Our First Post

O God, thy Sea is so great and my boat so small

 

 

March 10, 2023, Palm Coast Marina Palm Cost Florida:

                                                                                                     

 

We arrived here in Palm Coast Florida to catch up with fellow liveaboards, longtime AYC members and very good friends Peter and Lisa Hatch. You can’t help but smile on your face as soon as you see the two of them. They are just wonderful, funny, down-to-earth good people to spend time with. We arrived yesterday afternoon at the Marina and they are aboard Blue Print directly across the ICW from our marina. They took their dingy over for Docktails last night and we are joining them later today and having dinner aboard Blue Print tonight. So, let’s review how we got here. It was a good week, great weather, favorable winds with three surprise guests joining us on one leg of The Loop, details to follow.

 

 

Thursday March 2, 2023, Travel Day # 100 Port Salerno / Stuart to Vero Beach City Marina, Vero Beach FL. Total Distance 37 Miles, Total Time 4.5 Hours,

 

We were able to wrap up all our projects on schedule, we completed our 1,000-hour service on the engines and are now all set to go. We had the generator completely serviced and the refrigerator is working. We had hoped we were able to get underway on Thursday after spending 29 days at Pirates Cove in Port Salerno and we did.  Our last project was to hire a scuba diver to clean the bottom of the boat and scrap all the barnacles that had grown on the bottom while we sat idle at the marina for a month. The diver said the hull was full of barnacles, and having a smooth bottom reduces drag and improves fuel efficiency. This is the second time we hired a diver to clean the bottom, the last time was after spending a month in Sandestin.

We were excited to get back on The Loop and begin our voyage north. We departed Manatee Pocket in Port Salerno around 8:30 AM, (all the dock hands came out to wish us well, they said we were the most “fun transients” that they had all season, which was cool). I think they just wanted to see if I could get the boat out of the slip😊. Leaving Manatee Pocket we headed south on the Saint Lucie River, and two miles later we took a left and headed north on the Intra Coastal Waterway (ICW), at Mile 999 and we will take this waterway north to Mile 0 which is in Norfolk Virginia.

 

This is as we made our way onto the ICW at mile 999.

 It was a pleasant day to travel, and we ran the boat at 1500 RPM which allowed us to cruise at 9 MPH. We traveled on the Indian River and will for the next few days, passing by Jensen Beach and Hutchinson Island. These were places we had driven to during our month stay in Stuart. Once again we saw so much more on the boat by being on the ICW, looking at all the amazing houses on the water. You drive the roads and all you see are fences and maybe the tops of the houses. The Indian River is about a mile wide, and the channel is very well marked so navigation for the most part was simple and straight forward.

We traveled past Fort Pierce, which has a very new marina that we originally had booked for the month, and very glad The Georges talked us into Stuart. Many Loopers stay at the new Marina in Fort Pierce, but Stuart had so much more to offer. We then cruised by St Lucie on our way into Vero Beach.

We had reservations at the Vero Beach Municipal Marina which was a fine location, and we were in our slip and settled in by 2 PM.  We were invited to dinner at Chris and Sarah Gurry’s house and Bob and Val Marier were joining us as well on Thursday night. The Gurry’s picked us up around 5 and took us to their neighborhood beach which was beautiful then back to their house for dinner. Sarah’s high school friend from New Hampshire Leslie was staying with them so we had a most enjoyable evening. Chris drew the short straw and had to drive us back to the boat (5 miles) and so we made it a relatively early night.

The next day Meredith and I took a bus to Vero Beach and spent the day walking around. The beach is beautiful, but the winds were unreal, blowing 25 knots so, it just not a beach day, for us anyway. You sure can “shop till you drop”, in Vero Beach  at the stores which are plentiful and expensive. We had lunch in a hotel pool deck overlooking the beach, that was the highlight of the day, shocking to most I know. We took the bus back to the marina and got a free tour of the town as it is a loop bus so 15 minutes to the beach then 45 minutes back to the marina. It was actually a great way to see the town. Back to the boat, had a few projects to finish and dinner aboard and an early night as we had a big day Saturday.

 

Track  

 

Pictures

 Indian River Shoreline 

Fort Pierce Marina 

Fort Pierce

Pretty beaches all along the way 

Saturday March 4, 2023: Travel Day # 101 Vero Beach Florida to Cocoa Beach City Marina, Cocoa Beach FL. Total Distance 55 Miles, Total Time 6 Hours,

 

 I had reached out to Val and Sarah and invited them to join us on the trip from Vero Beach up to Cocoa Beach a few days before we got to Vero, and they immediately accepted the invite. In fact, Val came back and said Bob would love this trip and can he join us, I said sure thing, the more the merrier. Chris agreed to stay on land and drive up to Cocoa Beach and pick the crew up that afternoon, which was very kind of him. So, at 7:45 AM Bob, Val and Sarah boarded Her Idea and after a quick safety update and boat review we were underway at 8 AM heading north for Cocoa Beach.  It was another sunny bright day. We had a decent southerly wind pushing us along the way which was on the stern so very comfortable and light chop on the ICW. Overall, a wonderful day for a cruise.

