3 November 2024
Depart: Daytona Beach FL anchorage 7:10
Arrive: Satellite Beach FL anchorage 5:10
Distance: ~ 74 nm
10 hours travel time
With EST now in effect, we were up today before the sun.
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| Predawn view at Daytona Beach, FL |
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| S/V silhouette predawn |
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| "Here comes the Sun!" |
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| Same sailboat now the sun is up |
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| Bridge at Daytona Beach just after sunrise |
Our travels today took us past the Ponce de Leon Inlet, and we could see the lighthouse in the distance.
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| Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse |
The weather today was fluctuating - rain, clear, rain, clear, repeat. We saw quite a few storm clouds, but the rains passed relatively quickly.
At New Smyrna Beach, they had a band and a crowd of people at the park. We could hear the cymbals crashing as we motored by.
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| Bandstand with players in red shirts |
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| Another view of the park at New Smyrna Beach |
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| Statue of Liberty in New Smyrna Beach, FL |
It must have been high tide when we reached Haulover Canal because I normally see a bunch of folks with kayaks on the beach at the entrance. There was no beach!
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| Entering Haulover Canal |
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| Water breaking on rocks near entrance to canal Watch those markers! |
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| Manatee at Haulover Canal |
Passing through the bridge over the canal, I noticed a boat tucked over to one side. As we went by he held up his fishing pole with a big ol' fish attached and a broad smile on his face. I gave him a big smile and a thumb's up, and he seemed elated that I appreciated his catch.
At one point today, or perhaps more than one, we had rain and sun together. Clark got excited about the rainbow and had to get some pictures for the blog.
We had two missions for our next stop on this trip south in Satellite Beach, Florida. 1) See our friends from our times at Faro Blanco - Sandy and Bill and 2) send our dinghy to the dinghy hospital for some TLC. After a long travel day, we anchored for tonight in the Banana River.
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| Entering the Banana River to find a place to drop anchor |
Coming into the river, we passed a docked riverboat.
4 November 2024
Depart: Banana River anchorage 8:20
Arrive: Satellite Beach Private Dock 8:55
Distance: ~ 2 nm
As we brought the anchor up today, we saw many dolphins enjoying the same waters as us. Planning to meet up with Sandy and Bill at 10:00, we got a relatively early start even though we did not have far to travel. Traveling to our friend's dock, we had to watch the water depths carefully. Navigating the narrow channel into the lagoons where the house is located, we saw less than a foot of water under the keel.
When we arrived at our friend's lagoon, Clark put the boat in reverse and backed down to their dock. We brought our dinghy here last year, which was easy in comparison. As we approached the dock, I fed Clark the information he needed as to distance for and aft of our boat in relation to the location of the fixed dock.
By the time we had the lines the way we wanted and the electric plugged in, it was time for Sandy and Bill to come get us for a fun day off the boat. We never know where Sandy will take us, and we know not to ask because she likes it to be a big surprise. All we knew, because we overheard Sandy and Bill talking, was that we had to be there by 11:00 or we would miss "it". Whatever it was!
Never ones to disappoint, Sandy and Bill had indeed found a novel treat for us to enjoy - a Pro Bass Shop visit. But wait, we weren't there to shop! Three times a week, a team of trainers come out to train and feed the alligators located there. We had a bit of a wait before the show actually started, so we stood and watched the alligators.
At one point, it looked like the alligators might be getting ready to "rumble", but they eventually just broke up and went their separate ways. Maybe they were just having a friendly chat.
When it was time for the feeding to begin, a man came up next to us and shook a rattle to alert the alligators it was time for lunch. They have been trained to understand the process that follows the rattle.
As shown in the video below, the man with the rattle stood near us high above the alligators in their pit.
Shorty thereafter, the trainers entered the alligator pit. Never in a million years would I want this job.
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| Trainers at the gate Gators swimming around |
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| Trainers entering with food Making their way to feeding area |
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| Carrying Prods to control alligators and buckets of treats |
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| Alligators lining up for lunch |
The trainers know each alligator's name. For each alligator they used the prod to tell them where to line up and insist that they stay in their designated place.
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| "Get back!" |
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| Know your spot and stay there! |
The trainers told us they had two "treats" for the alligators. The first was a small brown brick-shaped vitamin pack about the size of a deck of cards. The second was chunks of chicken.
Once they had the alligators in position, they inserted a short fence to stand behind during feed time.
For one lone guy on the end, he was "spoon fed" his treats. The food was attached to the end of the prod, and the alligator bit / pulled it off the end.
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| Each patiently waiting for their turn |
When one vitamin brick bounced off the snout of a gator, the next door neighbor tried to steal it. The trainer got it back to try again before it could be eaten by the wrong gator. They retrieved misaimed treats with the prod making sure not to lose any hands during feeding time.
As I knew he would, Clark stayed for the whole show. After watching the alligators eat their vitamin packs, Sandy and I decided to return to the car. The sun was burning a hole through the backs of our legs. I had sunscreen on, but I had not planned on the backs of my begs being exposed for such a long time. It was hot!
I missed the tossing of the chicken, but Bill assured me that it looked much the same as the tossing of the "biscuits" although from Clark's photos, it would appear that the chicken was "spoon fed" and not tossed. According to Bill, sometimes instead of chicken, the alligators are fed dead lab rats. Yum!
