St. Augustine to Daytona

Tuesday morning 2 Dec, we left the dock at around 0800. The goal was to get to Daytona by late afternoon.

Unfortunately leaving at this time meant that we would be fighting a current for at least 4 hours. Que sera - it was an uneventful trip driving the condo south.

Prior to leaving St Augustine, I introduced myself to Justin and Trish, an Irish couple on an aluminum sailboat named Selkie. We first saw Selkie when we were sailing west down Buzzards Bay in September. I again saw Selkie when she was anchored in our Back Creek in mid-October. An here they are in St. Augustine! Selkie left the dock about an hour before us, but we somehow caught and passed them about 5 hours later. Like almost everybody we are meeting, they too are heading to southern Fla, then eventually over to the Bahamas.

We anchored to the south east of the Daytona Memorial Bridge. We read in Active Captain this was a nice deep(er) anchoring area and it proved true. I decided not to Bahamian moor as the current didn’t seem that strong, and for the most case, the current was headed to the north, with just a short time heading the opposite way. 

We dinked ashore to the western side to the municipal marina. This is where we began our boat search back in December 2012. We looked at a 40’ Manta here as well as a 42’ Grand Banks trawler motor yacht. Back then, I was applying for Navy positions in Naples Italy and, if that occurred, our plan was to buy a Grand Banks 42 to live on it in Naples.

Daytona to Titusville:

We waited until 0900 Wednesday morning to get underway, so we could ride the ebb current to Ponce de Leon Inlet (PdL), get there at low tide and the ride the flood current to Titusville. In theory it worked to PdL inlet, however the current was pushing us so fast that we got to the inlet ahead of low tide, so we had to fight the current for about two hours after PdL inlet. 

This part of the ICW seems to be a berthing nursery for dolphins.  We saw so many mothers with babies along side.  So fun to see. I am guessing that since it is so protected, lots of current to stir up the fish, (lots of guys in their boats trying to catch fish) this is a good place to raise a young dolphin.

Haulover Canal

After PdL inlet, the ICW opens up and pretty much runs straight until Haulover Canal. Winds were out of the NE so we decided to motorsail a bit. We unfurled the jib, gained .2 kts so throttled back so as not to run up on the boat I was following since PdL inlet. Haulover Canal is where one leaves the Mosquito Lagoon and enters the Indian River Lagoon.We arrived at Titusville Municapal Marina at 1545. Fueled up and grabbed a mooring ball. The facilities were not as nice as St Augustine's facilities, but the wifi in the mooring field was very strong and TV signals came in clear. We also had fairly good view of the Delta Heavy launch pad. More on that next!

We were now back in Joelle's old stomping grounds.