Crew Log for April 2nd – April 5th, 2023
Trip Summary:
• Titusville, Florida – St. Augustine
• Trip Distance of 90.0 NM, Total Distance To-Date of 3,550.1 NM
A moment to acknowledge rolling over 3,500 Nautical Miles (NM) since we left on August 14, 2022. We still have a lot of miles to cover yet, but for now we are focused on the Florida ICW. We have a love – hate relationship with this section of the ICW.
We love it, given it is generally straight and runs South to North. Therefore, a mile travelled, is a mile further north. In contrast, as you may recall from our posts on the way down, through Georgia a mile travelled doesn’t get you very far, given the twists and turns through the salt marsh. Because the Florida ICW is straight, we can make good time, another positive. Despite its virtues, we can't tolerate the discourteous boat traffic, that seems to be commonplace in Florida.
There are “places” in Florida we like, including Titusville and Palm Coast, one of our stops along this section. We have mentioned it before, but the challenge on this section has been to find suitable anchorages. There is a growing trend, particularly in Florida, for people to acquire a derelict vessel, haul it out into an anchorage and make it their permanent home. Sadly, many end up on the bottom of the anchorages when a hurricane rolls through. Not only have they lost their “home”, but the anchorage is now littered with hazards, just waiting to snag your ground tackle.
The winds were light and it was slightly overcast, which are not bad conditions for motoring up the ditch. Our first stop on this leg of the trip was Daytona Beach. We stayed at the Halifax Harbor Marina on the way down, which was close to the Jackie Robinson Ball Park. However, the marina was full so we decided to anchor in a well protected spot, right on the ICW.
We made our way across the Indian River Section just north of Titusville. On the charts, it appears to be a massive body of water, and it is, but the only navigable portion for us, is a small narrow channel that runs north, makes a 90 degree turn and then runs east to the NASA Haulover Bridge Canal. The canal is a very popular fishing spot for both humans and birds, and there is abundant wildlife in the water, including manatees and dolphins.
Once through the canal we head north again down a long straight section through the Mosquito Lagoon. It was in the Mosquito Lagoon that we noticed dolphins shooting high out of the water and doing a flip in the air, before making a perfect re-entry back into the water. Spotting a manatee is just as exciting, but not nearly as dramatic. Other than their nostrils briefly sticking out of the water before they slowly roll back down, they would be easy to miss. Given we move at about the speed of an “excited” manatee, we have lots of time to watch for wildlife.
It was Sunday, which meant, there were also a lot of people out enjoying the day on the water. Most of them were pretty friendly and offered up a wave on the way by. By far and away the most popular boats were small center consoles and pontoon boats, which thankfully, don’t throw a lot of wake. The ICW is lined with sand islands, which we speculated were created from the dredging spoil. Some have even started to grow trees and others actually have modest summer homes on them.
On a nice Sunday afternoon however, the most popular pastime seemed to be to anchor your center console just off the sandbar and hang out in your lawn chair until your butt gets wet, just like that Zac Brown Band song...“I got my toes in the water, ass in the sand, not a worry in the world, cold beer in my hand, life is good today”. It was nice to see people enjoying themselves.
As a former economist however, a couple of thoughts kept running through my mind. What is the value of the recreational boating and fishing industry in Florida? It has to be a massive market. And related to that, I wondered just how much fuel is burnt on a typical Sunday afternoon.
Our anchorage for the night was just off the main ICW channel, next to one of the 65 foot ICW bridges that goes between Daytona Beach and Daytona. The conditions were very calm and surprisingly relaxing, particularly after the jet ski rental place closed. The evening lights from the surrounding buildings were actually kind of pretty. However, it was noisy! The traffic sounds and sirens were constant.
While our destination for this leg was St. Augustine, we decided to break up the trip into 2 smaller hops. We had stopped at Palm Coast on the way down and enjoyed it, so we decided to visit them again.
Palm Coast is a small marina right off the ICW. It is very well run, has a nice ships' store, washroom and showers and laundry facilities. There is also a nice walking trail along the ICW. There is also a shopping and restaurant complex close by that we missed the last time we were here, so it was also on our agenda.
It was Monday, so there was significantly less traffic on the ICW, other than folks like us, migrating north. There were also a lot of kayakers and rowers out getting their practice in before things got too busy on the ICW. It was a short hop from Daytona, so we cleaned the boat and did a wash before heading out to the European Village for supper. Sadly, it turns out, Europe was closed on Monday and the only place open for supper was the sushi restaurant.
For those of you who know us well, know that not only does Judy not enjoy sushi, I have a sesame allergy. A Japanese restaurant is likely the absolute worst option for us. There was another place that appeared to have some life around it, but they didn’t serve food. They invited us back if we decided we needed a drink. In the end, the wait staff at the sushi restaurant assured us not only could we get something “cooked”, but he would also make sure there was no sesame involved. “Hangry crisis” adverted.
The next morning, with assistance from the helpful staff, we easily made our way off the dock and headed up the ICW to St. Augustine. One of the reasons we are reluctant to plan long passages on this section of the ICW is the effect of the tidal currents. When they are with you, you can reach speeds of over 7 knots. However, if they are against you, we struggle to get above 4 knots. It also seemed like we got more benefit from the currents on the trip down, but that might be my overly active imagination. All I know is, we worked hard on this leg getting up hill.
We were meeting friends in St. Augustine, so we decided to take a mooring ball to be a little closer to town. We made our way to the Municipal Marina, called them on the VHF and got our mooring assignment. We were told we were in the south field, given our length and draft, which is total contrary to what we were told the last time we were here. We headed off in search for our mooring ball. We motored past dozens of other boats in the south field, past several empty balls, past the section of derelict vessels, past the liveaboard section, finally to the very last ball in the south field. Getting to and from shore in an opposing 2.5 knot current with our 4 hp would be a test of my patience which, when it comes to St. Augustine, was running out.
We asked if we could be reassigned to a new ball. No luck. After a long pause, they offered us a spot on the dock. Given our whole reason for stopping here was to visit with friends and not spending the entire time dinghying through a mooring field, it seemed to be the best option.
We were docked next to Pierre and Manon on Ocean Star 7, who we first saw in Eleuthera. On the other side of us was Robert, on a Douglas 32 from Perth, Ontario, The boat was called Sarah Lynne. Robert was single handing his way back home after his wife made a brief visit while the boat was in port. The day before, Robert was sailing offshore, up the coast and had to divert course to St. Augustine when his auto pilot stopped working. We were also expecting Anodyne, who were rocketing up the Florida coast on the outside.
While we waited for Corky and Alex, we walked up to the “Boaters’ Exchange” which we had learned about after we had “left” St. Augustine the last time. It is basically a literal pile of recycled boat parts, loosely categorized into random heaps. My favorite was the giant pile of nuts and bolts. I took it as a personal challenge to find a nut that matched a bolt. I was unsuccessful.
The remainder of our time in St. Augustine was spent eating and retrieving things we left at the restaurants. We enjoyed a great Greek meal the first day and had lunch at a place called Columbian, which specialized in Cuban food. Not confusing at all. Despite our lack of enthusiasm for St. Augustine, we really enjoyed our visit with the crew of Anodyne, before they sped off and we lumbered up the shore. And, oh yes, both meals were great, and we might just be warming up to America's oldest city.
One place we were excited to be going back to was Cumberland Island, the last undeveloped barrier island along the Georgia coast. Before that however, St. Augustine decided to give us one last slap in the face, just as we started to warm up to her, before we head to Jacksonville.
But more about that, next time.
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