May 18 — Gotta pay attention!

Lots of navigation challenges today. The Coast Guard has been working since Hurricane Irma to chart changes in the ICW and to mark them using “temporary” floating marks. The published charts — both electronic and, of course, paper — have yet to catch-up.  So based on yesterday’s warning from a fellow boater about some green markers that were moved, we closely followed the marks today even when they were a quite different from what we could see on our charts.

We ran into lots of shoaling at curves and even in some open water — much that is still not officially mapped.  Keeping an eye on water depth was critical.  And we found it hard to do in some spots because we had one eye on the channel markers and the other on the look-out for pesky flies! Our fellow Lake Michigan sailors will know exactly what I’m talking about. These were green and Lake Michigan’s are black, but they both have a very nasty bite. The Lake Michigan flies seem to appear out of nowhere in the middle of the lake, but the ICW flies appear to come from the marshes that line much of the ICW as you head north.

The landscape change from palms to live oaks to marshes is beautiful. The marshes in some ways are as striking as the Badlands. Only the creatures of the marsh are a lot more benevolent….I’ll take egrets, herons and osprey over rattlesnakes and scorpions any day!

This part of Florida is four-season territory, evident in the blooming magnolias and the proliferation of chimneys! And the folks up here take mooring their boats very seriously. Take a look at some of the boat houses in the photos below.

We moored safely and swiftly at the Amelia Island Marina where we will stay for two days. It feels quite luxurious to have a full day to relax. I should say “just relax” since a lot of the cruising so far has been very relaxing. But tomorrow will be a day without any tense moments of mooring or navigating.

We’ll eat aboard tonight — inside. It is, alas, raining.