Log 123; Day 338; April 24, 2009; St. Augustine Marine

This is the ICW just north of Daytona...with some early morning fog

The skies cleared, and it was a beautiful day, on this busy waterway

I'm not sure if this pictue does it justice, but that pole up there is the green channel marker on the right side of the waterway. Right next to the marker the land is showing. Not a place to make a mistake and get outside the channel

This is a shot looking out of our boat (sitting in our slip) at the construction on the Bridge of Lions

Looking north at St. Augustine Marina

Looking east down the dock at St. Augustine Marina

Inside Harry's Bar...getting ready for dinner

We ate outside in a very nice courtyard at Harry's

Deb and Mary...could you find 2 prettier ladies?

Log 123
Day 338
Friday, April 24, 2009

7:00 AM EDT
Location: St. Augustine Municipal Marina
Weather: 66 clear, and calm winds. Forecasted to be mid 80’s and sunny.

If it is possible for it to be a nicer morning, than we had in Daytona 2 days ago...this is it. Crystal clear skies, calm winds, and perfect temperatures.

We had a great day yesterday. We left the dock at Daytona at 8 am. It was a little foggy...then the fog got a little thicker, but never enough to use my radar. We had taken all the front isinglass off, because it was so sunny and nice in the marina, but once we got out in the ICW, and the fog set in, it was a little cool, but we left it off, and waited for the sun to do it’s work...and it did. By 11 it was nice...and by the time we arrived at 2:30 it was hot.

The ICW between Daytona and St. Augustine is very straightforward, and easy to navigate. There is a fair amount of no wake and idle zones, but also a fair amount of places where you can run on top of the water if you want to. We were following Good News, and we both went slow, the entire 53 miles. Like most of the ICW in this area, the channel is narrow, so when there is a lot of traffic, or you are being overtaken by a large fast boat, it can be difficult. It’s always amazing to me how some captains have no concept of how damaging their wake can be.

When we got to St. Augustine, it looked like a construction area...which it was. They were working on the bridge right next to our marina. Originally, we pulled into our slip, but the noise from the bridge construction was so much, we turned the boat around to give us a little buffer as we sit on the back deck. It also gave us something better to look at; rather than a barge with a large crane on it. Once tied up, we washed down the boat, and then took a walk into town to check things out. We ended up finding a nice spot to have a beer...and the bartender (Kevin) convinced us it would be a great spot to have dinner. So...at about 6 Andy, Mary, Deb, and I walked back into town for a great dinner at Harry’s Oyster Bar.

Today...Deb and Mary have plans to walk into St. Augustine (by the way...this is an awesome town. Very clean...lots to do...very historic). They have told me that they will call with a location where Andy and I can join them for lunch. We’ll see. Tonight, we will be joined by Terry and Rhonda Brown. Terry is an industry (Logistics) friend that I have known for years. About a year ago I promised Terry I would call him when we came through this area...and I’m keeping that promise. We plan to have dinner on the boat, and we are looking forward to seeing them both again.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 122; Day 336; April, 22, 2009; Daytona, FL

This is a mural in downtown Cocoa, FL. I think Deb adds nicely to the picture

Great lunch spot

A throw back general store

The main street of Cocoa, FL

Heading up the ICW we went under the NASA bridge...west of here is Titusville...east of here is the NASA Space Center

Looking east from the ICW you can see the NASA building

Here is a swing bridge they had to open for us

Lots of signs like this in this area...minimum wake due to Manatee...we saw about 5 Manatee on our trip today. None close enough to get a picture of

A shot from the helm area...this is on the ICW about 20 miles south of Daytona

Our friends Andy and Mary met us at the dock at Halifax

Log 122
Day 336
Wednesday, April 22, 2009

7:30 AM EDT
Location: Halifax Marina, Daytona Beach, FL.
Weather: 64 and not a cloud in the sky, with calm winds...forecasted to be 81 & sunny today

What a gorgeous morning in Daytona Beach. It’s crystal clear out, no humidity, no wind. Gorgeous. We slept with the windows open last night, and it was great sleeping.

Monday...we had a good day at Cocoa. We left the boat at 10:30, and took a tour of the town, looking for a lunch spot. It’s a cool little town, with lots of shops and restaurants on the main street. Deb took about 60 pictures of everything...I’ve included a couple. We had lunch at a place called Murdock’s. Maybe I was hungry, but it had the best menu I have seen in a while...everything looked good. We settled on a smoked BBQ sandwich, and a chicken wrap (you can figure out who ate what) and both were great. After lunch we again went walking, and found a cool little general store, and the best hardware store I have ever seen in my life. I didn’t need much, but I was just amazed at the stuff they had. At that point Deb and I split up...I went back to the boat...she toured the town for another 2 hours. Late in the afternoon, the skies were very dark, as the cold front came through, and it sprinkled, but never really rained. We enjoyed a nice dinner on the boat, and caught up on some pre-recorded programs.

