23 November 2021
Depart: Lamb's Yacht Center, Ortega, FL 6:40
Arrive: Marineland, FL 3:45
Distance: 70 nm
Conditions: Cold chill in the air - 50s with a wind gusting to 25 kts
We decided to target departure at 6:30 and rose before the sun. Given the level of dark at 6:00, when I walked into the salon, I wondered if the sun would actually appear in just a few minutes. Sure enough it put in an appearance as scheduled. Our departure from the dock was slightly delayed as we had to wait for a passenger train and a freight train to clear the RR bridge before we could get a lift. Fortunately, the freight train was not excessively long, and we were on our way just a little behind our plan.
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| "Here comes the sun ..." |
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| Jacksonville in the distance |
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| RR Bridge |
The trip through Jacksonville revealed mostly the same sights we had seen on other passages through here. The vessel Isla Bella, that we saw on our way to Ortega, was still at dock. Instead of being unloaded, it was now being loaded with containers.
One picture that never gets old however ...
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| Unique Jacksonville Art |
The reason we left so early in the day was to catch the outgoing tide on the St. Johns River. We got a good push for about 2 hours and then the tide turned. About an hour later, we finally departed the St. John's River and rejoined the ICW to continue our trek south. At the intersection of the river with the ICW, we had a tide reversal. Where we had 1.5 kts of current against us, we now had that 1.5 kts pushing us. We went from 6.3 knots where we joined the ICW to 9.3 kts after we made the turn!
We studied the charts and the ICW guide that we have looking for a place to stay tonight. Unfortunately, anchorages were few in number, and after St. Augustine almost non-existent. We decided to try for a mooring ball at St. Augustine. Unfortunately, when Clark called, they said the mooring balls were all reserved but we could get position 3 on the waiting list. We took them up on that offer to wait-and-see. When we arrived in the St. Augustine area, we still had not heard back from the marina about a ball.
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| Crowded Bird Island on ICW |
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| Twin Naval Vessels - "Mulberry" and "Schronie" |
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| St. Augustine Inlet - truck on beach |
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| Ocean Waves at St. Augustine Inlet |
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| St. Augustine Lighthouse in background |
Since we had not heard about the mooring ball, we weighed our other options. We read up on two anchorages - neither sounded wonderful. The more likely of the two at Matanzas Inlet had reviews the repeatedly stressed the swift current.
Finally, we decided to look into staying at the Marineland Marina. Overnight temperatures were predicted to be in the 40s and electricity, and therefore heat, sounded attractive. When we called and inquired as to price and found that it was only $1.25 per foot of boat, we decided to go for it. The decision to carry on to Marineland would also put us a lot further along on the ICW.
Ironically, as it turned out, while Clark was on the phone with Marineland making a reservation, the dockmaster at St. Augustine left a voicemail - he had a mooring ball available. Clark called him back to tell him we had made other arrangements, and the ball could go to the next on the list.
As we traveled the ICW, we heard a call on the VHF radio from boaters we know from Faro Blanco. We knew "DanCyn" was headed north to North Carolina, so we were not totally shocked to cross their path on our way south. The VHF conversation was an interesting one, however, as "DanCyn" had no idea who "Sunset Delight" was.
It did not help that Clark started the conversation with, "You are going the wrong way!" After some confused exchanges, I explained to Clark that Dan had no idea who was calling him, and therefore, did not get the joke. Once Clark said, "It's Clark!" the conversation became a lot more comprehensible.
We pulled into Marineland around 3:30. The winds were whipping. The dockhand was fantastic and had us tied up quickly and securely. We ended up with multiple lines doubled to take the strain of the boat pulling to get away from the dock. Due to the constant pulling on the lines, we put chafe guards to protect them. We had a continuous sound of the lines rubbing on the hull, but there was nothing to be done about that.
Sunset at Marineland
We took advantage of the heat and had a cozy stateroom for the night!
24 November 2021
Depart: Marineland, FL 7:05
Arrive: NASA Causeway Bridge near Kennedy Space Center 5:30
Distance: 79 nm
Conditions: Warmer than yesterday, still windy, hot in sun, cold in wind
After a night of listening to the lines rubbing on the hull, we got up when the alarm went off at 6:30. Strong winds were still pushing us hard off the dock. We set our lines for quick release and were able to be underway just after 7:00. To save time, we eat breakfast underway.
