A Big Day Out

Side streets offered interesting heritage buildings too!

With the weather not being especially co-operative, we settled on a mooring ball in the huge field of St Augustine’s Municipal Marina for a few days.  It was a great spot to be, beside the Bridge of Lions, and very close to the walkable, historic part of town.  Ordering a phone sim to be sent to the office proved easy, as was finding a well-stocked boat bits store to keep the Cap’n happy.  We had less success locating a bank and a large grocery store within walking distance.  Although critical to maintaining crew harmony, we quickly dispensed with challenging chores for a better idea.  With time on our hands now, and a beautiful, sunny Florida day, we hit the tourist trail for a day of – oh, I don’t know – doing nothing but relaxing!   

Elusive Manatee - signage artwork

St Augustine was settled by the Spanish in 1565 and is considered the oldest continually occupied European settlement in the USA.  Henry Flagler, a wealthy and motivated industrialist, saw a business opportunity here in 1882, whilst on his honeymoon no-less.  Flagler built a series of resorts for the well-to-do, not only in St Augustine, but along the length of the Florida coast.  All connected naturally, by his Florida East Coast Railway.  

External features of Alcazar from Steam Room

Penny-farthings under Venetian Glass Chandeliers

We settled on exploring the Lightner Museum, once Flagler's 1888 Gilded Age resort hotel, the Alcazar.   Once resplendent with indoor pool, Turkish and Russian baths, ballroom and tennis courts, it attracted wealthy clientele.  Now a museum dedicated to hobbies and collections from the early 1900’s, it has a fine eclectic assortment including Tiffany glass, music room instruments, penny farthing bicycles, a stuffed lion, an Egyptian mummy, cut crystal glassware – the list goes on!  All staged against photos taken during those times.

The Pool in the Alcazar is now a Museum Cafe

We later strolled Old Town along pedestrian-only and very touristy George Street, eating ice-cream and thinking good thoughts about all the devoted grandparents pushing prams.  That was until a white fluffy dog popped its head up from under the covers.  Yes, it’s trending!  So, it was time then, Alice, to get back to reality.  We needed to knock a few more miles off our Mile 1018 start point total (from West Palm Beach.  Norfolk in Virginia is Mile 0 of the ICW) and judging by the northerlies and wild surf running at the St Augustine Inlet, an outside run up the coast was not an option.  GS sighed with relief

The quiet end of George Street. 
At least one dog was on a lead!

Skipping Shipping Hazards

Twins.  Let's Sea & WJ3 buddy up

Mike alerted us to a satellite launch from Cape Canaveral

Cap’n & crew arrived at Vero Beach Marina, thankfully in one piece, and settled in to marina life tucked away on a well-sheltered mooring ball.  Luckily for us, we shared with fellow Hunter 460 owners, Mike & Cala, on “Let’s Sea”.  So, much information was swapped and shared – and worse, new ideas generated!  The good times had to end, and after spending our time doing chores, shopping to replenish our sadly depleted larder, buying boat bits and doing repairs aplenty, it was time to move on.  We did wonder why we were the only ones heading north.  Still, those nasty, snow-laden fronts were at last, tracking well to the north, so there was some joy in that.  And our new Walmart tracksuits were proving just the ticket!  Given that we’d not had much “down time”, and a few more electrical issues had just cropped up (sigh!), we promised ourselves a few days respite in either Daytona or St Augustine.  

Flagship Towing to the rescue

Sadly, not everyone makes it though. Possibly hurricane damage?

However, ahead and lurking at New Smyrna Beach, was an infamous shoaled area of the ICW.  Even though we set forth in foggy conditions that morning, we managed to avoid it, so were feeling somewhat smug.  Its twin, half a mile further on, lay in wait though.  This time we became well and truly stuck on an unmarked sand bar in the middle of a supposedly dredged channel.  WJ3’s stern was in 8 feet of water, the bow stuck on 3.  Despite trying all the tricks of the trade to wriggle her off, nothing worked.  Worse, the tide was going out, quickly.  We’d become a shipping hazard in the blink of an eye!!

