Nov 20

Vero Beach Anchorage

Boats rafting

Rowing for the dingy dock

As we were leaving the marina there was a manatee just behind the boat as we were making our way out of the slip. They are about the ugliest animal I have ever seen and I cannot believe that in the old days sailors often mistook them for mermaids!

We left the marina at 09:15 as the drawbridge doesn’t open until 09:30. I had to rush a little to make the bridge opening and was doing about 6 knots to try to get there. I was chastised by a local police officer about leaving a wake as I made it through the bridge without a second to spare. The canal is a manatee zone and they are very serious about controlling speed through the canal.

The wind started to kick up to 13 knots and I was hoping to get some motor sailing done but just as we made the turn back onto the ICW the wind dropped to only 5 knots. Later in the day the wind picked back up and we were able to make good time to Vero Beach and were assigned to raft to Vannam a 40 foot island Packet.

No one was home to help us raft to our assigned spot and just as we after making our approach and I had boarded Vannam the wind took us as Kathleen was trying to handle the lines and very soon we were through the eye of the wind at 90 degrees to Vannam. Fortunately some kind soul in a dingy gave us a hand and we were rafted on to Vannam and the mooring ball for the night. After all was said and done the dropped to almost nothing and it would have been so much simpler if it had only happened sooner.

So here we are in the Vero Beach anchorage and we will probably stay here at least a week as we wait for mail and other things to catch up with us.

Nov. 19^th

It was a beautiful morning, sunny, mild, with a slight breeze so we decided to leave New Smyrna and continue our odyssey south.

The first few hours passed and we saw these boats off the side of the marked canal. ( It looks like someone forgot to check their seacocks) We then entered a leg of the trip that is probably the most boring as it is almost 20 miles down the Mosquito Lagoon, with nothing but day markers to denote any progress. We then made the turn to Haulover Canal and things became a little more interesting.

As we exited the canal there were a couple of dolphins playing and they surfaced underneath a seagull who took great offence at this underwater disturbance and the dolphins that were taking his fish.

The Titusville swing bridge was next and there was a big pile up of boats as the bridge was held closed for an ambulance. It was amazing that there were no accidents as there were about 6 sailboats and 5 big power boats all in a small area waiting for the bridge. The rest of the trip to the marina here on the canal was uneventful and we even made it through the Christa McAuliffe draw bridge with out having to wait. We took on 165 gallons of diesel and our fuel and water tanks are full.

Tomorrow we will make the trip to Vero Beach (sometimes called Velcro Beach) that is a nice city with a very convenient bus system ( from 8 to 5 excluding a lunch break you can board a bus that will take you anywhere in the city) and a lot of cruisers stop here to re-provision and prepare for the final push south. We will probably be spending some time there also as we need to wait for some mail to catch up and we also need to do some last minute provisioning

Nov. 16

Fernandina was lovely but it was time to move on in our migration south. We upped anchor and set out for St. Augustine at 0745. The weather seems to be getting warmer as we were in shorts and tees last night. As we entered the St. johns River we spotted a large Navy ship in dry dock there. Below the St John’s river we approached a massive dredge operation. There was a barge being towed with equipment and a fixed dredge with just enough room for us to get by when he lowered his shovel boom.

St Augustine Light

We had a strong following current and were able to make good time as we were able to make St. Augustine by 4:00 PM. We had a little trouble anchoring north of the Bridge of Lions as the wind, current, and bottom conspired to prevent the anchor setting the way we wanted it to. We were anchored just offshore of the old fort and it was a little rolly. There was also a loud rock band playing but we were both so tired that we both went to sleep early.

Nov. 17

Kathleen and I decided to move on rather than stay on the hook at St. Augustine so we pulled the anchor and left through the Bridge of Lions at a 7:20AM opening.

Just outside of Saint Augustine we spotted a large congregation of seagulls and we were happy they chose to roost here and not on our boat ( imagine the cleanup!)

We were pushed along most of the morning by a following current and made it to Matanzas inlet just before high tide. The inlet is famous for shoaling and at a few points the water depth dropped under 8 feet. The channel markers were not where they were on the chart but we honored the markers, rather than the chart and made it through. There is an old Spanish Fort here and on our way back we will have to stop and take the tour.

