2025 November: Central Florida

 9 November 2025

Depart: Fort Matanzas National Monument anchorage Florida 7:25

Arrive: Titusville, FL anchorage 6:15

Distance: ~ 76 nm

Once again we were up before the sun and got to enjoy watching the sun come up over the Fort Matanzas National Monument.

Before we could get going we had to take care of "chores" including undoing the bridle Clark put on the anchor line last night. We did get a bit of a break, however, as it was warm enough that we did not have to do "dew diligence" as Clark has been calling wiping the dew off the full enclosure panels before we could see to make way. Today the dew was light and we could open the panel as it was warm enough not to need it closed. 

The Spanish fort did its job overnight as we were not attacked by any invading British. Clark said that the inlet has waters about 2 feet deep, so I really had no need to worry about an invading fleet. 

As I prepped the upper helm for leaving, I heard folks talking next to our boat. I poked my head out to see where the voices were coming from. I found a man and woman on stand-up paddle boards admiring our boat. They told me they were comparing our boat to the other boat in the anchorage and preferred ours! Yay!

2 SUPers who admired our boat this morning

When we got underway on the ICW, I grabbed the camera and captured some reflection pictures. No houses in this segment of the ICW, it was trees and such.

Eventually we caught up with the SUPers who I had spoken to earlier.

Continuing down the ICW we came to Palm Coast which offered up lots of photo opportunities.

Typical bulkhead materials

Lots of tall buildings

We slowed way down as we saw a woman paddling a sculling boat. As we passed by, she waved and said good morning to us.

Our travels took us past the marina in Palm Coast with a fish statue on display.

A typical look on the ICW through here is one dock after another with small boats on lifts. They did not sit very high off the water, and I wondered what happens when extra high waters are predicted. Clark said they probably pulled them out. What chaos that must present in times of emergency hurricane warnings.

All along the ICW here I could see a bike path that was heavily used this morning. I caught glimpses of folks on bikes or walking or sitting on the park benches located along the path. I was envious of the folks taking advantage. My only exercise when we do the anchorage-to-anchorage travel is going from the upper helm to the galley and back.

Egret wading nearby

Walker / Biker on the trail

Bridge on trail

Playground along the trail

I saw some pretty amazing houses (sizewise), but one really caught my attention. The house had a waterslide like I would expect at an amusement park. Other houses had their own "twist" to make it their own.

Waterslide visible through the trees

Collection of trap markers as a dock decoration

I took a doubletake when I saw a snowman in one yard, and then I saw the homeowners busy putting up other Christmas decorations in the yard. It is November but it does not feel like Christmas season yet.

snowman in Florida

Folks busy decorating for Christmas today

The scenery changes rapidly on the ICW passing from state to state and town to town. After all the affluence in Palm Coast, we passed the older man below just sitting with his fishing pole by the water. He happened to look directly at me as I snapped the picture.

After all the mega-mansions, we passed the trailer park full of "double wide trailers".  It made for a drastic change in scenery.

We had cloudy skies all morning and then briefly the sun managed to find its way out from behind the clouds. It was only a fleeting appearance and then it went back behind cloud cover for the rest of the day.

Traveling the ICW is all about fast boats passing slower boats. Since we keep to around 8 knots, we are one of the slower boats. A boat, "Destiny", came up behind us and haled us on the VHF radio. Channel 16 is for emergency and haling purposes only, and then once connected the parties are supposed to switch to a "working" channel. Channel 13 is the standard ship-to-ship / bridge-to-bridge channel. 

Clark answered "Destiny" and requested that they move to channel 1 3. Normally the haler will acknowledge and switch. This guy was like "What channel? 1 3?" Then he did not switch channels and just haled us again on channel 16. After three times I told Clark to forget it and just tell him to pass. 

He said he would pass us on his starboard, and then proceeded to pass us on our starboard. Where did this guy learn boating? He sped by us and carried on.

A couple of miles along the ICW, w see the boat stopped on the side of the waterway. Aground? Yep! A guy in a small speedboat was catching a line from them to tow them off.

Sequence of photos showing "Destiny" getting help getting free from being aground.

Once free, he was off at speed again. Clark wondered if he had done any damage running aground but it did not appear to be the case.

As he came up behind us, I heard a boat coming the other way yell at "Destiny". I looked to see what they were yelling about and could see the line they had used to be towed off hanging off the side of the boat. Hopefully that line doesn't drop any further or he'll have a new problem.

Tow line hanging off the port side.

I was surprised that he did not "fly by" us a second time as he followed us on our approach to the L B Knox bridge.

As we approached the bridge, we saw another boat. This one aground for sure.

Clark called the bridge to request an opening, and when we arrived at the bridge, we found a kayaker hovering in front of the opening. "Is he waiting for an opening?"

The clearance board showed about 9' of clearance. We certainly could not go under that. Fortunately, the bridge opens upon request. The bridge tender asked if we would mind waiting for the two boats behind us to catch up, so she could open it one time for all of us.

The two boats behind us were "Destiny" and Destiny's twin (in make / model boat) "Ballyhoo". They followed us through the bridge. 

Up ahead Clark saw something in the water to one side. "Are those stumps?" he asked me. "No. They are kayaks and SUPs! A whole flotilla of them!" We slowed way down so we wouldn't swamp anyone.

Eventually their trek took them behind islands by the side of the ICW - no wakes back there.

Shortly after we passed them, we passed a small boat with men standing up fishing. We kept our wake low for them as well. 

Later, looking ahead on the ICW, I could see bridge after bridge after bridge. Hmmm! We must be coming into Daytona Beach! Most of the bridges are high with the one exception - the Main Street bridge. Clark was unsure as to whether we could clear this bridge without folding down the mast. Since the current was against us, he decided we could sneak up to the bridge to make the decision without worrying the current would take us into the bridge if we did not want to go.

