or water hookups, but, hey, the operative word is free. So, how can you complain?

Tomorrow will find Scooter following the St. Johns River thru the commercial port of Jacksonville itself . This river actually runs north, so we will be headed south while going up the river. Interesting concept, eh. What will make this part of the trip so different is that we will be unable to get back out of the river for at least a week. USCG has decided to close a RR bridge in Jacksonville for repairs during the coming week. To further enhance the tingle of adventure Scooter will experience is the fact that there is no diesel fuel available on the river once we leave Jacksonville. Better stay tuned for this one!

Hope all is well with y'all (sorry, couldn't help it); that you are staying warm, happy, and safe.