backTrip's LogDate: Mar 8 to Mar 11, 2001
Total Distance: 328 nm
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| We drove 97.4 nautical miles at around 13.5 knots, and got to Harbor Town Marina at approximately 18:00. Before entering into the marina, Chris showed Sophal the ropes of anchoring. After fueling up (not too bad at $1.20 a gallon for diesel, albeit we took 122 gallons, marina was $0.95 per foot), we waited for Chris' girlfriend to come by. Then we all went to dinner at the restaurant on site to celebrate our first successful day of cruising without any mishap. |
| Mar 9 We were on our own. We both felt apprehensive and
excited at the same time. Luckily for us, it was a glorious sunny day with no
wind! The current was a little strong as we left the marina, but not a big
deal. We left at 8:30am and traveled out in the ocean. Five hours later, we were relieved to see Cape Canaveral from a distance. At around 15:00, we passed by Titusville, and winds started to pick up. We saw rollers of about 5 feet. Water was splashing all the way up the fly bridge! And it was COLD! Around the same time, the high temperature light came on for the starboard engine. The first mate panicked. Land looked very far f-a-a-r away. the captain turned off the engines, and went down to the engine room to check them out. Fifteen minutes later, he claimed everything looked fine, and when he turned the engines back on, the light went away. We continued on our merry way. By 18:00 we should be getting into Inlet Harbor, our destination for the night. Minutes after entering Ponce Inlet, we found ourselves in shallow waters. Every which way we turned, the depth sounder alarm, set at 7 feet, beeped nonstop. To avoid running aground, we slowed to a stop trying to figure out how to extricate ourselves from our current position. We were in front of some restaurants and felt the diners' inscrutable gaze on us. A SeaTow boat immediately (a sign that the area is quite shallow) showed up. It would cost $10/ft to be towed, but we were already on the phone with Boat/US with whom we are members. The gentleman on the SeaTow boat was nice enough to tell us that we had 5 feet of water at our stern, and if we backed straight out, we should be all right. We were able to get out of here without being towed, thank goodness, but at this point we were so disoriented we didn't know where to go since the chart took us down the wrong way! Again, the nice SeaTow gentleman showed us the way. So, 114 nms later, we tied up at Inlet Harbor Marina. What a long and tiring trip! |
Inlet Harbor Marina is near Daytona Beach, where all the action is. The marina has a popular restaurant complete with live band and singer and a well-stocked bar. One thing we noticed was that once away from Ft Lauderdale where all the mega yachts reside, our boat was about to become bigger and bigger. |
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Mar 10 Strong winds and current (6 knots) as we left Inlet Harbor at
8:45, but later became calmer. This time we decided to cruise on the
Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW). What a change of scenery! We saw homes after
homes, most with docks, all beautiful, especially by Ormond Beach and Summer
Haven. The ICW itself was neat, with its twists and turns. One has to go slow
though (lots of no-wake zone), around 8 knots, so if you're in a hurry, this is
not a route for you. We did 62 nm and stopped at St Augustine Municipal Marina
around 16:00. |
Little did we know that St Augustine is the oldest European settlement in America! It is a charming little town with lots of history and beautiful architecture. Since the marina is right in town, we were able to explore the town by foot. This is definitely a place we'd like to come back to on the way down.  Mar 11 We departed from the marina around 09:30. It was a little breezy, temperatures of 73 degrees. The sun came out a little later on. Along the ICW, we passed by some more beautiful homes and saw dolphins. It was all very exciting. At around 15:10, we anchored at Fernandina Beach after cruising for a total of 54 nm. |