Then of course, out of the fog, along came the cavalry!  Flagship Towing must have been alerted to our plight and after some negotiations we settled on a fee for his assistance to release WJ3.  Our guy certainly earned his money, that’s for sure…  Finally, we were floating again, then carefully led through the danger zone without further mishap.  What a star!

In case you are wondering…  Yes, we had taken out towing insurance.  But had not yet been able to negotiate a sim card for use in the US, which = NO local phone.  (In Aus, we just about give sim cards away to anyone at Arrivals.)  Apparently, tow companies do not respond to VHF calls and who wants to disturb the Coast Guard?  So here we are in St Augustine, having successfully negotiated the equally hazardous Matanzas Inlet, shopping for a sim card.  Wish us luck!

Bridge of Lions at St Augustine

The Matanzas Inlet is a site famous in America’s pre-history.  In 1565, Spanish forces, led by Pedro Menendez de Aviles, defeated French forces, securing Spanish control of Florida for some 235 years.  Matanzas means “massacre” and we are pleased to say that, expertly negotiated by our Cap’n and charted by AquaMaps & Bob423 (our new charting system now in place), it was NOT another Tow Boat call out for us, this time. 

Ponce de León, the first Governor of Puerto Rico (1508), led in 1513 the first known European expedition of Florida.   Here in St Augustine, along with its remarkable Spanish Fort (1672), is a Fountain of Youth said to be discovered by de León.  GS sipped the waters in good faith in 2009.  After 17 years, she notes, it appears not to be working!  

St Augustine's character Lighthouse

That's the Bridge of Lions through today's fog...

The Shallows

Now, we’ve travelled the 1019 miles of Norfolk to Lake Worth ICW a few times since our first run in 2009.  It’s not our first rodeo as the Yanks like to say.  So, we are well versed in its challenging patches – the Georgia marshes, South Carolina’s shape-shifting, shallow inlets, North Carolina’s vast open bays and crab-pot lined channels.  Florida is never an issue.  Usually…  2024’s hurricane season saw much damage through this area and the Corps of Engineers, whose task it is to maintain ICW depths, have been stretched beyond their maintenance limits.  We use Navionics, paper charts and good ol’ Skipper Bob’s guide to anchorages (and nav alerts) along this waterway.  Even so, we still watch our depth gauge like hawks and stick to the magenta line (middle) of the channel.  

One of the 10 bridges encountered on our first day on the ICW.
At most of them, we had to request or wait, for an opening.

The Blue Heron Bridge (a fixed bridge), only a mile into our journey north, is known as a bit of an unspoken challenge, offering less than the prescribed 65feet above the water.  The marker indicated 64ft, we need 63ft to not crunch the mast & various antennas attached to it.  We sallied forth, having never hit before.  This time, the VHF antenna touched, bending well over, thankfully not breaking.  

Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse
Perhaps we should have been paying more attention to it?

Our first day on the ICW went downhill from there.  We hit bottom at Jupiter Inlet finding 4½ ft (our keel is 5½), the Captain’s favourite chair jumped ship in Hobe Sound (but was fortunately recovered and read the riot act), then nearly lost our way in the confusion of markers, shoals, and skinny water in St Lucie Inlet crossing, and found ground at the Jensen Beach designated anchorage, supposedly 7-8ft, finding 3 ½.  Thankfully, our trusty Cap’n used a passing wake to hobby-horse WJ3 back into the ICW.   The up side of the day, was manatee watching whilst we waited for the Indiantown Road Bridge, and spotting dolphins, jumping rays, turtles, and loads of birdlife along the way.  Plus, it was warm.  Spring is in the air – well, at least in Florida!  

A well cared for (possibly historic) home along the waterway. 
Note the widow's walk fenced in on the roof top. 
Here, a Captain's wife would watch out to sea for his ship to come home. 

Fort Piece then, was our last chance for an anchorage before nightfall.  We chose to shelter in the protection of Causeway Island and nervously negotiated our way off the ICW.  Needless to say, we misread the channel's green and red markers before finding deeper waters. (Red, right, returning - only we weren't at the time -oops!)  WJ3's anchor was set just on dusk – at an early 6pm.  We had travelled over 50nm in 10 hours, negotiated 10 bridges and some seriously shoaled rivers & inlets.  Florida is supposed to be the easy part of the ICW – just what was in store for us over the next 3-4 weeks before Norfolk and Chesapeake?  Vero Beach was only 16nm away.  We couldn’t wait to get there!

