Good Morning, St. Augustine!

Good morning St. Augustine!

We awoke to a beautiful view out our aft portlight(which is just above our "headboard" of the bed).

The town was alive with lights and sounds last night and we could hear the revelers into the night. This morning, the sunrise baked the town in a warm glow and the early birds were carrying out their morning rituals- jogging, strolling, picking up their morinng java... Bella peered out the port, "lookin' at the peoples" as we like to encourage her. After rolling around in bed, loving on Bella for our "Guud Mernin' " routine, we got up for a little breakfast and to mill around on deck.

Bella had other plans.... Seemed she needed to relieve herself. As you may or may not know, we have been concerned about her not wanting to potty on the boat, and therefore holding it until we dingy ashore(which could be days). In the marinas, she never had an issue pottying on the dock. She took a liking to going on peoples docklines and hoses, so I simulate the conditions on the bow of the boat by scattering a few old ropes around. She has pee'd on deck, but never poop'd. So this morning, she trotted up and took a good pee on the bow- to which I rewarded her with a treat and much praise. She must have figured it out, and promptly went up and danced around in circles, squatted and POOP'D!! We were so proud (and relieved that she finally got over that hurdle). Another treat and praise, and Carryn can now relax to the knowledge that Bella isn't going to explode with poop if we don't get to shore. I know this may be more info than you want, but this was a big deal for us. (I even took a picture of it to commemorate the event, but thought it would turn many readers off- feel free to post a comment if you just MUST see it).

As for other topics, anchoring in a tight anchorage with strong winds and currents will certainly test ones nerves. Last night, when we dropped the hook, I was confident we had good holding, but we were nestled in between several boats, one of which was on a mooring (shorter scope, so smaller swing radius than all the boats around her). The wind and current had SolMate dancing around her anchor, doing pirouettes, and only occasionally stretching out the chain and pulling in the same orientation as the other boats. Seems that boats with different keel profiles(being affected by the currents) and different hull profiles(affected by windage) cause them to act differently on anchor when the wind and current oppose each other. Several times I went out to find us shifted into different juxtapositions, sometimes coming pretty close to the moored trawler. After confirming by sight and on the chartplotter that we weren't dragging anchor, I concluded that there was little risk of swinging into anybody. I convinced myself to settle down for a long winter's nap(yes, I was in bed at 9p). All was well this morning, so I am learning the ins and outs of how she acts on anchor. I'm sure there will be many more lessons to learn, and many more blogs to post on the subject.

Today we will explore the town and try to find the Sailor's exchange(a marine junkyard/consignment store with lots of good used stuff). We will move to the marina for our one night of marina bliss(good power and unlimited water) so we can attend church tonight. We will attend midnight mass at the Basilica St Augustine. It is a beautiful church. Last year the Bishop gave mass. Pretty awesome.

For now, it is such a beautiful day, I hate to spend it on the laptop. So, until next time.