Cleaning and Boat Handling

We spent the day cleaning and polishing Foreign Affair.  She didn't get Carla's usual TLC on the way south.  As a result, we have a lot of work to do to bring her back to pre-rally condition.

We slipped our mooring in time to make the 1130 Bridge of Lions opening so we could head north to practice our boat handling skills in preparation for entering Camachee Cove Marina.  This marina lies perpendicular to the Tolomato River and just north of the ocean inlet to St. Augustine.  As a result, the current can get very strong at the marina entrance and makes getting into the marina very challenging at times.  We arrived at the entrance about a half hour before slack tide and made several practice approaches to the marina entrance.  This is the first marina I have heard of which has its own day markers and a range to help a skipper gauge the approach to the harbor entrance.  The current is significant even at "slack" and there is still water immediately inside the breakwater which complicates the situation further.  You have to keep your bow into the current, go fast and be ready to correct your over-steering to compensate for the current and cut your speed so you don't run aground at the shoaled area behind the breakwater.  We spent about an hour and a half practicing boat handling in the current.

Post-rally Clean-up