Good afternoon from, you guessed it, St Augustine, Florida. Since the last post we have enjoyed a great Memorial Day Weekend, had a great time with our St Augustine family, and the transmission has been delivered to the boat and is being installed.

The week before Memorial Day weekend Amy and I continued to explore and enjoy St Augustine. I think we have now seen it all!

We really love the old streets covered in moss. This is the road leading up to the Fountain of Youth.

Nombre De Dios Mission.

Hit the beach for another day of relaxing and watching the rental boaters!

Yes, they are everywhere.

The weekend arrived and so did the transmission. It was supposed to be here last Wednesday, then Thursday, and it finally arrived at 4pm on Friday. Just in time for the boatyard to close until today!

The weekend was filled by spending time with our Jacksonville friends that have become our St Augustine family. They keep a boat down here for two months for easy access to fishing. Several of them also graduated from Hampden-Sydney College. This has been a great connection.

Their boat last Thursday under the full moon rising just above the bridge.

Tim rented a pontoon boat for his family and included Amy and me for the day to enjoy time on the water and relax at the Fort Matanzas sand bar.

On our way to the fort and sand bar.

Fort Matanzas. Not much of a fort, but then there wasn’t much around the area to defend either!

More of their friends arrived to enjoy a really hot day and time in the water. By the way, they all felt the water was a little cool. When I checked today the water temp was 81 degrees! They would not do well in the bay of Green Bay.

Part 1 of the Pano at the sand bar.

Part 2 of the Pano at the sand bar.

Part 3 of the Pano at the sand bar.

After the pontoon ride we stopped at a local dive bar for a beer and some pool.

After a great Sunday on the water and the sand bar, we were invited to have dinner with the family and friends to celebrate Uncle Jim’s birthday.

Even Memphis was included to celebrate with Uncle Jim!

They all left Monday morning early to fish one more day and then take the boat back to their house in Jacksonville. We will miss them but hope to be moving again before this weekend.

Now for our exciting news; THE TRANSMISSION IS BACK!

On the pallet and all repainted.

They did replace the broken part as well.

Memphis and Amy were not enjoying the heat but were excited that the transmission was ready to go back into the boat.

Up-up and away.

Hoping the strap holds!

Some hand signals and over she comes.

Time to line it up and slide it in.

Look at all that extra room.

More direction and in she goes.

Down the ramp and into the engine room.

And she is in!

They will spend the next day and a half hooking it back together and getting it ready for the sea trial. We hope to be able to sea trial Thursday afternoon. This will allow us to be on our way Friday morning and hopefully cruise outside from St Augustine to Savannah.

This has been a great day getting the transmission back and installed into the boat.

This also happens to be Amy’s and my 36th anniversary today. You guessed it, we gave each other a transmission for a gift this year. I really hope she likes it! I want to thank Amy for helping me relax over the last 6 weeks and wanting to continue this journey. We have had some really great adventures over the last 36 years of marriage, but nothing has had as many quick ups and downs as the Loop. Can’t wait to start moving again and continue this journey as a couple. And of course, with our trusty dog Memphis!

I will post again when we get moving and let you know how it is going. Until then, I hope everyone has a great week.

We want to once again thank our St Augustine family for the inclusion in all their activities over the past 4 weekends. You really lifted up our spirits when they were down.

Our St Augustine (Jacksonville) Family!