30 April 2025
Depart: anchorage near Cape Canaveral 8:20
Arrive: anchorage on Matanzas River near Fort Matanzas, FL 7:55
Distance: 88 nm
Travel Time: ~ 11.5 hours
Figuring we would stop for the night in Daytona Beach, Clark said we did not need to rush out in the morning. We woke up at 7:30, and started to get underway right after eating breakfast. I took a lot of pictures today as the scenery differed greatly as we moved along the ICW.
The first point of interest was the NASA Causeway bridge
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| Pelicans each to their own perch |
where some bridge work was underway.
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| Workmen at NASA Causeway Bridge |
Our next point of interest was Titusville, FL where we saw tall buildings and lots of sailboats.
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| Anchorage near Titusville, FL |
Up ahead I spied something odd looking from a distance. The traps on the stern made it look like a boat carrying bales of hay.
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| Boat with a pile of traps aboard |
As we approached Haulover Canal, I hoped to see some manatees. I only managed to see one and it was too far away for a picture. Sometimes we see them every few feet!
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| Entering Haulover Canal |
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| People were fishing from boats and from shore |
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| Nice shady spot for a fisherman |
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| Approaching end of the canal |
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| Looking back at Haulover Canal |
As we motored along the ICW after exiting the canal, we had a rather long stretch where we had moths / butterflies (all white) hovering over the water and flying (mostly) up and over the boat. Two in fact did come into the pilot house via the open front panel for a look around before exiting via the open back panel.
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| Butterfly / Moth came to visit us |
Later in the day we passed a sailboat with no sails. I could not tell if they had been shredded by the wind and then removed or just removed.
Birds find perches everywhere. They must think all the construction done is for their benefit.
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| Pelican on top of a boathouse roof |
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| Seagulls lining the remains of a dock |
I like lighthouses and saw one in the yard of the house below.
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| Lighthouse on the corner of lot |
Near Ponce Inlet, we came upon a grounded sailboat being pushed off by a tow boat. As we traversed the same area we saw we had about 6 feet of water. Sailboats often have a deep keel varying from 5 to 7 feet. We draw 4 feet of depth.
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| Flagship Towing as they leave the scene |
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| Lighthouse for Ponce Inlet in distance |
At 3:30, as we approached Daytona Beach (where Clark planned to anchor today), we spied a workboat up ahead. Clark said, "He must not be able to see anything with what he's pushing in front of him."
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| Workboat pushing a barge with a crane on board |
Daytona bridges came next. Clark said that we might not be able to get under the Main Street bridge without lowering antennas / masts or having them open the bridge.
When we arrived at the Main Street bridge, we discovered that we had enough clearance to transit without making any adjustments. Phew!
As we came to Daytona Beach, Clark did some calculations and determined that we had a lot more hours before we ran out of daylight, and we had anchorage options closer to St. Augustine. Bye bye Daytona Beach!
Given that decision, I slipped down to the galley and worked on getting dinner set up for a quick prep and serve when we dropped anchor. I pulled the meat out to thaw and chopped and pre-cooked the fresh vegetables for a quick reheat whenever we got to eat.
We listened to an "Audible" book as we traveled to pass the time as we moved along. Later we listened to the NPR show "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" from this past weekend. After that we listened to 60s and 70s music. I bought a speaker than connects to my phone via Bluetooth making it convenient to listen. I took no pictures until we approached Flagler Beach, and then I got busy snapping pictures again.
Around 6:30, as we traversed the Flagler Beach area, the scenery fluctuated from egrets to homes to rustic.
By 7:00 we had reached Palm Coast where I captured more scenery pictures.
I really enjoyed the reflections in the water as the sun got real low in the sky.
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| Reflection hit by our wake |
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| Another egret |
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| My first picture (this trip) of a long dock on the ICW |
By 7:15, the sun was getting quite low in the sky, but we still had a distance to travel. Clark cranked up the RPM to cover the last 90 minutes of the trip. Due to fighting current for quite a ways, we had dropped down to below 8 knots and lost time. With the increased RPM, we were making over 9 knots against the current but burning more fuel than usual as a result.
In years past Clark stopped at Marineland Marina through this area as there are not great places to anchor near here.
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| Marineland Marina, Palm Coast, FL |
Clark decided that tonight we would try anchoring in the Matanzas River. We have never anchored here before, but he did some inquiries into the best entrance and was prepared to give it a try.
Shortly thereafter, off to the east, we could see homes along route A1A leading into St. Augustine, Florida.
We could see houses built on stilts.
The low-in-the-sky sun made the houses have a golden glow.
One house had a PVC pipe barrier in front of their house.
I can only assume that their dock is under construction and the pipes have not yet been cut down to height.
I took a picture of the house below simply because the trim is done in my favorite color!
The sun kept getting lower and lower. It was a race against time to the anchorage Clark had chosen for the night. I took a few more pictures as we neared the place where we would turn off to anchor.
Immediately after tying off the anchor, I ran to the stern of the boat to capture a picture of the sunset. We made it before the sun disappeared!
With the work I did earlier, I managed to have dinner on the table around 8:30. That's late for us. I normally plan to have dinner done before 8:00. While I cooked dinner, Clark made some changes to wiring in the boat that he thought may be impacting the autopilot. It was still misbehaving today, so yesterday's assumption of a "bad waypoint" was probably not correct.
