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| Yup; we did get unseasonably cold “January” weather in October. Weather bar chart from Wikipedia’s Jacksonville FL entry (click here to link to it). |
The coldest temperature recorded at Jacksonville International Airport was 7 °F (−14 °C) on January 21, 1985 reports Wikipedia in its Jacksonville roundup (click here to learn more about the largest city by area in the lower 48). Okay, it didn’t get that cold, but two weeks ago, temps dropping into the 40s overnight inspired us to buy a space heater; a luxury marina shore power makes possible.
“This is January weather!” exclaimed Bertie, my walking buddy, who’s lived here long enough to call herself a local (watch for a future post on Bertie, aka “otter mom”). We shivered in our sweats in our sweats on our morning walk.
I got used to heat indexes of 100+ F. Spending the last 16 months in lands where 70+ F is more the norm, anything over that prompts me to reach for warmer wear… for me 40s are darned cold! Okay, there one one very brief fleecy exception (click to witness its chilling effect).
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| One of the many items on our to-do list prior to leaving… fix our bimini and dodger. Salt air and sunshine are not kind to many boat parts! |
In fact, we’re back to warmer weather again… for now. Today spaghetti straps were fine on a thin-blooded gal who gets the chills in the low 70s.
A cold front’s due in next week though, so I’m relieved Wayne’s down to 35 items on our countdown list.
What countdown?
Setting sail for our winter migration South. December 1stis our target date for at long last going vagabond again. We plan to meander down the intracoastal and Florida Atlantic Coast until January; then it’s off to the Bahamas and perhaps points beyond until ~June 2014. Then it’s back to work again for 6 months over hurricane season.
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| This is the most ambitious cruising plan option we’d tackle this year…. Jacksonville Florida to the Spanish Virgins of Puerto Rico. Lots of time in the Bahamas, potentially stopping off in the Dominican Republic. |
What list? Fellow cruisers… you know what that’s all about! Wish us luck and feel free to commiserate. For cruiser-wanna-bes or curious souls, “the list” is rich grist for future posts.
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| Jacksonville, Florida, where we currently are, is Point A… At the very least, our sail will take us down Florida’s East Coast, then into the Bahamas…. its many islands trailing South and East. |
Don't force yourself to go too far. DR and PR are warmer than the Bahamas, but they're farther upwind, too. The Bahamas are huge and beautiful and wonderful. Just take plenty of food with you, and learn to make Conch cevichi. There are worse things to do than join the hundreds of Americans stuck in Georgetown.
The Exumas are especially great. You spend all day sailing full speed in eight feet of water, wondering if you need to steer to avoid the starfish you can see on the bottom hundreds of feet ahead of you.
Rum Cay and Conception are fantastic also. The Abacos are great, but probably too cold in the winter.
Good to hear you're knocking down the list. Maybe add some stuff just to cross off on a bad day, when you're stuck.