On Thursday morning, 11/18/21, Legacy left her wall-tie at Fernandina Harbor Marina in Fernandina Beach, FL, at 9:00 am, cruising southward on the Amelia River, passing underneath the FL State Road 200 bridge. This days’ river waters were mirror-smooth and temps were moderate. We knew some weather was moving in the following day, as this morning’s skies were mostly cloudy and the air was hazy; much different from the previous days’ weather.
After passing Amelia City, FL, the Amelia River intersects the St. John’s River, where the currents become noticeably stronger, as The St. John’s River is larger, wider and deeper than the Amelia River. Approaching the I-295 bridge over the St. John’s River, we were reminded of just how large the port city of Jacksonville, FL, truly is. We passed a monstrous container ship named the Northern Jasper, drifting in place, as she waited her turn in line for her cargo to be unloaded on Blount Island.
Winding further southward along the massive St. John’s River, we began to see the impressive Jacksonville City skyline up ahead, as we passed miles and miles of container ships and port equipment. We felt bittersweet feelings, as Jacksonville was the end of our cruising and would be Legacy’s home until she eventually sold to her new owners. I felt overwhelmed with melancholy, but Steve admitted he mainly felt excited for new things to come.
As the world’s reaction to and handling of COVID-19 defeated our goal to complete the entire Great Loop in 2021, we had originally planned to cruise back south, spend another winter in Florida, and attempt the following spring to finish the loop in 2022. But, largely due to my elderly father’s rapidly failing health in central Arkansas, coupled with the expense of full-time living and traveling aboard; after many hours of discussion, we wound up concluding several months earlier, that we’d had our fill of this lifestyle. We arranged to slip our boat in Jacksonville, FL, at Lambs Yacht Center, where Legacy would receive some repairs, and then list her for sale with our original broker, Michael Martin, of Curtis Stokes Yacht Brokers. We knew it would be easier to sell Legacy while we were no longer living aboard her, so we tried to find a fully-furnished house or condo in Jacksonville we could rent until she sold. It was important to live nearby our boat, so we could constantly check on her, keeping her cleaned up and show-ready at all times. Unfortunately we were unable to find any fully-furnished properties for rent anywhere in the Jacksonville area. (It made poor financial sense for us to rent something unfurnished and then buy (or rent) furnishings for it, as it could take up to a year or longer for Legacy to sell.) So we expanded our search area and found multiple furnished homes to rent down in The Villages, FL, where Steve had always wanted to try living anyway. Plus, The Villages is only an-hour and a half’s drive from Lamb’s Yacht Center, which made it feasible for us to drive up to the boat whenever necessary. We ultimately rented a small, fully-furnished, 3-bed/2-bath home in the Haciendas at Mission Hills village of The Villages, available for occupancy on December 1, 2021, which worked-out perfectly!
On the afternoon of 11/18/21, we pulled and secured Legacy into her very last slip while she belonged to us; slip #C31 at Lambs Yacht Center, just south of Jacksonville, FL, where we would continue to live aboard her until we moved to our new, rented “dirt home” on 12/01/2021, and once again became land-lubbers.
Position: N 30.2717, W 81.7190
Distance traveled: 47 SM
Total distance traveled: 5871 SM
Total marina nights: 411
Total nights at anchor: 23
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 29