It was fun having them on the boat and they got the full experience. Unfortunately, we did not have any exciting things like going through a lock or having a draw bridge raise, but it was a fun journey for all. It was a 55-mile day on the Indian River and Melbourne was the biggest town we went by. As is normal Meredith drives most of the day and I just bother here, so I’m sure she was pleased that I had the distraction of our guests. We had lunch underway and arrived at 2 PM. True to his work Chris was there when we arrived and was able to watch us dock. Just what a captain wants when getting into a tight spot, a good friend with a video camera in his hand, recording your every move. We made it without hitting anything, which is always a good thing!

The Gurry’s and Marier’s headed back to Vero, and we got the boat set up and walked three blocks into downtown Cocoa Beach where there was a very large craft fair. The fair took over downtown and was 5 blocks long and 4 blocks wide. We spent an hour walking around the town and found a great pub with tables on the street and we enjoyed an adult beverage and some of the best people watching we have had on The Loop. Sunday was wash the boat and isinglass windows. After lunch we went back up for some more first-class people watching (the tattoo parlors do VERY well in Florida I’m pretty sure), then back to the boat to watch the end of Arnie’s Bay Hill PGA Tournament which was very exciting.  Dinner on the boat and watched a movie before going to bed, as tomorrow was a travel day.

 

 I can’t believe how difficult it is to find good tv shows / movies and we have so many channels, Apple, Amazon, U Tube TV, Peacock, Paramount. It’s crazy how hard it is to find something good let alone great. We have gotten into Fire Country if you are looking for something different!

 

 

Track

 

Pictures (not many I was too busy chatting!)

 Houses along the way 

Chris Recording our landing at Cocoa Beach

Cocoa Beach Street Fair

$5 Margarita's 

 

 

Monday March 6, 2023, Travel Day # 102, Cocoa Beach FL. to New Smyrna Beach Village Marina, New Smyrna Beach FL. Total Distance 55 Miles, Total Time 6 Hours,

 

 

We woke to a foggy morning with visibility maybe 2-miles which was good enough to be able to depart at 8 AM. More importantly the wind was down. It blew hard the two days, so to have light winds and low chop on the water was a good thing. Even better was that by 9 AM the sun burnt off the fog and we had a very pleasant run northbound journey on the Indian River. We were excited that we were going to cruise by NASA, The Kennedy Space Center located in Cape Canaveral. Unfortunately, we were 10 miles to the west of the good stuff and did not get to see very much. The fog was still lingering and so we did not get a great view of all the towers and the launch pads. I will include some pictures, but we were hoping to be closer.  The area to the east is all NASA so it is very rural, and most seems to be  in conservation easements, a very large area maybe 10 miles. Lots of manatees in this section of the Indian river, we could not get any good pictures of them as they hang just below the surface of the water. We went through the Haulover Canal, which was manmade canal cut and dredged to connect The Indian River to the North Indian River.  The canal bisects the NASA peninsular and allows the continuation of the ICW. There were several manatees in the river, so it was slow going.

Once we passed through the canal, we headed north, and it was a pleasant ride into New Smyrna Beach. We cleaned the boat and got settled in for our three nights here. Overall, a pleasant day on the ICW/ Indian River.

 

We had three nights here in New Smyrna Beach and enjoyed our time very much. We chose the Municipal Marina as it is located right downtown which made exploring NSB extremely easy. The first afternoon we walked to Publics to pick up some supplies as the dock hand said it was 1.3 miles away. After a mile and a half walk, I check the map and we still had a mile and a half to go, so it was overall 3.3 miles from the boat and it was 85 degrees at 4PM. I will not make that mistake again! We took an Uber back to the boat, so we decided to pick up several other items that we had not intended to, since we had a ride back to the boat. We grilled lamb chops and vegetables for dinner and had an early night.