Joy Ride

Approaching the WPB Inlet.  Welcome back to the Unites States!!
If we had broken down, GS was prepared to swim the rest of the way in...

Just inside the West Palm Beach inlet is a huge anchorage area, Lake Worth.  It is bustling with freighters, cruise ships, barges pushed by tugs, tour boats, sail & motor boats and pleasure craft of all persuasions.  Marinas line its shores; posh ones for the superyachts, facilities for racing boats, marinas for regular folk and heaps of yards.  Everyone who has a waterside home along the ICW seems to have a dock and some kind of watercraft too.  Boating is big business in the US.  

Looking south from our anchorage in Lake Worth

Lake Worth is also busy with hundreds of sailboats and motor cruisers either waiting for a crossing window to the Bahamas/Caribbean or just sitting out winter in Florida’s sunshine.  Luckily, we found a decent space not too deep into the waterway, set the anchor in waters unaffected by ocean swell and celebrated our arrival watching the sun set.  A Margaritaville Cruise (a 3 day, booze, food and casino getaway) headed offshore and trains arced up those compulsory, loud, lonesome, night whistles that can be heard all along the ICW.  

Water Tank near our lunch stop

Our plan was to visit Immigration & Customs at the Port in the morning, settle our cruising permit, then have a long lunch sitting in the sunshine by the dock at the Tiki Bar, renown for it's Mexican food and giant cocktails.  We looked forward to easier motoring/sailing conditions heading north along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW).  A quiet Vero Beach Marina mooring, 2 days away, was in our sights for a week of repairs, rest and recovery.  Well, that was the plan… 

Silly Rabbit

X-ing File #6_A Gulf Stream Crossing & the Atlantic ICW

Ridin' the Ditch: Vero Beach to Daytona

(Silly Rabbit?  You may well ask?  This (boat) name seemed appropriate given we’d arrived at Halifax Harbor Marina on Easter Monday.  Also, in our attempt to get to Daytona the day before, we hit mud at New Smyrna Beach – not once, but twice…  Just a couple of dumb bunnies.  But not let’s get ahead of ourselves.)

View over Vero Beach Marina (from a bus window)

Vero Beach is a lovely spot.  Warm, friendly and very well protected.  Ever so briefly, we finally caught sight of the elusive manatee.  Ever so reluctantly then, we let the mooring line slip off and motored north in less than promising weather.  Near Melbourne, GS threatened to take photos of the Cap’n against grey, threatening skies. (A Melbourne weather joke of course!)  This stretch of the ICW follows the Indian River, as wide as a lake, with much of it very shallow except for the charted channel that guided us; red to the left and green to the right.  Don’t step outside the lines or the mud will find you.  At this point too, it becomes more remote, rural even, although it’s often hard to tell what level of settlement hides behind miles and miles of swampy marshes.

There's always an audience at the fixed bridges. And 63 feet is our
mast height, so there's always hope for something to watch too!

We anchored for the night with fellow travellers at a popular spot near the town of Coco.  The barrier island opposite is home of Cape Canaveral, NASA and to a myriad of spectacular, history making space launches.  Sadly, we’d missed one by only a few days.  We bypassed Titusville** cautiously crossing the Indian River into the unhappily named Mosquito Lagoon.  The Haulover Canal gave us plenty of opportunity to manatee-spot.  Floating mounds of globular jelly, with the occasional splash of a black, paddle-shaped tail, was the best we were going to get from these shy, sensitive creatures.  Beyond the Lagoon, the river became hemmed in by marshy islands and cedar swamps.  The fishing must be good as this area seemed a very popular spot for caravan parks (to use an Australian term), boat ramps and wildlife, including alligators. 

No hurricane damage here...  See those beady eyes watching us?

