Christmas in St. Augustine

 

Christmas in St. Augustine December 25th, 2025

We made port in Fernandina, FL on December 13th trying to put as much distance between us and the cold front that was predicted to arrive on the 14th. We anchored out the first night in a marshlands creek just west of the the city. I take great joy in finding a secluded anchorage that feels much farther from civilization than it actually is. Dolphins and waterfowl have replaced watching Netfix.

We made our way over to the marina at Fernandina on the morning of the 14th along with a lot of other boaters looking to tie up and plug in during approaching wind and cold. We got a spot at the end of the face dock behind Aurora, a Russian billionaires one-hundred-forty-six foot mega yacht. I continue to be stunned by the size of some of the vessels we see. I used to feel sheepish about telling folks that we had a forty-foot sailboat, but I am realizing that we are small fry in the cruising world.

The water approach to Fernandina is deceiving because there are several paper mills in the area and large cranes that have a industrial port look, but nestled in between the working docks is the beautiful and historic city of Fernandina on Amelia Island. The wind was in our favor and we only got a hint of odor from the paper mills the day we were leaving. Fernandina is a beautiful old city with a rich history and beautiful shops and restaurants, and our timing was such that we stumbled into a Christmas street fair that showcased art and food vendors from the surrounding region. Floridians seem to overcompensate for the lack of snow and cold by going all out with Christmas decorations and costumes. It all feels a bit surreal coming from New England.

We met up with new cruising friends Joel and Peg and had a lovely meal out together, found some great falafel, and played a game of pool over an Old Fashioned at the Palace Saloon, Florida's oldest drinking establishment. The weather was not conducive to hitting the beach so we will have to return to explore Amelia Island. We had poor reception on our VHF sorted by a visit from Mobile Marine services who make up a great husband and wife team. Thank you Trish and Patrick!

                                                    "things seem a bit fuzzy and off kilter?"

Joel and Peg recommended we backtrack North up the ICW to check out Cumberland Island. We got off the dock late the next day so we had an afternoon arrival at Cumberland Island but squeezed in a short walkabout of the island and the estate, a wedding present for Andrew Carnegie's son Henry. Thanks dad!

We had hoped to tour the house and estate again in the morning but it was a very still night and the no-see-ums were out in full force the next morning so we hauled anchor and headed South along "the ditch"(ICW) toward St. Augustine. We anchored just off the ICW North of St. Augustine and the George's Creek anchorage was bug free and beautiful.

We had to wait out low tide before making the entrance into Camachee Cove Marina in St Augustine and I was pretty anxious about getting into the slip because the marina was crowded and the depths and setting sun were not cooperating, but it went off without a hitch! The marina is a little out of the way from St. Augustine proper so we took the complimentary Uber into town the next day only to be overwhelmed with the intensity of the crowds. 

We had arrived during the festival of lights and the town was packed. We wandered around aimlessly for a while taking in the impressive fortress and some of the period architecture before enjoying a lovely meal out. But we missed our return Uber and when we tried to arrange another ride it took multiple attempts and an hour and a half of waiting to get a ride.  The driver said the Uber application had been crashing all night and that the streets were filled with people, so he kept missing clients or having them drop the requests in frustration. We were thankful and relieved to get back to the boat!

While in St. Augustine we had Nick Snow, a local diesel technician, aboard to assess the limited throw on our throttle control. We had an aftermarket Vetus throttle control installed in Maryland but we had been unable to utilize the full power of our beloved Volvo/ Penta. Nick helped us sort the problem and was generous with sharing his insights. Nick does business out of St. Augustine and provides excellent service.

We left Camachee Cove Marina after a couple of days and  dropped anchor nearer St. Augustine which is a hell of a lot cheaper but comes with a bit of power boat wake and party boats full of inebriated Christmas revelers viewing the lights of the city. We have endured some really bad singing by the live bands on board and they have permanently soured our affection for some classic tunes. We will be seeking damages.

We toured St. Augustine during the week  hoping for fewer tourists this time, but by noon the streets were full again and we retreated to the boat.  Perhaps we spent too long in the calm solitude of the Great North Woods.

The sailboat cruising community has been consistently kind and generous. Our neighbors on the hook hailed from Kittery, Maine and offered up suggestions for cruising in the Bahamas. The next day we contacted another cruiser who helps sort out electrical and mechanical issues. We texted him and he showed up about an hour later with his wife and young son and dropped anchor near us. He came aboard and helped us sort an electrical issue free of charge. Kent and his family live aboard a 1971 Hunter 30 that he refit a few years ago. They made the transition to living aboard after Kent realized he was working too much, missing his sons development and undermining his health. He told me that he wakes up some mornings and cries with joy in appreciation of his lifestyle. Beautiful.

We celebrated Christmas eve with a lovely meal by the admiral head chef (Jessica) and on Christmas day explored nearby Anastasia Island  by dinghy. Anastasia Island is a state park at the entrance to St. Augustine, covered in dunes and low lying vegetation and little else. There were only a few people on the island but lots of bird life, and a lovely beach.

We had an invitation to get together with our neighbors from Kittery to learn more about cruising the Bahamas but another cold front was the way and the winds looked favorable to make some Southing and put some distance between us and the artic air.

We followed the ebb tide out of the St. Augustine channel on the morning of the 26th and had some lovely beam reach sailing until the wind died at around noon. With our new fully empowered throttle control we  revved the engine to a modest 2000 rpms and were clocking 6.5 knots for most of the trip. Noëpe has a fine underbody for speed. The passage would have been flawless had the persnickety auto pilot not bugged out at three am. Those early hours of the morning are the toughest to endure the tedium of hand steering. Even so the solitude and magic of the night sky and twilight hours is enough to balance out the inconvenience.

We arrived in Fort Pierce around 0900 and made our way back North up the ICW to Vero Beach where we had secured a mooring. There are a lot of cruisers in this area staging to jump off to the Bahamas or the Keys so we were buddied up on a mooring with a C&C 30 at the end of the mooring field adjacent to Fritz Island but still convenient to all that Vero Beach has to offer. The mooring rates are low here so we are booked for a month while we work out the last of the bugs in our floating home before jumping off to the Bahamas. The nearby mangroves and canals promise some interesting dinghy and paddle board exploring while we await parts and service.

Something for the nerds: If you would like to see our progress mapped out you can see our previous and upcoming passages by going to https://sailties.net/live/F2VDTZM5EQ

click on "View Profile" and you will be able to see the routes we have sailed along with photos and brief descriptions of our voyages.