Thursday, November 24, 2016
We have chosen to depart Stuart on Thanksgiving Day. We start east for our last few miles on the Okeechobee Waterway, cruising down the St. Lucie River.
This marker is the intersection of the Okeechobee Waterway and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (AICW). From here we turn north.
Lots of open water here, but we will be in various rivers, rather than bays, on this side of the coast. Fort Pierce is visible in the distance.
We anchor for the night at "Red Gazebo" in Vero Beach. Not sure how some of the anchorages get their names, but this one is obvious. The red-roofed gazebo is in a lovely park. If we were staying longer, we could go ashore in the dinghy.
We are sharing this anchorage with too many other boats. We will be fine unless someone's anchor drags. But the wind is calm, so we should have a peaceful night.
Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day. We have much to be thankful for as we live our dream!
Friday, November 25, 2016
We depart early for a 34 mile run to Melbourne. We are still in the Indian River, which we have cruised since intersecting the AICW. We pass long open areas interspersed with land cuts.
We are starting to see evidence of damage caused by Hurricane Matthew, which raked the east coast less than two months ago.
Boka had a great day today with lots of porpoise swimming with our boat. At one time, I counted 5 swimming side by side. Unfortunately, she barked continuously as long as she could see them. They would roll sideways and look up at her through the clear water.
We are settled in our evening's anchorage, Melbourne Bridge North, to enjoy a nice sunset. This spot is larger than the last and we are sharing it with only two other boats.
Saturday, November 26, 2016
We awake to a gorgeous sunrise. Today we will travel 40 miles to Titusville, where we will wait for strong winds to subside and catch up on boat chores. This is our closest approach to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. Rather than plan a tour now, we hope to drive here in a couple of weeks to watch a rocket launch.
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
We're off again. We have a 32 mile run to New Smyrna Beach. The Haulover Canal, shown here, was once a narrow land strip where early settlers drug or rolled their boats between the Indian River and Mosquito Lagoon. As technology improved, a canal was eventually dredged.
These homes are more typical along our route so far except for the occasional cities with beachfront development.
Gorgeous, tropical-looking vegetation separates the cities along the waterway.
New Smyrna Beach lies on both sides of Mosquito Lagoon. High-rise condos are visible beachfront on the barrier island.
We stop for the night at the municipal marina on the mainland. Nearby the historic "old town" buildings house shops and restaurants.
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
We get an early start to catch the second opening of the day of the nearby bascule bridge. Today we will cruise along the Halifax River.
We are seeing lots of boats moving south with home ports in the northeastern US and Canada. Have we made the right decision to go further north? Fellow Selene owners we met in Stuart told us we would be "lonely in Jacksonville". Hmmm .....
Another city, more high-rise condos on the beach. We pass Daytona Beach and continue north to the small beachfront town of Marineland. We will spend the night at the small city marina.
A short walk from the marina and we are on the Atlantic Ocean beach. This will likely be Boka's last chance this year to play in the water as it is quite chilly already.
The beach is wide and gently sloping at low tide.
The sand has a layer of coarsely broken shells on top and has a lovely pink cast.
This town is known for the first dolphin viewing facility in the US. The original tourist attraction opened in 1938. Another couple we met at the marina had an interesting story. The man (looked to be in his late 6o's or early 70's) had fond memories of a childhood boat trip with his family in 1940 when they traveled down the entire east coast to Florida. One of their stops was Marineland and he is now retracing his trip with his wife.
A peaceful end to the day. Tomorrow a cold front is due and we will face wind and rain as we cruise the 20 miles to St. Augustine.
We have arrived at the Municipal Marina in St. Augustine for a 2-night stay. What a pleasant surprise to discover this is the oldest city in Florida, founded in 1565.
We enjoy lunch at the Jacksonville Landing, an entertainment district on the river.
We shut off the engine and Robert determines we have most likely gotten some debris trapped in the water intake (which cools the engine). Several attempts to unclog the intake are futile. So we ease into the marina on one engine. Robert does a masterful job of negotiating a tight turn into a narrow entrance and backing into our slip. We can finally enjoy a nice sunset!
Sunrise over our slip begins an exceptional opportunity to stay at a very historic facility, the Epping Forest Yacht Club. First, we are able to arrange a diver to check the boat and, sure enough, we have a gallon Zip-loc bag jammed in the water intake. We appear to have no engine damage, so all is well.
When we first arrived, several people told us to make sure we saw the "wheel house". So we finally found it and what a unique machine it is!
