Heading north into spring -- April 13, 2005 Reverie is currently docked at the Isle of Hope Marina in Savannah, GA after leaving Key Largo one month and 553 miles ago. The trip north had several distinct sections and each had its own feel. South Florida is very developed and we tried hard to go fast, outside, and bypass this area. Upper Florida was a return to anchoring and stopping at nice smaller towns. Georgia continued this pattern but the cruising was through broad, coastal marshes. The weather changed from summer-like with swimming in the Keys to spring-like with new growth on trees and cooler water. It was also punctuated by the passage of storms followed by powerful cold fronts. We had a nice sail north from Key Largo to an anchorage in Biscayne Bay. This gave us a quiet spot for the night with a great view of the lights of downtown Miami across five miles of water. The next morning we motored past downtown Miami and out the ship canal to the Atlantic. We sailed outside to Fort Lauderdale and spent the night in a marina as anchoring is limited in this area. We felt very small in an 80’ slip with very large power yachts all about. On leaving the next morning a similar 100’+ yacht was aground on the rocks at the entry. We learned from the internet later that it was brand new and it took them three days to get it off. We still don’t know why it was wrecked as this is a large entry frequented by cruise lines and cargo ships. The weather forecast was for great sailing, so we went outside to Palm Beach in order to avoid many drawbridges on the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). The wind never did appear so we had a long motor. It was still a great day for an offshore trip. In the north end of Lake Worth, water between Palm Beach and West Palm Beach, we found a protected anchorage and used it to ride out the first of many thunderstorms we had during this section of the trip. We spent three more lazy days motoring up the ICW enjoying an anchorage and an overnight at Vero Beach before a two-day stop at Melbourne. While here we did the laundry, replenished the food locker, and rented a car to visit the Kennedy Space center. It was interesting to see the current operation and to look back at the history of the space race and all the Apollo moon landings. Continuing north we anchored (with one other boat and they were from Dallas!) in a protected spot near Titusville and waited out more weather the next morning. The wind hit over 45 knots and we put out a second anchor. By 1:00 we were traveling again to a small anchorage where we were the only boat and had our own manatee. Two more days of travel and anchoring brought us to St Augustine. We had thunderstorms the night before we arrived and beat the cold front to the Marina, so we were at the dock for another round of 40 to 50 knot winds over Easter weekend. We stayed three days until the wind subsided. St. Augustine is the oldest city in the US and a great place to visit. Its Spanish founding is evident in the historic architecture. They do a nice job of allowing you to see the history via the "tours" without forcing you through the wax museum and similar tourist-trap businesses that have grown up in the area. We also took the tour of Flagler's luxury Ponce de Leon Hotel from the turn of the century which is now a college. It has been nicely preserved and includes Tiffany stained glass windows and very elaborate woodwork.
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