Catch up time.: part 1

Last we met, Scooter and crew were headed for the free city dock in Sisters Creek, Jacksonville, FL. Consistent readers of this blog will recognize that we must like free; we've been here before; may very well be here again. actually, it is a nice spot; floating dock, solid cleats to tie lines on, and nearby restrooms. Even running water to refill boat tanks.

Spent a peaceful night here; got up in the morning intending to get an early start for St Augustine, FL. Well, that just didn't work out real smoothly. Radar is great most of the time, but it doesn't work well with crab pots and sandbars, so we decided to hold for a bit. By 10:00 or so, things had improved to the point that the birds were out drip drying their wings. So, off we went, down Sisters Creek into the St. Johns river headed for Pablo Creek, turned the corner and; "holy, cow" These guys leave a monster wake and are really, really big!

An  arriving southbound boater is greeted by the sight of the famous Bridge of Lions. Started in 1925, finished in 1927, it is one of the greatest landmarks of the chaotic and expensive Florida land boom of the 20s. Due to the effort to make it a work of art, as well as a functioning drawbridge, it is said that it cost ten times more that a normal bridge. Ah, how politics have remained ever so steadfast. The bridge has long been known as a major part of the history of the nation's oldest city.  I gotta say, as a person partial to bridges, their grace, symmetry and strength as they arc across so much inaccessible space is sort of amazing to me.

OK, enough about the bridges, on with the journey. We picked up a mooring ball in the city's mooring field; ball # 7, to be exact. For clarification, in the case of Chuckie and the rest of you that have never played with a mooring ball, or, for that matter, on a mooring field, let me explain just a bit. A mooring ball may be shaped like; 1.) a ball, 2.) a can, 3.) a float, 4.) any daggone thing that will allow itself to be anchored to the bottom of the mooring field, and that some mooring field engineer has deemed suitable, or affordable. Attached to the bottom of the mooring ball is an anchor chain, or bridle, that attaches the mooring ball to the anchor that holds, hopefully, the ball, the chain, and any boat that elects to pick up the ball, firmly in place. Attached to the top of the mooring ball is the mooring pendant. This is sized to be able to handle the working loads that  boats of varying sizes impose on the assembly. Sometime the pendant will be supplied with a float that holds said pendant in such a fashion that it is visible to the picker upper. Often times not. As the boat approaches the mooring field; simply a generic term for the area in which all the mooring devices are placed, the crew will be assigned a mooring number, and given vague directions as to where to look; "in front of the white sloop, behind the blue trawler". Once spotted, the picker upper person goes to a position from whence the pendant can be grabbed with a boat hook and brought on board. Bear in mind that the boat steerer person generally cannot see the ball, or the pendant once the boat is close enough to actually accomplish something. It is sort of like blind man's polo with 20000# of boat. Ah, one more thing to add to the joy; grabbing an old pendant that has been hanging in the water for some time is akin to grabbing ten feet of lively slime. Then, when that dance is under control, the pendant is secured using a bridle off the bow of the boat; and, voila! You are moored!. Fortunately, Scooter has one of, if not the best, picker uppers in the business. One pass and done!

Boat and crew spent 3 days in St. Augustine, wandered a bit, laundered a bit, ate a lot, shopped  a bit, laundered a bit more after a surprise pop up T-storm caught us with the hatches open. A nice marina, a pleasant city with loads of history for those so inclined. All in all, a good visit.

To be continued........Catch you on the flip side! Stay warm and safe.