Ortega Yacht Club Marina

Ortega Yacht Club Marina

I am currently at the Ortega Yacht Club Marina. I came up from Hidden Harbor Marina in St. Augustine, FL. via the Intracostal Waterway. The trip up the ICW was without incident but I did manage to arrive in the St. John's River at maximum adverse current - close to 3 knots. I motored up to Jacksonville Landing and tied up at the free dock. Since I had an adverse current I arrived about 3 hours after sunset. It has been a while since I navigated up a river in the dark but it was a lot of fun. I had a nice dinner with Bill (KI4MMZ) and then retired to Reboot for the night.

At about half tide in the morning I headed up (which is South, one of only two rivers that flow to the North in the United States - or so I have been told) to the Ortega River. The trick to getting into the Ortega River is not running aground. I managed to do it with 1/2 foot of water under the keel in the shallow spot. The bridge is also very narrow by ICW standards, more than wide enough for the pleasure craft that use it but it kind of looks like a toy.

Ortega River Bridge

Once in the basin there is lots of water again. Motored over the the dock and was met by Paul the dock master. We got set up and within about 2 hours Ed (Hooligan) stopped by to say hello. He is also sorting things out for a bit.

We drove down to St. Brendan's Isle in Green Cove Springs to pick up our mail and then returned to Ortega. With the weather forecast for a low of 32 F Bill drove up from Flagler Beach and brought XO and me down to his house for the night.

Fair winds and following seas :)