Sunday – Tuesday April 14 – 16, 2019

The 58-mile trip from St Augustine to Amelia Island transitioned us from busy Florida to “Old Florida”. Most of the miles were in a congested area (lots of houses, boats and low wake zones). The weather was looking pretty good until we got a mile or so from the Amelia Island Yacht Basin (BTW if it is called a yacht basin, it is usually trying to sound nicer than it really is). A thunderstorm broke out over us as we neared the entrance to the marina. The wind picked up and there was about a 20-minute downpour. We could see the storm on radar, so we just waited around in the ICW channel for it to blow over. 

The marina is well maintained but is more of a working boatyard (like we were used to on the rivers) than the marinas we had experienced in SE Florida. They had a courtesy car that allowed us to get to West Marine, Ace Hardware and the grocery store for supplies. We were able to walk to a nice Mexican restaurant one night and use the courtesy car to get to another place called Down Under for dinner another night. Down Under is located “down under” a causeway bridge along the ICW. You drive along a gravel road for about ½ mile to the parking lot, walk under the highway bridge and there you are.  Lots of people enjoying themselves at the waterfront bar along the ICW, under a bridge (does this make them trolls???)

This was a good location for boat projects, so that consumed most of our days. We also had a chance to experience the NE Florida tides. Tide tables get very important around here and as we head into Georgia. Amelia Island had at 7.3-foot tide during our stay. This needs to be considered when entering or exiting the marina. 

The marina was also well populated with rabbits. This got Bo all spun-up every time we went ashore to do his business. We had to be well prepared for a potential “attack-the-bunny” charge or risk dislocating a shoulder as the leash went taut.