Up The Coast Of Florida

Tuesday, April 19 - Our departure from Ft. Pierce was uneventful.  Fortunately, the wind finally died down enough for us to leave.  It felt great to be on the move again!  It was an easy day of cruising, just 45 miles to Melbourne Beach.  There were only 2 other sailboats at this anchorage.  It was very quiet.

                                              Sunset At Melbourne Beach


Wednesday, April 20 -  We left the anchorage by 8:00 a.m. and again had another easy day of cruising (43 miles) to Titusville Marina.  A major milestone occurred while cruising to Titusville.  We reached the 3,000 mile (half way) mark on our Loop!  Below is a picture of our chart plotter showing the 3,000 miles (Gnd Trip 4) that we have traveled.  Note also the depth of 9.4 feet.  That's normal for Florida and the ICW. 

                              3,000 Miles On The Loop - Only 3,000 More Miles To Go!

The Titusville Marina was a nice marina with clean bathrooms.  When we checked in we mentioned that their marina is managed by the same management company (SG Marina) that manages our home marina (Reefpoint Marina in Racine, WI).  We were very surprised when we were told that our dock fee was being comped!  A free night in a marina doesn't happen often.  Titusville is where the Kennedy Space Center is located.  We visited the space center the week before by car.

Titusville Has A Lot Of History

                           View Of NASA's Vertical Assembly Building From The Shore

 

While we were at the Titusville Marina, we were pleased to learn that fellow Loopers Bill and Bobbi Haag on Mist arrived shortly after we docked.  Bill and Bobbi are from Reefpoint Marina and started the Loop shortly before we did last September.  We met up with them and enjoyed talking about our experiences over dinner at Cracker Jack's Restaurant.

Thursday, April 21 - We left Titusville by 7:40 a.m. on a rising tide.  Our goal for the day was to travel 50 miles to Daytona Beach.  As we travel north, there are areas of "skinny" water where there is a lot of shoaling and if care is not taken, it is easy to go aground.  We went aground once and would like to avoid going aground again.  With our charts, both electronic and paper, and other various sources of information, we managed to navigate through a couple of "trouble" spots.  

Interesting Tow Boat We Saw Along The Way - It Was Painted Gray So It Looked Like A Military Boat

We planned to anchor out overnight and ended up staying just north of the Seabreeze Boulevard Bridge.  When we pulled in there were only 2 other boats anchored.  By the time it was dark, another 2 boats arrived and set anchor.  Our anchorage was not quiet because we were in Daytona proper and close to a highway bridge.  But we did have a beautiful sunset and there was a full moon that evening.  There was also a fireworks celebration for some event so we sat on LeeLoo and watched the fireworks!  Beautiful!
 
Friday, April 22 - We were underway by 7:20 a.m. - again on a rising tide.  The tide is important to note because it is better to travel on a rising tide, especially when going through skinny (shallow) water.  We traveled 54 miles to St. Augustine.  We had many trouble spots to navigate through, although we did so successfully by paying attention to the warnings and by going slow!  Of course, going slow also means good fuel economy.

                                        One Of The Many Bridges On The ICW    

We arrived at the St. Augustine Inlet (to the Atlantic Ocean).  We had to go very close to the inlet, then turn to the left towards Comanche Cove Marina where we had a reservation.  The current as we got close to the inlet was very strong and we both had to really pay attention.  Fortunately, boat traffic was light so that wasn't an issue.  Once we made the turn towards the marina, we still had to go through some very strong currents to get into the marina.  Once we were past the marina breakwater, everything was fine.  Once again, Captain Carey demonstrated his excellent boat handling skills!  

                               View of the St. Augustine Inlet To The Atlantic Ocean

Comanche Cove Marina is a nice marina.  Good facilities and a restaurant on site.  There are a lot of boats here and the boaters here are very active.  Boats are constantly pulling out or returning.  We saw 3 pontoon boats come return late afternoon today carrying at least 50 college students who had been out partying on the beach somewhere.  Well - it is Saturday!    

We took Uber to historic downtown St. Augustine this morning.  The last time we were here was probably 25 years ago when our boys were young.  We enjoyed seeing the sights and even visited the fort.  It was free today.  The weather was very pleasant - low 80's.

                                      Castillo de San Marcos Fort In St. Augustine

We are spending 2 nights here and will leave tomorrow (Sunday) to continue our cruise north.  We have more trouble spots to get through so it will be a 55 mile day of really paying attention and using our navigation and boating skills.  Next stop - Fernadina Beach!