BRIDGE CLOSURE??????

Tues, March 5, 2016: Daytona Beach, FL to St Augustine, FL

53.675 miles. ... 6 hours

The marina has a weird policy on returning the gate/shower keys. Either hand it to a security guard before 7:30 (not this boat) or take it by boat to the fuel dock and hand it off on your way out. We opted for Cally and I to walk over to the marina office, not close, hand it off in person. Nice walk for Cally before we leave. Rip would let me back in the gate and we would leave.

EXCEPT, Rip heard the tail end of a Coast Guard Security Call about a bridge closed to navigation this am. Crap, we need to go through that bridge as soon as we leave the marina. It isn't supposed to open until noon to allow boats through for one hour.

We called the bridge project manager and confirmed with our 16' height, 8.5' beam and 3' depth we could in fact go through the other spans. Only the main, center span was being blocked by 2 work barges. We were told the marina staff could tell where the "old channel" was BUT, "Warning, Warning, Danger, Mr Smith"... warned strongly, going outside the channel was at our own risk.

Rip picked our course away from construction (yellow /red line to right side) and slowly moved us through and then back into the channel (blue line to left) on the other side. Crisis avoided. Starting at noon with a six hour day cruise wasn't how we wanted the day to go.

Temporary buoy marking a sunken sailboat to avoid.

Pretty mosaic tile artwork on bridge of dolphins, manatees and various fish.

Cool, dreary, drizzly day...might as well be cruising up the ICW. Wouldn't be a fun day to do anything else.

St Augustine Municipal Marina is right downtown. Easy walking to shops, including a Ice Cream Sandwich shop. OK, at $6 a piece, we might not go back, but they were good.

Sights of St Augustine...

The Bridge of Lions

Cannons aimed at the ICW from the Headquarters of the National Guard Campus.

“The Oldest House”

Picture below, the original sea wall to the right of side walk. the new taller sea wall to the left of the side walk. I love that a section of the original sea wall was preserved.

What Colonial town doesn’t have their own Pirate Ship??

Lots of restaurants and outdoor seating

Lots & lots of shopping, including 5 ice cream shops, 4 coffee shops.

No visit is complete without seeing the Ponce De Leon statue

Daytona Beach & Dinner Out with Past Neighbors

Mon March 4, 2019

Titusville FL to Daytona Beach FL 

52.95 miles. ...   5.5 hours

After a nice restful stay in Titusville, it was time to move north again. An uneventful trip is always a good thing.

Interesting house we passed. Not your typical FL water front home.

Shallow water was never far

After a stop at the fuel dock, we slipped into our shot for the night. And right across the fairway from past neighbors and friends Dave and Jane Gammons.

Our slip was nice and close to the shower facilities and by a long wandering path for walking Cally.

Jane and Dave stopped by to say hi. Then invited us to have a drink in their boat. We had read about all the work Dave had done and enjoyed the tour.

Then off to dinner at a local Italian restaurant. We enjoyed their company,conversation and the food. A short stop of only one night but a fun stop.

Dog Park in Titusville for Cally

Fri, March 1st, 2019: Fort Pierce, FL to Titusville, FL

53 miles   …   6:00 hours

Sat, Mar 2 & Sun, Mar 3 – 0 miles traveled

Titusville City Marina was a very nice stop.

Most importantly, Cally had a dog park right beside the marina!! She wore herself out each trip. Actually, she didn’t really know what to do at a dog park the first day. The other times there were less dogs, less interested dogs  in chasing/sniffing her and she got the hang of it. We played ball and she did her retriever thing. Mom is happy!

Our slip is very convenient to the office, laundry, showers, etc. A nice change from the past few marinas where we needed a taxi or Uber to the showers.

When we stop for more than a night, there are chores to do: wash the boat of salt & grime, laundry, grocery run (ok, grocery walk), route planning for runs ahead, blog catching up, etc.

Tomorrow, Daytona (where friends Jayne & Bill await) and then St Augustine. I am looking forward to St Augustine.

Getting closer to the St Johns River!!

Honest John’s Fish Camp!!

Thurs, Feb 28th: Fort Pierce, FL to Melbourne Beach, FL

37.57 miles   …   5 hours

Sights along the way today…

Loved the sculpture of girl swimming with the Dolphin

HonestJohnsFishCamp

Jonathan & Rosa are Gold Loopers getting ready to start their 3rd Loop in April. Jonathan’s family has owned this land since the 1880’s. His great grand father bought the land (homestead purchase) and farmed beans. Jonathan’s grandfather turned the place into Honest John’s Fish Camp. He didn’t like farming! Jonathan and his brother, Robert, run the place.

Not many Loopers can get to HJFC, but we can in the Rossi. Jonathan had reached out to Rip and invited us to come. He sent screen shots of his route across some skinny water. Rip followed perfectly. No drama, easy peazy!

I am so glad we stopped and met Jonathan, Rosa, Wuji Cross (Rosa’s bird) and Gator the Pig. This is Olde Florida.

A special treat Jonathan & Rosa took us on a tour of the 50 acres in the afternoon, even over to the beaches of Atlantic Ocean.

Then, after dinner they took us to see the magnificent sunset!

What a fun place, great couple and wonderful experience!! Now, it will be our turn to host them when they come by in early May during their next Loop!!

Fort Pierce, FL

Wed, Feb 27th: Corset Island to Fort Pierce City Marina

27.9 miles   …   4 hours

We were off the dock by 7:50 am. Might be a new record for us. 9am is more our starting time. Last night was hot on the boat with no AC and partially closed up due to rain. No one slept well; we were all awake early.

A nice day to travel … sights along the way:

This was a fun stop; a place we could enjoy staying for a few days. There was a mini farmers market. we passed on everything but the Kettle Korn and fresh squeezed Lemonade!!

Rip found a place for dessert – Gelato!

Art Studio next to the Gelato Store – I thought this was cool.

Corset Island–a Public Park Boat Ramp / Launch

Tues, Feb 26th: Riviera Beach, FL to Corset Island, FL
25 miles   …   3.5 hours

We didn’t have far to go today, so we didn’t have to rush off first thing in the morning. Rip got a bit of a rest.
We went to a Public Park at Corset Island, just off the ICW. They have a park with boat ramp, trash cans and restrooms. It’s all we need.

After getting in the slip and as I was walking Cally – a 2 hour max notice was seen. Well, we see if anyone kicks us out.
Mostly, we were quite the curiosity. Several people asked about the boat; everyone stared. One guy got a tour of the boat, then came back a couple hours later with his wife so she could see the boat.
No one bothered us - We had a nice quiet night (though there was a fast rain storm during the night) and moved on early the next morning.