Here come the Daytona Beach bridges

Coming up on a bridge we saw a Tiki Hut boat. It looked like it would be an issue but as we approached the captain, a woman, moved over to the side.  I noticed she was busy talking to a couple she had on board with her.  Customers!

Clark said we would have to check the clearance as we approached the Main Street bridge. I declined as I cannot see well over the top of the boat even standing on the mini dock box we have up there. I took the helm and he had to make the decision on whether it was a go or no-go to proceed through the bridge. 

The board at the bridge showed about 18'. Adding 4' to that for the center gave us 22'. We need about 21.5'. We can do this!

After we exited the other side, Clark said, "That was close, but we made it. I think we had about 4 inches to spare." We continued on our way. A while later we heard "Destiny" call the Main Street bridge to request an opening. I was shaking my head. When we went through the LB Knox bridge, he told the tender there he required 17' of clearance. Why would he need an opening for a bridge with 22' of clearance?  Comparing our height with his height, I had trouble believing he needed even 17'. 

 A Decorated Daytona Beach bridge

We had been watching the clouds in the sky and the weather reports all day long, but as we passed through Daytona Beach, it became clear that we would have some rain to deal with at some point.

The cloud formations were interesting and foreboding.

A quick look at the radar was not reassuring.

I got "snap happy" with the camera taking cloud pictures today.

After Daytona Beach, we passed the Ponce de Leon inlet and could see the lighthouse from the ICW.

We came upon another Tiki boat - this one was a bit "shaggier" than most.

The ICW was not kind to us today as regards to speed. Clark struggled to understand why no matter where we were on the waterway, the current was against us. At one point he noted we were moving a bit faster and said, "8 Knots! We're flying!" That's how bad it was today! 

Besides fighting current for the duration of our trip, we encountered some obstacles along the way.

Red #18 out of position.

Red #18A where it belonged.

The sailboat below was anchored practically on top of a sign that said "Danger Shoal".

Immediately after that, we came upon a confusing dredge site. Clark said we would have to go on the wrong side of the red/green marker to get around the pipes.

String of orange balls ahead

Red/green marker
sting of balls
opening to bridge
in that order

Submerged Pipeline

The dredging was happening by the Harris Saxon bridge.

Harris Saxon Bridge

Besides worrying about dredge equipment and pipes, Clark was concerned with the depth of the water we traversed. We have a 4' draft. At one point he said he only had 1 foot of water under us. 

Coming towards us was a tug boat - "Capt CJ". Clark haled him on the radio and told him to beware of the "skinny" water. He thanked us and carried on. Later we heard him hale the dredge saying he could not get through he was already showing no water under him. The person at the dredge said they would move pipes so he could get through. Then later I heard them talking about moving a sign out of the way as well. 

"Capt CJ"

Just after the bridge, we saw three young men (teens) in a boat that had no freeboard in the stern. Their feet were getting wet standing there.

They were having fun fishing supposedly, but in reality, they were amusing themselves by throwing things to the pelican on the bridge. Whether that was food or rocks, I could not tell.

We planned to anchor at Titusville tonight. As we made our way there, we could hear announcements about a rocket launch this afternoon. Clark said we would have the perfect view based on the time it was supposed to go off. Barely visible in the distance was the space center. 

With the cloud cover and threatened lightning storms, it seemed odd that the launch would take place. Ultimately, we heard that the launch was scrubbed due to "Cumulus Clouds". 

As it started to rain, with lightning in the  distance, I wondered how the boys on the boat at the bridge would make out in a storm.

Later, as we made our turn to travel the Haulover Canal, I did not recognize it. Partially, I was not paying attention, but mostly it looked so different in the "gloom" of the clouds. Initially I saw none of the usual activity - boaters, fishermen, manatees, ...  It seemed so desolate.

Here we encountered yet another questionable bridge. Could we make it? 

The tide board showed we should have 25' of clearance in the center. Easy-peasy! We made that with at least a foot to spare.

Continuing on, even though it was now raining, we did start to see people along the canal ignoring the weather. Men were fishing. A young girl was fishing in a bikini (meanwhile I had on a sweatshirt).

Fishing in the rain

Sitting under umbrellas

Herons not affected by the rain

Folks renting kayaks - if they find any takers today

I kept taking my camera to get yet another picture of clouds.

As evening approached, the sun tried very hard to make one more appearance. It was a losing battle.

But, now, we had other problems. The really ominous weather finally caught up with us. Clark turned on the radar and I ran down and turned on the running lights. 

We got rain, and we got fog!

Railroad bridge up ahead

The sky took on a pink coloration.

Clark had chosen an anchorage by a bridge in Titusville. Approaching the bridge, we saw a number of sailboats at anchor. Clark wanted to anchor on the opposite side of the bridge.

Sailboats at anchor in Titusville

When we got to the Clark's selected anchorage, although we still had heavy cloud cover, the fog had lifted and it was not raining. 

Clark scouted the area for a good place to drop anchor, and he scouted, and he scouted. We arrived at the anchorage in twilight around 5:45. The first place he considered was too close to a sailboat. The next place he considered got too shallow.  Given it was taking time, I ran in to get my camera to take a couple of cool pictures while he figured it out.

After that, it became too dark to get any pictures. 

Finally he chose a spot, and we dropped anchor. However, as I did my anchor duty, it started to rain. I was glad I had put on my raincoat "just in case I needed it". I did! By the time we dropped anchor I was using a flashlight to see the line and I was dripping wet from the rain.  

After that it was time to go in and make dinner!