At last, our planned New Smyrna Beach anchorage came into sight, full of abandoned hurricane damaged hulks.  As it was early, the day overcast and uninviting anyway, we made a snap decision to carry on the 14 miles to Daytona.  Forgetting of course, that it was low tide.  Red 34 saw to our undoing.  Somehow in 4’ of water, and with lots of bow thrusting, an intense Cap’n moved WJ3 back into deeper water – well, enough to float us!   As we moved off, another couple of sailboats charged by.  The Cap’n warned them, but somehow, they both made it through.  “Let’s follow them!” proved a ruinous decision – we ended back on that shoal.  Luckily, having provided much entertainment for the drinkers at the Yacht Club/Marina, we pulled off and slunk back to the anchorage.

Endless miles of marshes & midges (no-see-ums)

As if life wasn’t challenging enough, our electrical problems became serious.  We just managed to get the anchor down.  Sensing trouble, the Cap’n left our motor running all night.  It’s just as well.  Our morning’s exercise was hauling chain and a heavy anchor.  Once snuggled in our Daytona marina berth, there wasn’t enough electricity in the batteries to turn off WJ3’s engine.  Silly rabbits, indeed!

**Titusville scorched itself into our memories in 2009.  Who could forget a lightning strike, resulting in replacement of quite a few bits of electrical kit plus some mast head fittings?

Shallow Minded

X-ing File #6_A Gulf Stream Crossing & the Atlantic ICW

Ridin' the Ditch: West Palm Beach to Vero Beach

(A speedy number, built to impress for sure.  Typically Floridian in style.  Mostly driven with a sense of purpose.  Watch out for them at the Blue Heron Bridge!)  

Sunset over the port of West Palm Beach.  Still no Green Flash...

The slog across to West Palm Beach from West End in the Bahamas was not too bad.  We did have wind on the nose for the first few hours for a bit of a bumpy ride, then these conditions subsided to a quiet but overcast 55 nm run.  We made an uneventful entry through the inlet luckily missing a vast cruise ship billowing smoke and taking up most of the channel.  We didn’t argue. 

Finding an anchorage was not so easy, and our first attempt at Peanut Island, now full of mooring balls, lead us into “skinny” water and a near grounding.  Welcome to the ICW.  A second attempt, amidst confusing channel markers for both the Port and ICW, led us to quickly drop anchor outside the big ships turning bay.  We could cope with the ships but not the fast-flowing current, so in the morning moved to a deeper, more protected spot; all the better to admire some Palm Beach mansions.  After a few days of chores - clearing in, refueling (by jerry can if you please, in the heart of an all-American big smoke), hamburger tasting, some shopping at an enormous supermarket, and laying low for a few windy days, it was time to move on up the ditch.

Back to the ICW.  There are bridges to negotiate.  Ooh! Just missed that one...

All sorts of other boats float along the ICW too.
 This one's a tiki-bar barge complete with water slide!

This is our FINAL X-ing file for this journey – approx a 1200 nm run inside barrier islands along rivers, canals and over lakes, all in day hops.  Three cheers for the ICW!  As many of our stops will be similar to 2009, we’ll (generally) only add information on new places we visit rather than repeat-post!   There will still be photos from our hike along the waterways, so plenty yet to see of our journey.  

Post titles will be somewhat obscure as we're awarding them to boats with (ahem!) interesting names, along each section.  A very difficult choice indeed with just so much to choose from.  As always, internet connectivity is the critical factor; fine in metropolitan areas but not so much in out of the way backwoods or up reedy creeks. 

Wildlife is never too far away.
Osprey (seahawk) near Peck Lake

We’ve called an initial halt at delightful Vero Beach City Marina for a week, firstly to visit "Mysterry" (Jim & Tammy) and to arrange to sort out our ongoing electrical miseries.  Currently, we’re rafted up on a mooring with a French boat, "Noulica" (Francoise et Patrick), who are also headed for the Chesapeake; just waiting for the snow to melt, oh dear...  Vero Beach City is a very convenient and cruiser-friendly marina with a free bus to shops (and West Marine), a nice big laundry and a book swap; handy whilst we wait for the new electrical part to be couriered in.  We might never leave…

And plenty of reminders to stay within the Channel Markers