Day 155-156 – 3/7-8/24

Starting location: Anchorage just East of New Smyrna, FL.

Weather: 62 am, 72 pm. Mostly sunny – Thursday 3/7. 63 am, 74 pm, mostly cloudy, breezy – Friday 3/8.

Ending location: St. Augustine Municipal Marina, St. Augustine, FL. MM 778 AICW.

Statute miles: Approximately 65, then 0 until departure.

General summary: Calm night. Almost no wake from passing boats. Anchor held well. Motored to day dock for short walk with Cocoa, then moved on North through the ICW to St. Augustine and our reserved mooring in the city marina. On arrival, it was obvious this is a bustling tourist town. Many people milling about on the riverfront and large groups of schoolchildren on field trips with matching shirts depending on their school’s design. This city is the oldest continuously occupied European settlement on the continental US. It was first under Spanish rule under governor Pedro Menendez de Aviles in the 1500s, given to England 200 years later, then back to Spain, then to the US in the early 1800s. We spent two nights here and explored the historic city.

Beautiful architecture:

Castello de San Marco and Fort Matanzas National Monuments:

Toured the “Oldest House”:

Walked to the Ponce de Leon’s Fountain of Youth Archaeological Park. This is the landing site of Ponce de Leon in 1513 and the original site of St. Augustine in 1565. Lots of exhibits and informational plaques and videos.

Had dinner at a Polish restaurant. Excellent cabbage rolls, Gulash, and Perogies, as well as imported beer.

What was fixed: After a quick walk to West Marine for some supplies, Tom replaced the outlet and a new power cord had arrived by mail by the time we got to the marina. Shore power connection fixed and worked great. (He’s so handy!!!)

Boater information: St. Augustine Municipal Marina is in the perfect location to walk about historic downtown. West Marine is a reasonable walk. Publix is 3 miles away. This is a busy place and they also have two huge mooring fields. Gas, pump-out, water, bathrooms, showers, laundry, ship store. Mini-put golf as you exit dock. Excursions. Many restaurants, pubs, shops. A bit noisy at night due to people, proximity to bridge, and restaurant musicians, but not terrible.