He left rather late today, about 9:30 AM, from the St. Augustine marina. We waited for the tides to shift to help us out. Today we headed for Rockhouse Creek. Along our way we saw this Krogen 48 Whaleback.
Trawler Note: Although the Krogen 48 Whaleback is not the prettiest ever designed, it has enormous room aboard. It has grown on me, but sadly it has been recently discontinued.
About 20 miles south of St. Augustine is Marineland, the very first "oceanarium" or marine mammal zoo ever built. Is is still going, but has been dwarfed by Sea World not too far away in Orlando.
Locale Note: Marineland opened in June of 1938 and was founded by Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, Douglas Burden, and Count Ilia Tolstoy. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Marineland is actually a town as well, with a population of 6 with 8 dwellings.
The homes just get larger and more palatial the further south you get in Florida.
When we got to the Daytona Beach area we ended up watching an Air Force F-16 Thunderbirds Airshow that was underway.
A few more bridges to go and we're there... this is what the gears look like that open and close the typical bascule bridge.
Here the local natives enjoy camping, fishing, a fire, etc. Florida seemed to enjoy a lot of large family activities on the water.
We anchored for the night at Rockhouse Creek, just 2 miles north of New Smyrna Beach. We were quite close to the ocean's Ponce de Leon Inlet and got a nice breeze that kept the bugs away, and it was this night that we saw the lunar eclipse. Amazingly, locals keep running about in their outboards all night long, hunting and fishing around the clock.
The next morning the 9th we left before 7 AM and ran into a nice storm. 25 knot winds, rain, 77°F, Small Craft Advisories, but the winds were from the north, so we used them to help push us on. (We would have stayed put if we had to go into the storm.) The boat handled well in the following seas. We heard a "Mayday" on the VHF radio from "Sea Horse Angel", a 17 foot boat that got in trouble between the seas and a small engine fire, but he ended up okay.
During the storm we saw a very small outboard runabout, with nobody in it. Two people with life jackets were in the water next to the vessel. I thought to myself, "we've got to go help them!" On further reflection I realized that they were in about 4' of water, they were standing on the bottom, and they were collecting shrimp! They were just fine.
Locale Note In this area is Cape Canaveral where we could see NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building in the distant mists. We saw a Space Shuttle at a NASA exhibit on the west side of the Indian River as well, and then passed several French-named cities, such as Frontenac and Courtenay.
We ended the day at Dragon Point near Indian Harbour Beach. We anchored for the night near this nice home to the east.
To the west of us in the anchorage was a 1990 Nordhavn 46 named "Salty C", hull number 14 hailing from Jamestown, RI.
... and there were more dolphins. It was also cooler and bug free. I had a good night's sleep here.
The next morning, the 10th of November, we began our final day of the boat trip. We saw "Salty C" again and had a good visit with the owner over the VHF radio. The man hinted that he might sell the boat and end his cruising days. He then informed us that his wife had hit him with a rolled up newspaper when he said that: she did not want to end cruising! I understood how she felt.
However, our journey was ending. This was our last bridge.
Quote: "The journey is the reward" -- a motto at Apple Computer
We arrived at the Ft. Pierce City Marina in 20 knot winds.
We stopped at the fuel dock and then moved around to a slip where Erich was to leave the boat for a month for repairs.
Here is our final photo together: Captain Erich Ringewald, First Mate Dan Allen. Who would have thought in early 1985 when we both worked at Apple Computer that 18 years later we would both be taking long boat trips together? I am sure glad that we did.
Last updated: 2003.11.21.