Ocean Passage to Jacksonville

6/13/07 – I had to get up extra early this morning because the Bridge of Lions was under construction so they only open a couple times per day. I wanted to make the 7:00am opening so I had my anchor up and was waiting in the channel by 6:45am. I made it out and decided to go out on the ocean for the trip up to Jacksonville because it was a nice day with very good wind and the tidal currents in the Intracoastal Waterway would be against me the whole time. The waves were much larger than when I went out the Ponce de Leon inlet with my father and sister the other day. The radio said that they were 2-4 foot seas. I made pretty good time; I had a nice northeast wind so I was on a broad reach the entire time. I made it to Jacksonville in the early afternoon passed a large military seaport with an aircraft carrier and several other navy ships. I reentered the Intracoastal Waterway for a leisurely trip up to an anchorage about five miles north of Jacksonville. As soon as I got back into the Intracoastal Waterway, it began raining very hard. I was soaking wet by the time I had set the anchor and gone below for some dinner. I realized that in the rainstorm, all of my matches had gotten wet so I had to eat my soup cold.