Mystic is settled in along the face of a long dock at St. Augustine Marine Center. We have a lot to do to get her ready for a long summer rest. First we begin scrubbing the deck, then we remove the sails and boom. We have to get all our personal items as well as everything perishable off the boat. The problem is, what do we do with all of our stuff as we organize the pile to go home. For today, we will clean, pack and pile everything that is going with us to Minnesota. Tomorrow we will pick up a rental car and begin to get things off the boat and out of the way.
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Foresail folded and ready for storage.
Kayaks out of the way for deck scrubbing |
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| Sails are off |
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| Dave wrapping up the main for storage |
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| Mystic at St. Augustine Marine Center |
I started cleaning below, moving everything out of the bow so I could get into all the nooks and crannies. I like to clean every surface each time we put
Mystic on the hard for extended periods of time. Once the bow was sparkling, I moved everything back and began working on the head and main cabin. During the day we noticed a number of Customs & Border Patrol boats, as well as sheriff boats pass us by. After seeing half a dozen or so come and go, we began to wonder what all the excitement was. Turns out, there is a training center right next door; this spot is definitely a safe place to leave
Mystic.
We needed more cleaning supplies so we unloaded the bikes and headed into Publix. Of course, as soon as we were ready to head back, the afternoon rains arrived. My friend, Wayne Barbour, had texted me earlier to let me know that he would be bartending at Hurricane Patty's. It is located on the way back to
Mystic so we figured it made the perfect place to get out of the rain. We spent the afternoon chatting with Wayne, catching up and drinking Duke's Brown Ale. Tonight, we will meet up with Wayne, his gal Teri, and Al and Lora Feldman for a brewery tour. Wayne gave us a ride back to St. Augustine Marine Center with the promise to pick us up later.
We had a great time in St. Augustine at our mini-reunion! We laughed a LOT! Our tour included A1A Alehouse, Prohibition Kitchen and Trade Winds where we listened to a great rock band, "
Those Guys". It seemed like the years just melted away; we picked up where we left off a hundred years ago and had a wonderful night. We can't wait to get back in the fall for more fun!
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| Prohibition Kitchen |
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| Prohibition Kitchen |
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| Prohibition Pretzel & Beer |
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| Al & Lora Robarge Feldman |
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| Teri & Wayne Barbour |
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| Beth & Dave "Team Rogers" |
We spent Wednesday moving piles of our belongings from
Mystic to the dock. Dave picked up our rental, a Dodge Charger, at 4:00. We quickly moved the dock pile into the car. Sandy and Pat, a lovely cruising couple docked near us aboard s/v
Hope stopped by with ice cold fruit flavored beer from the Bahamas. We chatted about cruising and enjoyed the refreshing treat.
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| Main Cabin sail storage |
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| Dock Pile |
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| Dock Pile Growing |
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| Mystic Preparing for haul out |
As we worked, I could hear what sounded like a child screaming. I mentioned it to Dave who said it was just a parrot sitting outside a boat nearby. Of course I had to go investigate. I grabbed my camera and followed the squawking. I'm not sure what this birds name is but he kept calling me "Pretty Girl". He enjoyed making cat calls too! From afar he sounded unhappy but it was obvious that he was in his glory, sitting on the stanchion at the stern of his masters sailboat at St. Augustine Marine Center on a beautiful day in June.
We had a long busy day in which we made a lot of progress. Tonight, we will drive to Jacksonville to see friends; Tiffany, Luke and Logan. A woodfire pizza joint, with microbrew on tap, was calling to us all. June has been a busy month, filled with wonderful new experiences, hard work, stress and joy! We are ready for tomorrow's hau lout and excited for a summer in Minnesota!
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| 3,400 miles into the Great Loop |
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