Suave Boating Skills

10/30 s/v Trouble Daily Update: Happy Birthday Deb. I woke up early to get ahead start. But I couldn’t see the two boats I knew were in my way, and they did not have their mooring lights on. I decided to wait till “Blue Hour” which is a French term and since my boat is French… it’s before dawn right when the sky is blue. I had a lot of chain out as the day before was very windy and I didn’t want to drag. So pulling anchor took 30 mins. Once free I was off. The wind was at my back but the tide was coming in. Exiting the inlet was… interesting. The boat kept Bobbing one way then the other. She’s a good boat you just need to wait for her to correct herself. It was really blowing but it was going to all be in my favor. Once clear on the inlet I turned south and it was a sleigh ride. She really got moving. I knew the wind would die down. I had a lot of nautical miles to do today, so it was all out to the floor sailing. It was one tack, 60 nautical miles. When I was about an hour away I did a close look at the entrance to St Augustine (probably should have done that the day before) and noticed there are no markets (buoys), just a note saying do not enter without local knowledge as the Shoals shift constantly. I made a quick call to Towboat US as they will supply a local captain with knowledge. He called and said he’d send me text messages with waypoints. It was like a ballet with me coming into the entrance entering the waypoints right before my turn and hoping it all works out. Worked perfectly. Next, I had to contact the marina. They told me my mooring was on the other side of the bridge. The bridge of lions only opens every half hour. I had 3 minutes! Throttles down! Hailed the bridge 1 minute before opening. They acknowledged my request for passage. And like it was timed, the bridge opened as I rounded the corner, I scooted through like it was choreographed, hailed the bridge tender that I was clear and he wished me well. Picked my mooring ball like I’d done it a million times. Smoothest timed passage that will possibly never be repeated. No one noticed my suave sailing/boating skills, but me, but it still made me smile.