December 20-26, 2025

After refueling, we leave Kilkenny Creek at 8am in beautiful, sunny, cool and calm conditions. The view from the helm looking back is beautiful.

A voyage of 5.5 hours takes us to Jekyll Island. Once again, poor Nauti Nerds is salty like a pretzel and needs a bath. Folks here are so friendly, especially Samantha at the Jekyll Island Marina office. We visit a couple of our favorite restaurants from our last visit. One never knows who you will meet…. It just so happens Santa was on the dock chatting with children on a sailboat. I put in a good word for those of you deserving (and you know who you are!).

With the weather holding steady and conditions remaining favorable, we decided to press on and continue our journey the following day. The reasonable forecast gave us the confidence to proceed without delay, allowing us to make the most of the good weather while it lasted. However, there was some morning FOG and we delayed our departure until 9:45am. After the fog cleared it was a gorgeous day to be on the water!

Underway for 6.5 hours and we arrive at Windward Marine at Jacksonville Beach. Along the way we witnessed several bird “meetings”.

While docked at JAX we witness yet another bird party! We ventured to a local bar/restaurant for happy hour and dinner.

That night we heard lots of bow thruster noise and looked out in the direction of the ICW to see a small cruise ship doing a 180-degree pivot just before the fixed bridge. This was fun to watch.

Next morning we depart around 10:30am and head south. Nauti Nerds cruises slowly by many fancy homes and docks along Roscoe Blvd. In the early afternoon we observed horseback riders on the Tolomato River. That is a bucket-list item for me!

We arrive in St Augustine around 2:30 which was two hours prior to low tide. There was some current at the Inlet but we didn’t have any issues. We dock at Conch House Marina easy-peasy. It sure helps when you are visiting a familiar locale. There is always some anxiety when headed into unknown territory (marina dock layout, tides/current, weather conditions, dockhand capability, boat traffic, etc).

Our plan is to stay here a couple weeks until after our holiday celebration back in TX. Kelly is working on the holidays so we will spend them here and enjoy the local celebration. On Christmas Eve, we enjoyed sitting in the sun on the dock. A turtle said howdy. We scrubbed the salt off the boat.

St Augustine is famous for its huge holiday lighting display, and it lived up to expectations!

We are up early and are preparing for the drive home. Sunrise here at the Conch House Marina is gorgeous!