Jan. 22

The coffee smell at the Morales’s reached me as I woke and I was instantly at home. We arose and had a good breakfast, then drove to the Down Under restaurant under the bridge across to Amelia Island.  The current was flowing rapidly in the direction we intended to go.  What a treat!   The five miles to the boat ramp at the northernmost point in Florida went by several large ships and two enormous paper mills whose smelly smoke was blowing the opposite direction.  At over five knots we pulled in at about 11, just an hour after we left! 

I wanted to do another piece so, after an ice cream lunch at Fernandina’s Fantastic Fudge, we drove to the other end of Amelia Island to check out the tide and wind to see if we could row back up to the Down Under restaurant with the incoming tide.  Unfortunately the wind had built up to around 25 mph and whitecaps were building rapidly.  So we scouted out the landings further south and returned to our wonderful hosts. 

It had been a short, 5-mile day but at least we had added something.  A nice dinner and visit with Breland, Grace and David Morales was a welcome change from the cheap hotel and restaurant food life we have been living!