Port Canaveral to St. Augustine

Today's run was 106 miles, so we got an early start and left the dock at 6:30 a.m. We had no help with the lines, but Ann has become a pro, and despite a strong current and 13 kt winds, we got off without a hitch. I drove in the dark using my instruments for about half an hour. As we entered the Port Canaveral channel, dawn began illuminating our surroundings. I love that moment when you begin to see the world come to life. 

The helm station on Empty Nest as day begins to break

Watching the sun rise as we head East out of the channel just before turning North

Leaving South Florida behind us. It was smooth sailing today.

The last time we bought fuel was in Key West. Since then we sailed to Ft. Lauderdale, Bimini Bahamas, West Palm Beach, Port Canaveral, and St. Augustine. We arrived today with about 12% of our fuel capacity. I had calculated exactly how much I needed, but about an hour before we arrived I started getting nervous and turned off the generator and slowed down to conserver fuel. You won't see me this close to empty very often. 

Our capacity is 1,750 gallons of diesel. I did not rely entirely on the fuel gauge above. As you can see in the pictures below, our boat has sight gauges. In the top picture, you can see the two glass tubes on either side of the fire suppression system are mostly empty. I was able to be confident that we were not completely out by seeing that we had a couple of hundred gallons remaining when I took this picture. The second picture was after fueling up. The bill was $6,453.78, the most fuel I've ever purchased. I usually fuel up when it's convenient, not when we need it, thanks to the large tanks. This fill up should last us most of the way home.

Getting close to empty

Fuel tanks are full

St. Augustine is absolutely gorgeous. We walked the approximately one mile to a nice Peruvian restaurant that Ann found. On the way we admired the water views and the many boats docked an anchored all around.

This tall ship is at our marina. Stunning.

The restaurant was great, and we toasted my Mom's birthday, while she celebrated at my brother's house in Pikesville. We will be back soon enough to break matzah together.

I wonder if they call it the bridge of lions because of these statues on the end, or if they put the statues here because of the bridge's name. Deep thoughts.

Our plan was to head to St. Simon Island, Georgia tomorrow and anchor in the same spot where we dropped the hook on the way down. However, the forecast for tomorrow is for thunderstorms starting around 11:00 and going for several hours. We're going to play it safe and spend an extra night here. We found a place to play pickleball tomorrow morning, if we can get that in before the rain. Then, my plan is to replace the impeller on the other generator. It's past due, and I now consider myself an expert at impeller changing. According to my mechanic, this one will be quite a bit harder than the other one because it's more difficult to access the pump housing. I guess I'll find out.

I will give you guys a break tomorrow and lay off the blogging since we will not be traveling, and see you again on Thursday. If things go well, I expect us to arrive at Hilton Head on Friday.