The ICW passes by a lot of houses and there are a lot of homes with docks. This one home in particular had an unusal boat docked out back.

The rest of the day was uneventful until we were stopped by the local law enforcement. It appeared that they were checking all out of state boats to ensure that the heads were not discharging overboard. The sheriff that boarded us was very pleasant and informed us that Florida law required the Y valve to each head to be tie wrapped in the appropriate position.

A stork doing its thing along the ICW. I wonder if the local law checked his sanitary arrangements?

Even with the stop we made New Smyrna ( just off the Ponce Inlet) and are anchored above Sheephead Cut for the night. Tomorrow we hope to be at Merrit island at Harbourtown Marina off the Canaveral Barge Canal. Last year we were able to witness a space launch from here and it was absolutely spectacular.

New Smyrna Anchorage

Nov 13,14








Factory Creek oyster beds seen at low tide

Here you can see the tidal range here in Fatory Creek

We moved to an anchorage in Factory Creek today as it looks like it will be a few days before we get a weather window for Fernandina. It has been a blustery few days as the weather has turned pretty nasty, it is cold, rainy and we have winds of above twenty knots. A good time to hunker down and wait. Saturday the 14^th the weather has moderated and if tomorrow looks good we will be leaving. I dingied into the marina to go to Publix one last time and tonight we will secure the motor and dingy and prepare to leave at 0dark thirty tomorrow as NOAA says the weather should be perfect.

Nov 15

We upped anchor at 0640 and got a bridge opening through Lady Island bridge. There is a no wake zone south of the bridge for the first mile or so and we had to throttle back to 3 knots. As we entered Port Royal sound we passed Parris Island ( a Marine Corps Training Center. The sun was out, the sky was clear and the wind was out of the Northeast at 3 to 5 knots. The seas were smooth with only about a 2 foot swell running about 10 seconds apart. All in all it was almost like being on the ICW. We even had snags to dodge. .

We spotted several logs floating in our path as ran along the 3 mile limit ( they must have been uprooted by the high winds on the 13^{th )}.

Last year as we went outside on the reverse course at night we had to dodge a lot of very large ship traffic. This year during the day I understand why. Savannah Ga. must be a large ship terminal as there were around 6 large tanker, container, and cargo ships clustered around the outside of the channel entrance


Last year as we went outside on the reverse course at night we had to dodge a lot of very large ship traffic. This year during the day I understand why. Savannah Ga. must be a large ship terminal as there were around 6 large tanker, container, and cargo ships clustered around the outside of the channel entrance. Needless to say we did a lot of dodging to get through the area.

The sea remained calm and the weather warm and comfortable. Later in the the afternoon we spotted several pods of dolphins, one group of which decided our wake was a playground. The water was clear and we could see them swimming up and then jumping through our wake.

As dusk was approaching we ran into a vast area of sea grass. Even though we were more than 3 miles off shore and in 60 feet of water it looked like we were going through a swamp with the tips of the grass above the water. The grass extended from horizon to horizon and I was worried that the fresh water intake would get fouled. We arrived at the channel to Fernandina at about 2300 and started in. I noticed a green light in front of us that at first I thought was a channel marker until I realized that the light was about 50 feet up in the air and then I noticed it was moving relative to the other lights. I slowed down and as I got in behind the light it turned white. I realized it was a sail boat with his mast top tri color on! As I fell in behind suddenly the white light went our and there was a tense few minutes as he turned on his deck navigation lights. We finally put the anchor down at 0030 in the area between markers red 8 and red 10 and settled for the night.

Pictures from Fernandina anchorage

Nov 9-12

Here we sit at the dock at Lady Island Marina. As soon as I got all the repairs made and the boat squared away the weather as turned really dirty. Right now the wind is howling at 20 to 25 knots, it is overcast and rainy and the seas on were we need to go have gale force warnings. Judging by NOAA it looks like Saturday at the earliest to move on to Fernandina. The good news is that there is a hardware store, Publix and other things within walking distance. Yesterday I walked to Publix and picked up some groceries.

The people here are really cooperative and we will be sorry to leave. It will definitely be a stop on the way back. We will leave the dock today to anchor in Factory Creek and wait for the weather to cooperate.

Lady Island Marina Office.

The anchorage just off the marina