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| Chicken Leg anyone? |
When the show was over, it was time to find a place for lunch. As we passed Captain Hiram's, Bill remembered there was another restaurant a little further down. We stopped there for lunch - "Sebastian Saltwater". After a brief discussion, we agreed that this would be our "big" meal of the day and ordered accordingly. We all ate some form of seafood. It was delicious and an excellent choice for a lunch stop.
From there we made a quick stop at a roadside vegetable stand that Sandy says the car stops at automatically whenever she passes by. I picked up some delicious-looking veggies for the boat stock!
As we traveled the area, Clark kept track of which way we were headed - south, east, whatever. I had no idea where we had been or where we were. I was just enjoying the ride, the stops, and the scenery.
After our road trip, Sandy drove us back to their condo to relax and chat. As we sat there talking, it was decided that we should stay and watch tonight's rocket launch from their balcony. Since that was scheduled for 9:29 p.m., we had quite a while to wait. I mentioned to Sandy, "Now would have been the ideal time for me to do a load of laundry!" She's like, "You're right! Let's go get it!"
Fortunately, the trip from Sandy's place to where the boat was docked was about a 5-minute car ride. I had my laundry all packed up, so it was a very quick trip to go there, grab it, jump back in the car, and be back in the condo with the washer going. One less job to do tomorrow!
Sandy had planned a special fish dinner for supper tonight, but after our filling lunch and an ice cream stop afterwards (gelato actually), none of us felt like we would appreciate the meal given the effort it would take to make it. Clark and Sandy went out and brought back a pizza. After checking on multiple places, they ended up ordering / picking up from Dominos. It was surprisingly good.
The rocket launch happened as scheduled. This was the first time we saw a launch where the booster returned to the launch pad. We had a clear view, and it was thrilling to watch.
Television pictures of the launch ...
Sandy drove us back to our boat after the show was over. I had not slept well last night and was awake at 6:00, so as soon as I was on board, I headed for bed. After about 5 minutes, not more than that, I was out cold!
5 November 2024 - Election Day
No boat travel.
Our second purpose for staying in Satellite Beach was to send the dinghy to the dinghy repair shop. Sandy and I agreed that we would do what we used to do in Marathon together and have a girl's day out - no guys allowed. Clark had to stay on the boat ready to drive the dinghy to the boat ramp once he got the word from the repair folks to go. Bill was simply told he wasn't invited to come with us.
Sandy picked me up at 10:30. As per usual, she had a secret agenda, and I was just along for the ride. All I knew was that at some point in the day, we would stop at Publix for me to stock up on bread and such. I should have taken pictures or at the very least notes, but the blogger in me was off duty.
Sandy took me so many places, I cannot remember them all. First, she took me to an Asian grocery, so I could buy bok choy for Clark. She remembered he likes it. To be fair, later in the day, she took me to an organic food store where I could buy tasty carrots just for me. She likes to spoil us.
Somewhere along the way, she asked me if I had ever been to "Ollie's". Not only had I never been there, I told her I had never heard of it, so we went in to explore. At first glance it looked to me like a Dollar Store on steroids. Later, I decided it was more like the Marshall's / TJ Maxx that we have in New Jersey. Immediately, I considered this to be a worthwhile stop, for as soon as I stepped in the store, I saw a large display of books and picked out two puzzle books to bring back to the boat.
From there, we popped into Harbor Freight next door and I picked up some disposable gloves I like to buy from them. By then, it was already lunch time. As Sandy checked her phone trying to see where we might eat, I pointed out the "Chez Cani Cafe & Bistro" right there in the plaza that I could see from the car. We ate there, and each enjoyed quiche with salad!
All the while we enjoyed our fun day, Clark sat on the boat waiting for "the call". As Sandy and I entered Publix, Clark let me know that instead of leaving at 2:00 to drop off the dinghy, the time was now shifted to 3:00. That meant that Sandy would need to pick him up from the launch ramp around 5:00. As we finished our shopping, I got another notification from Clark at 2:40 that the person to pick up the dinghy would be a bit earlier, so Clark was finally on his way.
At 3:40, I got a text from Clark that he was at the ramp with about a 45 minute wait for the guy to arrive. Clark left plenty of time to get to the ramp. Even so, he said it was painfully slow going through the Grand Canal and out the Banana River. At "slow speed no wake" speed in the dinghy, he was traveling at about 4 mph. Once through that bit, the crossing to the launch ramp was quick. Ten minutes later I got a text from Clark, "He's here!"
After buying groceries, Sandy had dropped me off back at the boat so I could stow everything. She had gone home to do the same. Once I got Clark's text, I quickly finished my tasks and let Sandy know Clark was ready for pickup. She and Bill came and got me and then went to find Clark. When we were about 1.5 miles away from the park, Clark told us the boat had just left and maybe we would see it pass by us on our way to get him. We looked, but that did not happen.
We returned to Sandy and Bill's condo where Sandy prepared the dinner she had planned for the night before. She served Triple Tail fish, which neither Clark nor I had ever sampled, with a lobster bisque sauce along with rice and vegetables. It was quite a meal! Afterwards, Clark inquired about ice cream for dessert and received boos all around as we were all tired and too full of food to even consider it!
Not wanting to see or hear anything about the election results until a decision had been made, Bill tuned in a station on his television that played "Yacht Rock" and gave information on the performer as the song played. Clark and I had not heard the "Yacht Rock" term before, but found the music much to our liking.
After dinner and music, Sandy drove us back to where our boat is docked and dropped us off. We are hoping to see them briefly in Marathon as they have a trip planned down that way next month. Yay!
I went to bed hoping and praying for an uplifting result on the election. It was not to happen!
