We almost found that ‘perfect’ anchorage we are looking for. This was as close as we have been for a while. The trip today was a long one, almost fifty miles, and we did not get an early start. We cruised through Daytona Beach, but did not have a reason to stop. After that it was pretty uneventful cruising the ICW, except for holding my breath in a few shallow areas. We made it through with no issues and finally got to our destination around 6:15pm.
Per Wikipedia: “Fort Matanzas was built by the Spanish in 1742 to guard Matanzas Inlet, the southern mouth of the Matanzas River, which could be used as a rear entrance to the city of St. Augustine…It was designated a United States National Monument on October 15, 1924.” The fort is situated in the Matazas River and the anchorage was just off the ICW. We turned into the river and made our way toward the fort. We could see another boat anchored a bit farther down from the fort, so we decided to anchor before the fort. We found our spot and dropped anchor. After making sure we were holding, it was time to get Frank to land. We dinghied over to the fort and tied up to the dock. There was a sign saying the fort was closed, but Frank really needed to go potty, so we stepped around the sign and let him do his business. We were able to get up close to the fort, but not go in. After we were done, we loaded up and went back to the boat for the evening. The only thing keeping this from being the ‘perfect’ anchorage was no good land access (fort was closed and we shouldn’t be on the private land) and the last thing: we want to be able to wake up and jump in the water. Unfortunately the current and water was not conducive to this. Everything else about this was good though- serene and peaceful. There were a few fishermen around, but they all left by the time it got dark.
The next morning I took Frank a bit farther than the fort to a small sandy beach landing. We walked around and headed back. After our coffee and breakfast it was time to continue on. We decided the next stop will be St. Augustine…