March 28, 2017   3.6 Colorado Cat Voyage Date

We left Dayton and headed toward St. Augustine.  The ICW  travels between rivers and man made 

canals.  You can tell when you are in a canal or  a river.  The canals are usually straight and a certain 

depth.  The rivers are full of curves and fluctuating depths.  The ICW also has houses built on the shore while the rivers have no house or only on one side.  The rivers are wide and the canals narrow.

I like canals.When we reached Ft Matanzas we were on the Matanzans river.  The inlet from the ocean had silted up the river so badly that the channel markers did not match the ones on the charts.  The state was busy trying to dredge the channel, but I don't think you can change Mother Nature. We couldn't get to the fort but waved to it as we chugged by.  Instead of dolphins following us we have manatees.  I can't say they escort us but lift their heads in acknowledgement to our presence.  We passed by St Augustine and kept going.  The winds were blowing, the current the swift, and I didn't want to have to catch a mooring ball, with 

Our anchorage

a lot of other sailboats.  We chose to stop at a small lagoon by Pine Island.  It was dead low tide, so instead of 12 feet of water we are surrounded by oyster beds, saw grass, and extremely low water.  Guess Jim is sleeping by the instruments again.  Fortunately we will be leaving on an in coming tide.  Tomorrow we go off our marked charts and into the St. John's river.  I hope it isn't like the movie African Queen.  The scenery will look the same.  If I have to get out and pulled the boat through the water like Kathryn Hepburn, I QUIT.

canal

St. Augustine lighthouse

Fort at St. Augustine

river