Once again we had a Plan A / Plan B strategy for where we would stay tonight. Only time would tell where we ended up.
Twenty-two miles after leaving Marineland, we hit something in the middle of the channel kachunk! We looked to see if we could see anything floating behind the boat to give an indication of what we might have hit. We saw nothing.
When we sped back up, we could hear a very loud clickety-clack coming from the port side of the boat. Our plans for a long day on the water just got real iffy! Clark thought he should probably dive under to look to see if anything was wrapped around the prop. He checked the water temperature and it showed 62 degrees. He told me he would need a bathing suit, his goggles, and a wet suit to brave the chilly water.
While I pulled these items out for him, he tried running the boat in reverse to see if he could spin off whatever might have wrapped around the prop. Even though it was the middle of a busy channel, we suspected a fish trap had gotten in our way. Clark studied the charts looking for water deep enough for us to anchor that was out of the channel. He could find nothing closer than 8 nm away which would mean running for an hour before he could dive under.
We decided to try to get a feel for the noise levels depending on speed. Clark and I donned our headsets so I could be in the salon and listen for the clatter and he could adjust speeds at the upper helm. As we played with it, it became apparent that the worst of the clickety-clack was gone and any noises coming from below were basically normal. Given we had no good place to drop Clark in the water, we cautiously continued on our way. When we reached the spot 8 miles from where the incident occurred, we agreed to continue on. We still heard no unusual sounds, and the water temp here was worse at only 60 degrees.
Continuing on, we saw lots of things to take pictures of on the way to wherever.
Fisherman using a very fast moving pedal-drive kayak ...
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| Pedal-drive Kayak |
Multiple boats that have seen better days ...
New Smyrna Beach offered lots of photo opportunities ...
We even passed by a boat that was the result of a "hit and run" accident. The event made the news. Clark found an article describing the accident. It sounded real nasty.
New Smyrna Beach Inlet Lighthouse
Bird house?
As we passed through Mosquito Lagoon, our first option for a place to spend the night, Clark said it was too early to stop moving and kept right on going towards our second choice of Titusville.
When we got to the rather short, but busy Haulover Canal, I got real busy with the camera as there was so much to see.
After seeing buildings and parks at New Smyrna Beach, we enjoyed the rustic look of the tree-lined canal.
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| Fishermen on shore |
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| Boats being launched |
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| Cranes looking for food |
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| Kayaks |
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| Source of Kayaks |
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| Fishermen in boats |
We saw plenty of dolphins today but all were too shy for the camera. Some even played along the side of the boat, but as soon as I appeared with the camera, they disappeared!
Twice today we ended up lowering our mast to pass under bridges without requesting an opening. At the first, I thought it was crazy that Clark refused to wait 5 minutes for the bridge to open. He explained that he would have to wait in line and that would put us behind a bunch of slower boats including several sailboats we would have to pass later.
At the second, the Main Street bridge at Daytona Beach, Clark lowered both the mast and the antennas to be sure we could clear. He can lower the mast by himself using the pulley system he installed, but it takes both of us to put it back up. We put the boat in autopilot, run to the back, pull up the mast and then run back to the helm. It takes only seconds, and we make sure we have a clear path ahead before leaving the steering to the autopilot.
Clark told me that his second choice for an anchorage was Titusville. As we approached Titusville around 4:30, I was more than ready to stop for the night. When I asked Clark which anchorage he had in mind, he told me it was one 7 nautical miles ahead. Noooo! That translates into almost another hour of travel. Moan and groan as I might, Clark just smiled and continued on towards his ultimate goal.
Finally, as the sun was setting to our west, Clark pointed out the anchorage just on the far side of the NASA Causeway Bridge near Kennedy Space Center. Given our late arrival time, we took sunset pictures while dropping the anchor.
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| NASA Causeway Bridge |
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| Pelicans fishing at sunset |
The sunset kept changing, so the camera kept clicking.
By the time we got settled at anchor, it was time to make dinner, etc etc. After dinner, I spent the rest of the night working on the Blog updates. Tomorrow is another early-rise day as we head for Vero Beach for Thanksgiving dinner with close friends - Cathy and Franklin.
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