For inlets...
Be careful especially for shoaling and
current in the St. Augustine area, specifically the Matanzas region, primarily north of St. Augustine. There are some real shoaling issues there, or at least there were when we went earlier this spring. Matthew hit this fall, so I cannot imagine the storm improved anything. Also, watch for wrecks in the
ICW because I would bet that some of the derilect and moored vessels we saw are likely on the bottom now, and I do
recall one such critter with exposed
mast and
rigging, but no
hull visible. If the
rigging is gone now, you won't see the
hull until you hit it, and it WAS in the center of the channel north of St. Augustine (barely north). It was NOT on the
charts at that time.
The marina we used in the St. Augustine area was what I would call costly, I think we paid something like 50 bucks for a
single night at the one we used (near the inlet, at the base of a bridge, "Camachee Island" I think?). The marina had excellent facilities, however, and services that were available that we did not use, so I cannot honestly state that I felt disserved. They did not charge us for pumpout
service (we were using a bucket which they accepted, when Daytona's yacht club would not) and they also provided
water and
power within the fifty bucks, if I
recall.
In St. Augustine, the people were nice as could be, but it was tight maneuvering in there, the tide was turning, the
wind was strong and counter to our needs, and the vessels we had to navigate through cost far more than our paltry sailboat did, so I was extremely nervous while there. There is a great pizza shop within close walking distance, though. The waitress had some great tattoos that were tasteful and she was an excellent waitress, the cooks were great, and it was a
family atmosphere there.
The
Jacksonville situation is better in one way, no real shoaling, deep channel, but keep good
charts and use a
depth finder in case because you may occasionally get chased out of the channel by
power boaters, tugs, and very large transport container ships quite often.
The Jacksonville inlet can be dangerous for sailors because of the way power boaters
race through it, even the law enforcement
boats don't watch their wakes. We took a 6+ foot wave when one of those powered by, and he did not even slow down. Had I not been watching and actively dodging wakes the whole time, the wake would have caught us broadsides, and the result may have been far less enjoyable. The admiral was lifted about two feet off the settee as it was. Barely woke her up. Gotta love the way a H27 Shoal keeler
parts and rides an incoming 6 foot wake! The
outboard was spinning freely out of the
water though, which was definitely not the best way to operate one.
Go to the Landing at Jacksonville and use the public
dock there, outside Hooters (who has a great cod sandwich plate and the burgers are out of this world), the Main Street Bridge will open for you, but there is also a rail trestle there, which would have to open as well. The same operator seems to run them both. There was some
work going on with those earlier this year, and I seem to recall the openings were going to be restricted, but that may be over with now. I don't know, and have not heard anything updating that since our trip. Regardless, the
docking of your vessel at Hooters overnite is free, and you can walk less than 30 feet to lunch or dinner. ATM is around the corner, outside the restaurant street entrance, perhaps 50 feet away on the port side as you leave the restaurant on that side (the part of the structure opposite the dock).
I will also say that if you go then into the Palatka area, on the St. John's (south of the Main Street Bridge), the owner of the Crystal Cove Marina rented us a transient slip for ten bucks a nite, and even with no power or water at the
dock for that
price, it was a great deal. He may do the same for you or not, I don't know, but they are a great bunch there. Ask for Kelly or his wife (cannot recall her name, but she is also nice).
The area is clean and quiet, and people seem to watch out for each other there.
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