More great pics! GL, he *did* mention that these are from shore
DigitalMechanic wrote:I have nothing from on the water, but from next to it I have these...
but I can't wait to see some from the water as well, or better yet, get some of my own if I should ever get the chance to sail up there at night ...
I am not sure about "Active Captain", but I almost never have a problem getting out, unless a train is physically crossing the bridge then there is a 5-10 minute delay. You are correct, they are actively working on it, but it stays up for the most part. We did have one day when we put the boat in and tied up, and then a worker train came up on the bridge. It took about 15 minutes to do its thing, and the the bridge was up and we were off. This was one of the days we had a beer before the voyage instead of on the way back in, lol.
Active Captain is a really useful site (activecaptain.com), because it combines a lot of the e-nav options out there, such as earthNC, etc., into a comprehensive cruisers' resource. I highly recommend it to all who are planning to sail in "unfamiliar territory", or even in their "home waters". DM, the info on AC was accurate as of October of this year, but current conditions could well be different. The USCG may have already "scolded" FECRR into complying with the rules ... ?
I typically won't crack a cold cylinder until I am underway on leisurely evening sails, or when nearing my destination on longer trips, but there have been exceptions ... ;-P
That area in between the other side of the Acosta/Train Bridge and the Fuller Warren Bridge (I95) is where we have designated the "Test Sail Area". It gets a fairly controlled breeze for the most part right up the center part of the river (probably from the closeness of one bridge to another), and no where else. It is easy to get into, or away from wind. We have made several break/fixes to the boat, and tested them there. We have also had a lot of bad things happen, and been able to recover fairly easy due to the constricted nature of that little area. Basically if you run out of engine or sail power (from whatever you could imagine could happen with a 40 year old boat that you are trying to figure out), you cannot drift to far away. One thing I have learned about boats the hard way is that the saying "If it ain't broke don't fix it" is null and void. God bless this little area of the St. Johns, as its geography has saved this new sailor's tail a few times.
Yup, looks like a great sailing area. Even if you're dead in the water, the current will take you somewhere ... ;-P
Palatka is definitely a sailing spot. I have not done it yet, but heard much of it. The Mug race goes from Palatka to Jax, and seems like it would be a great time. There are also parts of the St. Johns south of I295 (Orange Park Buckman Bridge), including Flemming Island and Doctors Inlet/Lake which would compliment the trip to Palatka. All supposed to be good sailing grounds. Doctors Lake would probably be a good R&R area if you were on a longer trip and needed a layover. If I understand correctly there should be some protected places to tie up and plenty of good eating. The South side of Downtown is definitely the place to be on the water. The Northeast has a lot of large commercial vessels in a thinner part of the river due to Blount Island (cargo ship land). If you can tough that out to get to the ICW, then there is another whole unexplored territory. Wait... that is what trailers are for
Damn... I have a lot of exploring to do, lol.
Palatka is definitely a great spot, but I've only explored as far as from the 17 bridge down to Dunn's Creek. Would love to do the Mug Race, but like I said in a previous post, seems like something has always gotten in the way of that one. Need to remedy that situation. I'm not a "racer" per se, but I find a point A to point B event appealing ... ;-P
"Terra firma" confirmed. Before I could have the boat in the water at night, I would have to rig up the boat with lights. It would have to be to USCG spec as well, as not only the coast guard but the sheriff have boats constantly hanging out in this area. To rig an electrical system up for lighting, I would think that there would be considerable effort to do so. Sounds like a new thread for the future (if not already started).
Our boats are not required to have anything more than a light you can shine on the sail, unless you put a motor on the boat, then we are required to abide by the same rules as the stinkpotters are. A standing 12V system is not all that difficult to set up, but all you really need are the battery powered clamp-on LED jobs from Attwood. Red/green on the bow and white on the stern. Plus of course an anchor light if you will be overnighting, and any simple 360 degree lantern run up to the mast top with the main halyard would suffice.