Melbourne to Daytona Beach to St Augustine

Yesterday was a long day.  We did 76 miles.  An early start, on the water by 7:00 am!!

A first on this trip, we had just come out of the Haulover Canal ,which separates the Indian River from Mosquito Lagoon when we saw a Tow Boat US trying to free a 50’ motorboat from his grounding off the channel.  When he saw me he asked if I could get up on the plane and create a big wave.  I did but it did not work.  Still, that is the first time I have been yelled at to make a wave, not stop making a wave!

This particular cut has a lot of Manatees, dolphins and waterfowl and is a very popular place on the weekend.

We did see a lot of osprey nests on the posts, but the Admiral decided wisely, not to ask the captain to get closer for a picture.

Scenery was varied, and we saw a lot of boats aground that we had seen on our way down still there.  I guess the owners just want to get out from under them and let the Insurance company have the hassle.  This picture shows that the Coast Guard has checked out the boat and noted it.

Lots of housing developments along the water, including ones with manufactured homes.  Trailer parks as well.  A lot of people spend their winter in Florida!

We did not go out at the Ponce de Leon outlet but did get a picture of the Lighthouse.  Looks quite historic, inkeeping with its location. 

We spent the evening in Daytona Beach at the Halifax Harbor marina. We had stayed there on the way down.  It is a large municipal marina, very well kept and it appears a lot of people winter here.  Spoke to one man who said he started here but it was too cold so he moved to Melbourne, Just 70 miles south.  The marina is so large that the dockhands get around in Boston Whalers.  They have all of the materials to check you in as it would be a very long walk to the Office.

We were woken up by Thunder and Lightning around 5:30 and when we got up at 7:00 the sky was dark and unsettled.  As we did not have a great distance to travel today, we postponed our departure until 8:30.  A good thing too as a major shower went through while we were waiting.

Weather has changed today, from hot and muggy yesterday to cool, clear and very windy.  It is supposed to go down to 12 tonght. I actually put on my fuzzy. Gusts were forecasted to be 50 mph.  There was more traffic today, all heading north as the annual migration begins.

We passed a very nice residential area, Fox Cut just around Flagler Beach.  One of the nicest areas we have seen on our trip. Great homes and a nice walking  and cycling path between the homes and the ICW.  See the picture of the house.  Sandy thinks it is some kind of club.  I think it is one of the .05% ,

 

Sand bars next to Channel

We did pass an area where there is obviously a lot of silting.  The sides appear to be sand dunes and the dredge seems to pipe the dredged material 2 to 3 miles.  They even appear to have an interim pumping barge halfway to the discharge. 

The wind gusts and the shallow areas made navigation a real challenge today,

We finally saw one of the boats that services the crab pots.  We wondered why this boat ahead kept going in circles and then discovered that it is how he captures his pots.  He comes up to one, grabs the line and then swings around to check it before resetting.  In this stretch, the pots were directly in line at the edge of the channel and had very visible floats. Unfortunately they are not all like this, so you have to keep a sharp lookout.

That’s it for now.  Off to Hurricane Patti’s for dinner.  See you later.

Admiral Sandy and Captain Bill