We're presently sitting in a marina in St. Augustine waiting for a storm to blow itself out but more on that a bit later.

The trip to Jacksonville was uneventful and we pulled into Beach Marina about mid-day. We decided to walk to the local Winn-Dixie and Wal-Mart which was described to be about a half mile down the road. It was actually about a mile but being able to get a fast food fix at Taco Bell was well worth the walk! We had to walk across a draw bridge that was not made for pedestrians and crossing over the grating and looking down at the water while cars whizzed by gave us something to look forward to on the return trip (NOT!). Anyway, after lugging groceries back my knee was ready for some Ibuprofen and a relaxing evening on the boat. We have done an incredible amount of walking on this trip and although my knees and ankles complain, I feel good about staying in shape given all the daily sitting around we do underway.

The next morning we motored about 35 miles to St. Augustine where my good buddy Alge (pronounced Al-Gee) was to meet us and stay aboard for the evening. It was a beautiful day so Jan decided to walk into town (1 mile) and I decided to give my legs a rest and wash the boat. I had Camaraderie sparkling again after a weeks worth of salt spray buildup and Alge showed up about 3:30 followed by Jan at about 4PM. We had some drinks and snacks and Jan raved about the city and then Al took us to dinner at a very nice waterfront restaurant. After dinner we caught up on old times over coffee and sacked out at about 9:30.

Alge wakes early so we were treated to ready made coffee and he took us into town on his way to work. St. Augustine is absolutely gorgeous and the architecture is Spanish style so it is both different and beautiful. Much of downtown is preserved with buildings dating from the 17 & 1800's and I think we saw every street by noon. There's a Ripley's "Believe it or Not" and a wax museum here but we passed those by and instead decided to visit the Lightner Museum where we spent a couple of hours.

The museum is located in what was a formerly opulent hotel from the age of the tycoons, that itself is amazing for the sheer wealth that it catered to. It houses the collections of Otto Lightner (a tycoon himself), who became a collector of other people's collections. We saw the usual rock and shell collections but we also saw incredible collections of clothing, needlework, Egyptian relics (and even a real mummy!), Grecian pottery, mechanized musical instruments (including player pianos AND a player violin!), toys & dolls from the 1800's and wood and ivory carvings. What an eclectic museum but such a neat place to poke around in.

Having worked up an appetite we stopped in a Cuban restaurant and Jan had her first taste of Cuban food and became an instant fan. I'm sure we'll sample some more on the way south! We then walked back the mile and a half to the boat and awaited Alge's return after his work day. Jan made her world famous quick sauerbraten and we enjoyed another nice evening with Alge as the wind picked up and the rain came down for the first time since we left Virginia. We intended to be on our way south in the AM but the forecast was beginning to sound ominous.

Sure enough, we awoke today to a driving rain and wind in the 20 knot range and it was clear that it would not be a good idea to leave the dock. We are ahead of schedule so staying an extra night was no big deal but as the day wore on, it became apparent that the weather service had missed the boat on this one. The wind and the waves rose and were sustained at 30 knots with gusts to 45... that's OVER 50 MPH and waves were breaking over the docks! We were safe and secure but we felt bad for those at anchor nearby. No one dragged anchor but it must have been a most uncomfortable day. About 4PM I ran to give a hand to some other boats in our marina that were in more exposed positions and were being pounded on the docks. We had about 8 guys wrestling with the boats to tie them up better and rig fenders and had everyone safe in about a half hour. Briefly the sun poked through and we saw two huge rainbows on the horizon...then the skies closed up again and we were back in the thick of it!

Apparently a low has formed right over us unexpectedly and caught the weather service by surprise. The wind continues to wail and shows no sign of a let up so I'm guessing we'll be here tomorrow as well. Still...we're snug below and there are lots of worse places to be than here...the power of nature is sure awesome. //GB