JACKSONVILLE, FL
JUNE 14-18, 2017
We set out
to sea at 0900 hrs on June 13th, 2017 for Jacksonville, FL: 170
nm. This would be an overnight
passage. The Wx forecast was good with
light winds and seas under 2 ft. Our
daughter would meet us at the Ortega River Marina Landing on June 16th.
The
overnight sail was very pleasant. It is
so much more pleasant to be sailing outside rather than motoring the ICW and having
to monitor shoal areas and, generally, hand steering. Also, most power yachts give no quarter and
come buy leaving a huge wake behind them that rocks the boat unmercifully.
Its about 23
miles from the mouth of the St Johns River to Jacksonville; the currents in the river are strong during
the flood/ebb cycle. We arrived off the
St John River Sea buoy at 1300 hrs with a Flood Tide. At 1715, we dropped anchor at Exchange Island
(30-19.415 N;81-36.837 W). There is
construction work being done on the Main St Bridge and the next opening wasn’t until
2000 hrs; this would have been too late to continue on to the Ortega River.
This is a very pleasant and well protected anchorage but has lots of crab pots
to negotiate. There were two other
unattended yachts, on moorings, in the area.
The anchorage is big enough to accommodate several boats. We anchored in 20 ft of water with 100 ft of
chain out.
On Friday
June 16th, we heaved up anchor at 1100 hrs in order to make the 1200
hr opening of the Main St Bridge. It is about five miles from the Main St
Bridge to the Ortega River. The entrance
to the Ortega River is shallow and we could feel the keel of Solstice ploughing
through the mud in a few places; the mud is very soft. We made fast at the Marina at Ortega Landing
at 1330 hrs: 30-16.632 N; 81-42.731 W.
This marina is very friendly and welcoming to cruisers; first time guests get the first day free. They seem to have several events scheduled
during the year. On Saturday, they had a
STEAKOUT with unlimited drinks and music for $15. We met several cruisers that had decided to
make Ortega Landing their home. There was
one couple that was 84 years old! Other than the shoal water, we would gladly
return there for a few days.
On Friday,
our daughter arrived in the late afternoon and we had a very nice meal in
Avondale which is very close to Ortega Marina Landing. We spent a good part of Saturday with our
family. They left for Pensacola in the
afternoon. It was great to have spent a
lot of quality time with our granddaughter after so many years of being away.
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