More St. Augustine

We stopped in St. Augustine to be able to let David stay with the boat in a secure location and receive our mail.  It was also a good spot for Pat to rent a car and head back to Fort Walton Beach for yard work, friend time and work some shifts with West Marine.  It was whirlwind time for both of us but we managed to get all our major goals accomplished.  We have friends in St. Augustine from previous military assignments and cruising so it was an added bonus to be here.  Unfortunately, I bought a new camera and took quite a few pictures before I had a correct memory card and they were all lost.  Happily, some pictures were from the phone so all is not lost.  We'll have the memories anyway.  David worked super hard on the boat's maintenance list.  All varnish now has it's Spring coatings and looks grand.  He took on a truly horrible task of changing out the sanitary hoses and cleaning out our holding tank.  Our friend Eric showed up just in time to help.  I'm not sure he thought it was a good idea to visit after all!  He also worked on a long list of more minor projects and he feels the boat is much safer and seaworthy.  When I came back we ran errands, spent with day with his Aunt Alexis visiting her son and friend in the area, another great dinner with friends Regina and George then off we went.

We are learning a whole new skill set with river travel.  The river currents are
frequently much stronger than the wind and even on secure mooring balls,
the eddies and currents play havoc on boat orientation.  If you click on this picture,
you can see that all the boats are in all points of the compass depending on where they were
located in the current and wind.

Being lighter and having no real keel, catamarans tend to move around in the current
much more than a monohull.  These were the closest boats to us and frequently looked
like they were charging straight at us only to be yanked back by their tethers.

The fort in St. Augustine is definitely a tourist attraction.  These pictures
were from Easter weekend when the entire city was heavily populated with tourists.
The fort has been under the control of Spain, England, France, US, The Confederacy then
back in US hands.  Each put their own stamp on the place.  The views are stunning
from any direction.  The Spanish had a very effective design so that the ocean entrance,
the town and river in both directions could be protected.  It was besieged several times
but never fell to invading forces, only the stroke of a pen on a treaty brought about
regime change. 

Part of the National Park Service mission is  to preserve the fort and educate
visitors about life in the fort.  Part of that is accomplished with daily shows of
how the Spanish soldiers dressed, drilled and fired their rifles.

The watchtowers in all 5 corners of the fort would have
given the lookouts excellent views of any approaching danger.
The fort was large enough for all the townspeople to come inside
in times of siege.  One of the principal tasks of the commander
was to ensure enough food and water was always on hand in case of attack.