We got up around 8 am and readied ourselves to head into town for a few supplies. By 8:30 we were dinghy-ing into the dock at the St. Augustine Marina. We tied up and headed out on foot, first to the Winn-Dixie grocery store located some 12 blocks out of town.
By 9 am we were wandering the aisles, still not quite over the shell shocked awe we feel having been without real, American style groceries in more than 6 months. We ended up purchasing thirty dollars of randomly assorted supplies which we stored in back packs.
From the grocery, we headed out to the Sailor Swap. The Sailor Swap is a must see for cruising vessels passing through. Pretty much everything nautical is available. Some of it's used, some of it's left over stock, but everything is reasonably priced, and every price is negotiable.
For us, the stop was all about scoring some more fabric. I hate to say it, but my purse/back pack thingies have really taken off and I have been selling them faster than I can make them. In an effort to reduce the total manufacturing cost, I came out to the Sailor Swap to stock up on the Sunbrella fabric I use to make them.
Somehow, this store stocks left over yardage from a nearby canvas shop. The fabric hasn't been used, but it's sold at a little less than a third of what I have to pay to buy it from Sailrite. It actually drives the cost of building one of my backpacks down from $17 to just over $6. For those of you playing at home, that's a 12 beer savings. And I mean good beer too, not watered down American beer. Mmmm, beer.
Anyhow, we bought so much fabric ($400) that we had to call for a cab to take us back to the marina dinghy dock. Ten minutes ad ten dollars later, we had our purchases loaded and we headed back to the mother ship. Half an hour later the dinghy was secure, the anchor was up and we were idling in front of the Bridge of Lions waiting for the 11:30 am opening.
Once we got hough the bridge, we motor sailed four hours northward and than anchored just off Pine Island, some 25 miles south of Jacksonville. Dinner was Mahi fingers and salad that we ate huddled below decks thanks to the fact that a large series of squalls moved through the area. The rain thunder and lightning quit around sundown, but the rain stayed until some time after we fell asleep.
Tomorrow we continue northward.