No Rest for the Wicked – September 7, 2022, St. Augustine, FL, USA

We only got a couple days rest to get ourselves over COVID and thankfully that was all it took.  We quickly got back to work on the boat where we could continue to keep to ourselves but still be productive.  Our first order of business was to make our surround for the boat.  We took a day to pattern and had ordered all our materials which was shipped during our “rest days.”  About 4 days later, several wrestling matches with the sewing machine later, and a few curse words from our Captain, we had a surround!

Personally, I think he did a heck of a job with only a bit of logistical help from me.  After this project, we had our confidence up and now, onto gel coat fixes, sanding the ugly “charter boat” blue stripe off the sides of our boat (to be replaced by grey to match our new canvas work), and some buffing has kept us busy this past week.  Keep in mind the weather in Florida is approximately 100 degrees and rain each afternoon so our work has strategically been mostly in the mornings.

Our next task thankfully involves some air conditioning.  We are going to make dinghy chaps to cover our dinghy.  We must fix a slow leak in the dinghy yet but have ordered our supplies which we hope to have here very soon. 

But not to worry, we have carved out a little time for play. Mom & Dad came down to see the Artemis launch (supposed to happen before Labor Day, then Labor Day, and now not till October). Sadly, since we didn’t get to see the launch, we decided to head to Fort Matanzas which is just a short ferry ride away.

Fort Matanzas is a National Monument and was built by the Spanish and used as a supply channel and back entrance to St. Augustine.  IT was very strategic to the defense of the city and helped them maintain control of it from the British who invaded from the north.  After this the built the Fort to be even stronger.  It was manned by 6-9 soldiers including one officer.

Eventually, after the fall of the Spanish Empire, the United States took control in 1821.  Ironically, Ron and I have anchored near here last season and didn’t even realize what we were anchored nearby.