Open Ocean, Wild Horses, Spanish Forts....

Since we last blogged we have tested the sails on the open ocean, visited a National Park, walked on a beach with wild horses, weathered a rain storm, navigated the rest of Georgia's ICW, and arrived  in the beautiful port city of St. Augustine, FL.  We left St. Simon's Tuesday morning and headed out the cut to the open sea.  Unfortunately for the crew we had a rolling sea and not a lot of wind.  With four of the five crew feeling pretty poor, Sam was left to bring us down to St. Mary's inlet.  We made it safe and sound to an anchorage behind Cumberland Island, GA.  The island is a National Park that was gifted by the Carnegie family.  We took a short trip over before sunset and were treated to a nearly deserted island with wild horses.  Mrs. Carnegie stipulated in her will that her personal horses were to be let free to roam the island.  The horses wander the 17 mile long island through a campground, the ruins of the Carnegie mansion, and along the dunes of a spectacular beach.  We found beautiful seashells and ponies!  It blew hard during the night and rained throughout the next day.  We filled the time with schoolwork, projects, baking, etc.  When the rain broke in the afternoon, Sam and the big boys went for a bike ride along the island trails to the ruins of the Carnegie mansion.  It blew hard again last night and we were treated to a host of rattles and banging noises....not much sleeping for the grown-ups.

We left Georgia waters early this morning and headed down the ICW in Florida.  We mistakenly believed that FL had done a better job dredging the waterway....  Even driving the middle of the channel we bumped bottom a few times at low tide.  Great excitement for the kids but the skipper simply spun us around and got us going again.  The waterway opened up in the afternoon and we entered St. Augustine around 5pm.  It was a long, 65 mile day.  We are tied up in a slip at the downtown marina for the night.  It is a beautiful facility with access to the oldest parts of the city.  We strolled a bit downtown tonight after dinner and will do some serious sightseeing tomorrow when we visit the old fort.  Lots of fun and a good history lesson.  St. Augustine is the oldest port city in what is now the U.S. and it feels like a Spanish city.  We will sleep well tonight.....