Some years back, an old sailor told me,
"Any sailor that claims to have never run aground is a damn liar."
You probably think this is leading up to a story of how we ran aground today, and you are correct.
Jeff was at the helm, and we had just crossed into Florida. This section of the ICW reminded me of scene from the movie African Queen, where Bogart was navigating through a swamp maze. I was sitting at the table behind Jeff, looking through a guide to find a marina for the night, when Jeff stated "Dick, we have a problem here". I looked at the electronic chart and the boat was sitting in an area that had NO WATER (never a good sign). We were able to back the boat off the mud and idle over to the main channel. Other than a bad case of nerves. everything was fine...
The weather was good today, other than the gale force winds. We had to cross several large bays (over a mile across) where we hit waves that were high enough to break over the bow. This was a new experience for Cooper, he was actually quivering at one point.
Being back in civilization (out of the Georgia swamps) means more boat traffic and bridges to go under. The tidal currents we encountered were so strong we had to use full throttle to power under a bridge where the channel was very narrow (at full throttle we were moving at 6 MPH). This trip is getting exciting.
We are docked at Palm Cove Marina, just south of Jacksonville and plan to have dinner at the Marina restaurant.