The next day we did boat projects in the morning and then explored the town. The Hussey Dealer for Georgia and Florida (SSE) is located here in town, so I put on my Hussey T Shirt, and we walked up to their office. One of my early mentors Phil Hobart (a truly great man) taught me early in my career that you never go into a dealers territory without reaching out to them! So, I followed his lead and Meredith and I walked to their office.  I was so pleasantly surprised that Trace Ward who is the President, was in the office. I have known Tracie’s mother Sonya Eggerton for 45 years as she use to work for our original Florida dealer. Sonya has moved north so we were unable to get together for dinner.  I had reached out to her as soon as I got to town (I knew Phil Hobart would never forgive me if I didn’t) as the three of us go way back.  At any rate 15 years ago when we were looking for a new Hussey Dealer for Florida Tracie and I negotiated an agreement for SSE to represent Hussey. They have been one of our strongest dealers for many years. Tracie lives in the Orlando area (That’s why Sonya moved north to be with family) and so I was not expecting to see Tracie. However, turns out she comes to the main office 3 days a week, so I lucked out that she was there. When we entered the office I asked for Becky Carlisle, who has always been one of our top sales reps (in the entire country not just Florida), who sitting right in the middle of the main room …. Tracie, not in a private office behind some glass wall but right in the middle of the action. I love that about her and her company. So that was a fun surprise. I have the greatest respect for these three woman certainly some of the industry’s best.

 

Tracie, Jack, and Becky

 

 

SSE Office

 

We went back to the boat showered and then went out for an excellent meal downtown. Fun night for sure. The next day we worked on our travel schedule for the next two weeks and began making reservations. We are now scheduled to be in Beaufort SC by the 22nd. Then at noon we walked to the beach which was 2 miles away. It was only 75 today and cloudy so it was a pleasant walk. Wednesday at 1 PM Terran 1, by Relativity Space the world’s first 3-D printed rocket was scheduled to launch from Cape Canaveral, which is 15 miles south of NSB. Therefore, we found a rooftop bar, facing South, on the beach, serving $1 oysters for lunch and had a front row seat! The launch was delayed twice so we waited until 2:30 then walked back to the boat. That was a good call as they scrubbed the launch, but it was a fun afternoon. Tomorrow they have another launch, Falcon 9 at 2:30 PM. We will have our eyes in the sky. Pretty cool that all this is going on by private business. Dinner on the boat tonight and in the morning we head 45-miles to Palm Coast to catch up with the Hatch’s.

 

 One last thing I would be a miss, not to mention is that this is Daytona Beach Bike Week. Dayton Beach is 15 miles north so to say that this town is full of bikers would be an understatement. It is cool seeing them all, they are all so happy and proud of their bikes its very cool. Sure, makes for great people watching a favorite pastime of ours these days!

 

Track

 

Pictures

NASA 

Haulover Canal 

Downtown New Smyrna Beach  

 

Shuffleboard anyone?

A first folks  get to drive on the beach and park it and sit in the back of their cars. 

Bike Week

 

Thursday March 9, 2023, Travel Day # 103 New Smyrna Beach FL. To Palm Coast Marina, Palm Coast FL. Total Distance 45 Miles, Total Time 55 Hours. We were able to get off the dock before 8 AM and started our journey north toward Palm Coast.  It was the chilliest morning that we have had in the past two months, as the temperature was in the 60’s. It felt wonderful to have a second layer on after being in the mid 80’s. The sun came our mid-morning, and we had unlimited visibility all day. This river in this section was very narrow, maybe ½ to 1 mile wide.  The only large town that we travel through was Daytona, otherwise there were no towns that we traveled through, but hundreds of home on the banks of the ICW. There was very little traffic being a weekday, we did have two boats pass us during the day one being a looper that we did not know. When we arrived at the marina this afternoon there was a looper Irish Lass who we have traveled with in the past. It was great catching up with them this afternoon as they are leaving in the morning, and we are going to stay another night to hang with Peter and Lisa, who came by Her Idea this afternoon for Docktails. It was a good travel day, and we were able fill up with Diesel Fuel in Daytona and paid only $4.63 per gallon which is by far the lowest price we have paid the entire trip. It’s great that fuel prices are coming down and I think its very competitive with so many marines in the state.

 

Track

 

Pictures

 

Departing New Smyrna Beach

Not The Statue of Liberty I'm looking for!

 Homes on the Indian River

Beaches on the North Indian River

Manatee
 

We have been spending two and three days in most ports this week and the next two weeks. It’s kind of nice having a complete lay day between stops. Three days we are finding is too many, so we are adjusting our schedule a bit.  The reason for the extra nights is we do not want to get too far north and get into wintry weather. We have 10 travel days to get to Savanna GA, and don’t plan to get there until the 20^th so we are spending a few nights at each location. This pace would also put us in Beaufort SC by March 23^rd and we don’t want to get too far north too early. New Jersey in May is going to be cool enough.

 

 

Fair Winds