Sept. 26 – Jacksonville, FL

Jacksonville Free City Dock at Sisters Island

“We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea, whether it is to sail or to watch - we are going back from whence we came."—John F. Kennedy

We've been in Jacksonville for six months...way too long for our nomad spirit. I can't say it's been boring, we've explored the St. John's River, worked on our teak, had time to play with our granddaughter, got to welcome our grandson into the world and had a lot of quality time with him and his parents and we've bought a new boat. Although we haven't spent much time on the water, it certainly has been a busy season. Our plan now is to move The Pearl south to Harbortown Marina in Ft. Piece. We will leave her there until we return after Christmas and move to Marathon for the winter. Once we have her settled we will come back to Jacksonville and get the Texas Pearl ready for her trip home to Texas.

Things on the Hatteras are going well, the name has been changed, the prop shaft packing has been changed, the hull polished and the bottom sanded and ready for a coat of paint. She should be put back in the water by Monday. In the meantime we are starting our trip south on The Pearl. The FEC Railroad Bridge in Jacksonville has been operating on a limited schedule the last few months and was closed completely last week. We left our slip in time to make the 2:00 opening this afternoon and are spending the night at the free dock at Sisters Creek. We arrived at the free dock just in time to have happy hour with another couple from St. Pete. The dock is part of a park and is very remote...a nice change for us. The view of the water is pretty and I'm sure if it wasn’t so windy we'd see lots of shore birds…at least the wind will keep us cool tonight. Tomorrow we will move to Beach Marina at Jacksonville Beach to enjoy their free docking and Tiki party they offer on the last Saturday of the month.

The FEC Railroad Bridge in downtown Jacksonville is opening...we are finally out of here