Crew Log for December 11th, 2022
Trip Summary:
• St. Augustine to Palm Coast
• Trip Distance of 18.6 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 2,302.9 NM
• Departed at 08h00, arrived at 11h45
We were glad we decided to stay the additional day and see the Festival of Lights, but the weather was cool and clammy, so it was time to move on. If there is anything positive to say about the Florida ICW, it is that is generally all directly south. No twists and turns or diversions to the east or west. Every mile gets us 1 mile closer to warmer temperatures. We hope.
We were told by a number of people, that the Florida weather is distinctly different in northern Florida, above the St. Lucie Canal / Lake Okeechobee, than it was down in the Palm Beach area. Temperatures had been dipping down into the single digits, although it warmed up quickly during the day.
I did very little research on this section of the ICW and kept hearing that opportunities to anchor were limited. There were a few folks ahead of us who we had been keeping a mental note of where they stopped, but we were winging it for the most part. Which is how we ended up in Palm Coast.
Reading the history of the area reminded me of that old joke, “…can I interest you in some prime swampland in Florida…”. Up until the 1950’s the area was primarily just that, undeveloped swampland, with a few summer homes, a couple of farms and a turpentine distillery. Someone bought that swampland and started developing it around the early 1970’s. Palm Coast is now a bedroom community for St. Augustine to the north and Daytona to the south.
It’s proximity to Jacksonville and Orlando also make it an attractive location for snowbirds and other seasonal residents. With over 46 miles of fresh water canals and 23 miles of saltwater canals, it is not hard to be close to the water. It looked and felt like your typical suburban sub-division where there was a certain, “design consistency” amongst all the homes. That said, for whatever reason, my limited research revealed that we could secure a dock, with power, water and showers, for just over $1 per foot.
This was a big deal since, there are a lot of boats in Florida and demand for slips is high at any time. There are also a lot of northerners who bring their boats south for the winter, either to store them, or to work on them and, there was a shortage of slips, the result of hurricane damage. There were more people living on boats, who couldn’t afford housing prices on land. There was an unusually high number of cruising boats due to Covid restrictions over the past few years. The result was, demand exceeded supply. So, the further south we go, the higher the prices have gotten for marina slips. It was an unexpected surprise to come across the Palm Coast Marina.
We were getting tired of beating ourselves up doing long days. Rather than trying make the almost 50 nautical miles between St. Augustine and Daytona in one day, we broke it up into 2 shorter days. This gave us time in the afternoon to get off the boat and explore the area. Other than passing by a frightening number of sunken and damaged boats along the waterway, our trip from St. Augustine to Palm Coast was uneventful.
Rosine and her crew at Palm Coast Marina could not have been more helpful and welcoming. Despite her mom having just passed away, Rosine made us feel like we were her priority. She called me twice to confirm the booking and to provide me with instructions for our arrival. In addition to the Rosine and the other marina staff, the other boaters there were extremely friendly. It was even nice to see a few Canadians out on the docks.
Palm Coast boasted a number of nice walking and biking trails, so Judy headed off to explore. Not far from the marina there was a fenced off pond, that looked like it was for flood control. There were signs warning of alligators. A closer look revealed that there was indeed a resident alligator, peering out from the water. The walking path basically followed the ICW, past rows of semi detached condos, with beautifully manicured lawns posted with “US Welcome Signs” (stay out). The paved path would have been a great spot to ride a bike.
I joined Judy for the return trip and grumbled annoyingly about the powerboat wakes pounding the shoreline sending massive walls of water spilling over the sides of the waterway. My other observation is that, there is an unusually large number of people with baby strollers who on closer look, have a small dog in the stroller. Very strange!
We were headed to Daytona in the morning and would find ourselves back in Halifax.
But more about that, next time.
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