We are at the Elks lodge in St. Augustine, Florida (map). This is a familiar stop for us, with 30-amp power and water at each site for $20. Unlike the adjacent Anastasia State Park, which is nearly full, we were here with just one other rig last night. They look to be settled in for the long haul. Louise found a coupon for nearby Fratelli's restaurant and we had a nice Italian dinner.
Now that we are heading south down the coast, I thought I'd try to snag a spot at Gamble Rogers State Recreation Area, where the camp sites are basically right on the beach. The earliest availability they have, though, is for a single night on August 2nd. The lodge here was the fall-back on our way to Cocoa Beach, where we have a friend with a 50-amp circuit just across the street from the beach, and with a pool to boot. I expect we will be there through the weekend if not longer. We can use a little break after being scheduled every day for the last few weeks.
One of the next boats we will try to see is not even for sale. It is a DeFever 52 Offshore Cruiser belonging to a member of the DeFever Cruisers club. We met quite a few of the DeFever Cruisers at Cruiser Expo in Stuart a couple of years ago, and when we started seriously considering some DeFever models recently, I paid the dues and joined the group to have access to their discussion forums. We see a couple of DeFever 52s for sale on Yachtworld, albeit in less than perfect condition, and when I made some inquiries about the model, this gentleman offered to show us his boat in Palm Beach so we could at least get a feel for it and see if the model even appeals to us before galavanting off to distant ports to look at the ones for sale. It is a kind offer and we are eager to see his boat.
On our way we will try to look at a couple of boats in the Fort Pierce/Stuart area, and also try to get together with our friends in Vero Beach. I'll be spending the next day or so researching our overnight options in the area now that we need power for the air conditioners -- the last time we were in town was in temperate weather, and we had lots of options there.
Photo by wenzday01, used under a Creative Commons license.
Hey, Sean, we are in the one of the oldest city's in North America too, however a little ways from where you guys are. How about Quebec City! 1536, but then they gave it up for a few years before it was continuously occupied. I'll bet it's a bit cooler up here. Happy Travels. There's a big marina up here, I'll keep my eye out for trawlers. Steve
ReplyDelete