Tuesday...up early, and heading north to Daytona. We left the slip about 7:30, and pulled over to pump out, but we could never get the pump out to work properly (not enough suction), so we finally left the harbor at about 8. The morning was cooler, and windier than forecast, and it took a while to warm up. About 20 miles north of Cocoa is Titusville, and just across the water from there is the home of NASA. You can see the picture of the space center...but it’s far off, so hard to tell what it really is. Further north the waterway gets a lot narrower...and you have to go slow most of the time. They call it “minimum wake” zones. You don’t have to idle...but you can’t go very fast either. For us that means about 6 to 7 mph, so it’s slow going. The ICW in this area is fairly easy to navigate...but very narrow in many places, and very shallow just off the channel. We arrived at Halifax Harbor in Daytona about 3:15, and after a pump out, and check in, we were at our slip by 4. We were greeted by Andy and Mary Sarver, from Good News. They are good friends we traveled with down the Tombigbee and the northern parts of Florida. We have not seen them since mid December, and it was wonderful to catch up. After washing down the boat, and cleaning up (meaning cleaning us up) we went over to Good News for dinner at 5:30. We laughed, and told stories, had a great dinner, and a great time, and left at 9:30...the latest I’ve been up in some time.

Today...no plans yet. They have a West Marine store right on site, so I know I will be going there this morning. I knew this was here, so I have been making a list for a while, knowing I could catch up on marine supplies while we were here. Maybe a walk into downtown Daytona will also be in store. I predict a great day.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 121; Day 334; April 20, 2009; Cocoa Villiage Marina; Cocoa, FL.

This is how pretty and calm it was as we left our slip in Fort Pierce

The ICW is wide here...but the channel is still narrow

At many places along our route there were these islands with lots of boats on them

We were treated to a gret dolphin show along the way

These guys seemed to be having a blast

This sail boat, and I, had a little disagreement on where each of should be. He knew he cut me off...but said he was racing. I guess it must be ok then?

A shot from the ICW to our marina...Coca Village Marina

You can see HQ in the center of the picture here. This is not a large place...but very nice.

Log 121
Day 334
Monday, April 20, 2009

7:30 AM EDT
Location: Cocoa Village Marina; Cocoa, FL.
Weather: 70 and partly cloudy, with calm winds...forecasted to be 81, with 50% chance of rain this afternoon

It’s a nice morning here in Cocoa, FL. A light wind, and 70, with the sun just coming over the marina. Looking to the west the sky has less clouds, but there is a cold front coming through this evening, and storms are predicted ahead of the front.

We had planned to spend another day in Fort Pierce, but when I woke up Sunday, and listened to the weather (the first thing I do every day is listen to a complete weather update from NOAA weather) I found out that Sunday would be a much better cruising day than Monday...when the stronger winds, and storms would come through. So we decided to head out, and go 68 miles from Fort Pierce to Cocoa. Also...because we were parked right inside the fuel dock, we could fuel in our slip, so we took on 190 gallons @ $2.31 a gallon (with a 10 cent Boat US discount) before we took off.

We left Fort Pierce a little after 8 AM, and arrived in Cocoa just before 3 PM. When we left the wind was almost calm, and as you can see from the pictures the waterway was flat...and beautiful. There were fisherman everywhere...many in the channel, but they really were not in the way. The navigation along the route was not an issue. In many places the ICW was very narrow...but not difficult to follow. We saw a few big boats, but the land of Mega Yachts is behind us now. Most of the boats we saw (and being a Sunday, there were lots of them) were small runabouts with center counsole. The further north we traveled, the windier it got, and by the time we reached the Cocoa area there were small white caps on the ICW. But the good news was the wind was out of the SE, so it did not affect us...until we tried to pull into our slip. Just as we were backing in, a strong gust of wind came through. It made it a little interesting for docking...but no damage...so no issue. Once at the slip, I rinsed off the boat, and got things set up, while Deb did a couple of loads of laundry. I also got a chance to watch the NASCAR race I had recorded on Saturday night in Phoenix. For dinner we had BLT’s, and fresh corn from the farmers market in Fort Pierce. And we caught up on 24 (the TV program).

Today...we have some minor boat chores to do, and then head into town to explore. Andy and Mary on Good News were just here, and they said they liked the town, so we plan to check it out. Speaking of Andy and Mary...we plan to head out first thing tomorrow, and catch them in Daytona. Although we have stayed in touch, we have not seen them since we were in Fort Meyers in early December. Deb and I both look forward to seeing them again. We follow their logs each day, so we know about their adventures...but it will be good to hear them first hand.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob