December 2024- Fort Pierce, FL

We haven’t taken the boat out since it returned from its new bottom paint job in May. We’ve been getting the itch to get back out on the water, so we decided to take a short trip to Fort Pierce, FL. We originally planned to go up the Saint Johns River to Sanford, Florida. However, the marinas along the river are still recovering from the high water caused by this fall’s hurricanes, so we opted to head south to Fort Pierce.

Day 1 – Thursday, December 5th, 2024 – To: New Smyrna, FL
First Day Travel To New Smyrna

We didn’t want to push too hard for our first day, so we stopped at one of our regular stops, New Smyrna, which is only about four hours away.

On our way, it was an easy trip south through Daytona Beach. There was a bit of traffic with the southern migration of sailboats and snowbirds, but all the passes were easy. On the way, we were treated to a Space-X Rocket Launch. Even with as many launches as they have, it never gets old.

We usually stay at the New Smyrna Marina, which has an easy-in, easy-out face dock on the waterway. They were full, so we went to the New Smyrna City Marina, just a 1/2 mile farther down. We got lucky; our slip was straight into a bow in slip. It doesn’t get any easier!

The town of New Smyrna is a nice little town with lots of small shops and restaurants. After docking and settling in, we walked downtown, checking out the shops. Then we went to the restaurant at the marina for dinner, where we were treated to a beautiful sunset.

Day 2 – Friday, December 6th, 2024 – To Merritt Island (Canaveral), FL
To Cape Canaveral

On Friday morning, we walked back into town looking for a bakery. Unfortunately, the only bakery in town was closed. As we headed back toward the boat, it started drizzling a bit, and we cast off quickly so we wouldn’t get stuck in the rain. Aside from some passing showers, the rain held off pretty much on the way. Again, we had to pass several other slower boats (several we had passed the day before). When we got to the Haul-Over Canal, we kept our eyes peeled for manatees, but it was too cold.

The winds picked up to 25 mph as we exited the Haul-Over Canal. We were headed almost west, and the 1-2 ft waves were right on our beam, making it a bit rocky until we turned back south. We got hit again as we made our turn into the Canaveral Barge Canal, but once we were in the canal itself, we were protected, and it calmed down.

Harbortown Marina, our home for the next four nights, is 3.5 miles down the canal toward the Cape Canaveral cruise ship terminal. You can see the huge cruise ships in the distance as you cruise down the canal. We had called in to the marina on our trip down and gotten our slip assignment which turned out to be a good thing. As we approached the marina, I tried to hail them on the radio, but there was no response. We stopped in the canal and tried to call them several times, but still no response. I tried calling them on the phone, but the call went to voice mail. So, we just headed in toward our slip. Just as I was spinning to back up into the slip, my phone rang. It was the marina saying that they were having radio trouble. A little too late! We got into our slip and tied off with a bit of help from a boat neighbor and got settled in.

We stayed at Harbortown once before at the end of our first Loop trip when COVID-19 was just starting and everything was locked down. It was nice to be able to see the office. Also, the on-site restaurant was open.

In the evening, we went to the marina restaurant, Dixie Belle’s Grill, for dinner. They were having a Christmas special: buy a $100 gift card and get a $20 gift card! So a 20% discount! And the food was great! We’ll be eating here frequently over the next few days.

Day 3 – Saturday, December 7th, 2024 – In Merritt Island, FL
Cocoa Village Christmas Market & Rocket Launch

Cocoa Village had its Christmas Market on Saturday and Sunday. Initially, we had hoped to stay at the Cocoa Village Marina, just across the street from downtown, but they were full, so we opted for Harbortown, the next closest marina. In the end, it turned out to be a good thing as with the winds from the north, Cocoa Village Marina can be quite rocky, and the wind kept up for the next three days.

The Christmas Market is large, with several hundred craft and food vendors and live entertainment. It covers both sides of the street, covering 4 square blocks, and the waterfront park area. At 9:30, we took a Lyft to Cocoa Village, which is about a 15-minute ride. We tried to get an Uber, but two cruise ships docked overnight, and all of the Ubers, while just a few miles away, didn’t pick up our ride as they were waiting for cruise ship passengers heading to the airport. We were able to get a Lyft driver in just a few minutes.

The craft show was great! We spent most of the day walking around, chatting with vendors, and doing some Christmas shopping.

At around 3:00, we had shopped out, so we stopped at one of my favorite watering holes, “The Village Idiot Pub,” for a refreshing beverage, then called Lyft again and headed back to the marina.

We returned to Dixie Belle’s to use our gift cards that evening. At midnight, there was a Starlink launch. Harbortown Marina is only 14 miles from the launch pad, so the view is excellent! I slept through the launch, but Brenda went out and got a nice video.

Day 4 – Sunday, December 8th, 2024 – In Merritt Island, FL
Relaxing & A Walk

Sunday, we just relaxed around the boat. In the morning, we got our Christmas cards filled out and mailed. In the afternoon, I went for a walk to the end of the road near the marina to check the progress of the bridge they are rebuilding and have been since our first visit in 2020. They have made SOME progress, but not much. On my way back, I saw something flitting between wildflowers. I thought it was a hummingbird, but it turned out to be a White Lined Sphinx Moth. Very weird looking!

There are only cruise ship parking lots and industrial buildings within walking or biking distance of Harbortown Marina, so the Dixie Belle’s restaurant has a pretty captive audience unless you want to take an Uber/Lyft. Dixie Belle’s restaurant again. The food there is excellent, the prices are reasonable, they have daily specials and a good beer selection on tap, so it’s not a hardship.

Every time we’ve stayed in the Cocoa Village area, we say that someday we want to go to the Kennedy Space Center for a tour. Monday was forecast to be cold but sunny, so we checked online and were able to get tickets for Monday to take the full tour, which takes you by bus to the three major launch platforms.

Day 5 – Monday, December 9th, 2024 – In Merritt Island, FL
Kennedy Space Center Visit

Monday morning, we called for a Lyft ride at 8:30 to take us out to the Kennedy Space Center. It’s only about a 20-minute ride. We arrived just as the visitor center was opening. Our bus tour was scheduled for 10:30, and we walked around and visited some of the exhibits until it was time to head to the area where we would board our bus.

The tour was excellent! We went past the Space X center on our way to the iconic rocket assembly building. This is the huge building with the giant American Flag that you see in all of the launch coverage. Next to this building is a viewing area for launches, and all of the major networks have buildings on a low hill where the launches can be filmed. We were able to get out and take some photos of the assembly building and the launch towers in the distance.

From there, we went on a road trip to the launch sites. There were no rockets on the launch pads as the Space-X had just launched two nights before, but they were still impressive. We hope to be able to go back and visit when a rocket is readying for launch. We heard that tickets to be on-site for a daytime launch sell out months in advance.

From there, we went to the Appolo/Saturn V Center, where they have the last remaining Saturn V rocket built for the Appolo missions suspended in a large building. You can walk around and see the engines and different stages of the rocket. We were told it was not a mock-up but was built as a backup in case of an issue with one of the other rockets.

From the Saturn V Center, we re-boarded a bus that returned us to the Visitor Center Complex, and we went through the Space Shuttle Atlantis exhibit and the Gateway Deep Space Launch Complex, where the next generation of spacecraft from Space-X, Blue Origin, and the Boeing Starliner are on display. We took a simulator ride in a Space Shuttle Launch Simulator. Brenda was a bit apprehensive, but it ended up being pretty tame. There is just a lot of shaking and pitching around.

A visit to the Kennedy Space Center was a full-day affair, and by the time we had finished seeing most of the exhibits, it was close to the 5:00 closing time. We skipped the IMAX movies, and the Mars Mission display was closed. It would have been hard to see everything in a single day.

One of the interesting observations is that in the Visitor Center itself and in the gift shops, SpaceX and Blue Origin are hardly mentioned. There are no SpaceX or Blue Origin souvenirs or displays aside from one space capsule each on display. I asked and was told that they each have their own visitor centers, SpaceX in Texas and Blue Origin in Washington, that they want people to visit. The Kennedy Space Center is a NASA facility, so they promote NASA and the US Space Force.

We checked both Lyft and Uber to see which had the shorter wait. A Lyft must have dropped off someone at the Blue Horizon Rocket complex just down the street because they were there to pick us up within a few minutes.

We returned to the marina, relaxed after a full day of walking around, and had some leftovers for dinner.

Day 6 – Tuesday, December 10th, 2024 – To Eau Gallie (Melbourne), FL
Intracoastal Brewing Company

On Tuesday, we were headed south to Eau Gallie (a suburb of Melbourne, FL), which is only 25 miles away, a quick trip. It was warm and sunny, so we ran from upstairs on the flybridge. We couldn’t check in at Eau Gallie Yacht Club until after 1:00, so we waited to leave Harbortown until 10:30, then had a leisurely cruise to Eau Gallie. The waterway is quite wide in this area, and aside from being narrow going under a few tall bridges, there is plenty of room to pass.

We arrived at Eau Gallie just after 1:00. Our slip was at the end of a face dock, so we just had to ease up to the dock and tie up. Eau Gallie Yacht Club is a small marina with just a few transient slips. It is very popular with Loopers as the village of Eau Gallie, which is a suburb of the larger City of Melbourne, is a short walk from the marina and has lots of great restaurants, antique shops, and art galleries.

After settling in, we walked into town and visited the Intracoastal Brewing Company, which is quite famous in the area. We had a snack, and I sampled some of their beers. Brenda had one of their Ciders, which was also quite good. On our way back to the marina, we checked out the menus at several restaurants and selected Nomads Canteen for dinner.

We relaxed on the boat until it was time for dinner and then walked back into town to Nomads for dinner.

Day 7 – Wednesday, December 11th, 2024 – In Eau Gallie, FL
The Eau Gallie Art District & Squid Lips

It was pretty warm in the morning but quite windy. We walked into town and spent the morning browsing around several antique shops and art galleries. Around lunchtime, we walked to a park along the ICW to see how rough the water was with the winds. The wind was still coming from the north, and while the water was kicking up some small waves, it wasn’t as bad as we expected. We walked around the waterfront and tried to find a geocache, but after rooting around under some trees for half an hour, we gave up and logged it as a Did Not Find.

Next to the park was a restaurant called “Squid Lips.” On one of our trips several years ago, we stayed at a little marina that had Squid Lips right on the dock, and we really liked it. Squid Lips has several locations around the Melbourne area, and we tried one of their other locations earlier this year in Cocoa Beach. We were disappointed. It was dirty, the service was slow, and the food was just average. We decided to give it another try and went for lunch. Again, it was a disappointment. Like the Cocoa Beach location, it was sort of run-down, the service was very slow, and the food was average. I don’t know whether the pandemic impacted them or if it’s another local chain that is just slowly dying. We will skip them from now on.

By the time we finished lunch, it was almost 3:00, and the temperature was starting to fall, so we headed back to the marina. Around 5:00, we were surprised by a boat going past us into the marina that was only about two feet off our side! It was a large catamaran, and they just fit between us and the boats on the other side of the fairway. We watched as they positioned to dock just behind us. The fairway was 50 feet wide, and the catamaran was 50 feet long, yet the captain spun it around in the fairway with some help from the dock hands. The dockhands kept the stern of the boat from hitting the dock, and the woman onboard kept them from hitting the boats on the other side of the fairway with a boat pole. They cleared with less than 6 inches on either end! I chatted with them; they had been here before and knew they could fit to spin.

We were still pretty full from lunch, so we just had a snack for dinner and settled in for the night.

Day 8 – Thursday, December 12th, 2024 – To Fort Pierce, FL
To Fort Pierce City Marina

Today, we head to Fort Pierce. In the morning, the winds had picked back up a bit, and it was only 53°. We started the engines at 9:30, untied, and started to back out away from the dock about 10 minutes later. As we were backing, another boat down the dock was just pulling out as well, so we waited for them to clear. Just as they cleared their slip, Brenda saw one of their lines drop into the water. I radioed them but got no response. I wish people were more radio-aware. It’s pretty common to hail another boat and get no response.

We followed them out of Eau Gallie harbor, and into the ICW, they turned south as did we. Once we were in the channel, I wanted to speed up a bit, so I hailed them again on the radio to let them know we would pass them. This time, they responded, and we let them know about their line so that they wouldn’t be surprised when they got to their next dock.

On the way to Fort Pierce, we passed 10 sailboats, all headed south like us. Overtaking is a slow process. With our boat, we have to be under about 1,300 RPM to avoid creating a large wake that would rock the boat we are passing. Depending on the wind and current, our speed is around 6 to 8 mph. Most sailboats, when using their engines, travel at about that speed, so if we slow down to not wake them, we are going almost the same speed, and it takes a long time to get past. We typically will hail them and let them know we will pass, suggesting that if they slow down a bit, it will make it quicker, and we will wake them less. Most boaters know this, but it’s good to let them know. I typically try to keep my speed up until just before we are next to them, then will cut power while we pass and pick back up once we are clear of them and they pull in behind us. When we have not called ahead and let them know our intentions, we’ve gotten panicked calls as they see us approaching at 25 mph with a four-foot wake!

Fortunately for us, there was a string of six sailboats traveling together, so we were able to get past all of them in one go. We always try to be courteous when we pass other boats. We hate it when a larger boat wakes us, and we try to make our passes as smooth as possible. Unfortunately, we are in the minority, so it’s appreciated. We regularly get a wave or a thank-you on the radio for being kind.

Fort Pierce is the first place where there is a channel through the barrier islands after New Smyrna Beach (except Cape Canaveral, but there is a lock there that controls the flow of water). So all of the tidal water for 120 miles north, and 25 miles south rushes through this gap. As a result, the currents around Fort Pierce are pretty strong.

We arrived at Fort Pierce around 1:30. The current was running pretty hard, and the wind was gusting over 20 mph. We pulled into the marina and went to the fuel dock to top off our tanks. With our twin engines and both bow and stern thrusters, we are pretty maneuverable, so getting to the dock was pretty easy. There was a family on a sailboat also at the fuel dock getting ready to cast off, so we pulled up as far as possible to give them room.

We started pumping and watched as the sailboat tried to get off. Both the wind and current were pinning them to the dock. The captain was not very experienced and, rather than backing out, tried to go forward. I ran to the back of our boat as their anchor pulpit was about to come into our cockpit! The dockhand yelled at them to stop!

We got a couple of other people to help, and four of us pushed the sailboat away from the pilings as much as we could as they backed up. When they pulled forward, they caught part of their rub rail on one of the pilings and tore it off. Also, with the strong current and wind, they scraped up the side of their boat, pulling out. We finally got them away from the dock and other boats, especially ours. It turns out they were only going about 100 feet to a face dock behind them. No one could figure out why the captain wanted to go forward.

After fueling up, we pulled away from the dock (without difficulty) and headed to the other side of the marina and our slip. The current and wind were pretty strong, but we made it in without any drama and got settled in.

We went to the marina office a little later to check in and saw the dockhands again. The sailboat was the talk of the dock. It seems that it took them almost 45 minutes to get from the fuel dock, 100 feet to a face dock just behind them, then complained that the dockhands kept yelling at them.

After checking in, we went to the restaurant at the marina for our docking beer and a snack. As we walked up the stairs, we saw Mike and Ginger from MV Ginny! We’ve known Mike and Ginger since we were in South Carolina. They were the harbor hosts in Georgetown, the next port down from our home, and we frequently saw them around the docks. They were on the last few days of their Great Loop trip and were in Fort Pierce to get out of the wind. They had just finished lunch and were just catching an Uber back to their boat, which was docked at the other large marina in town, about 3 miles away, so we were only able to chat for a few minutes.

After lunch, we returned to the boat and put up our Christmas Bear inflatable decoration. The wind was pretty strong, so we put it on the bow, which was a bit more sheltered.

In the evening, the wind picked up even more, and it got cold, so we just returned to the marina restaurant for dinner.

Day 9 – Friday, December 13th, 2024 – In Fort Pierce, FL
Exploring Downtown

It was bright and sunny on Friday morning. The wind had died down a bit, and by 10:00, it had warmed up to the upper 60’s. Downtown Fort Pierce is right off the waterfront, and we walked to a local bakery for breakfast. After breakfast, we walked downtown. The Brightline passenger train comes right through the middle of downtown, and as we approached the tracks, the bells went off, and the gates closed. Train!!!!!!

We checked out a few shops and did a bit of sightseeing, then headed to the Manatee Center next to the marina. The center was small. They had several displays, a few fish tanks, and a large gift shop. There is an old fishing dock with a freshwater stream that empties into it next to the center. The manatees congregate here to drink the fresh water and to get out of the current. The Manatee Center has an observation deck where you can watch them. Unfortunately, it was too cold, so we didn’t see any manatees.

After the Manatee Center, we walked to the A.E. Backus Museum. A.E. Backus is a famous Florida artist who inspired a style, and a group of 26 African American artists called the Highwaymen. Backus and the Highwaymen did most of their work in the 1940s – 1990. The Museum displays a large collection of Backus’ work and many paintings from the Highwaymen. The works are of old Florida and areas around the Caribbean.

Next, we checked out the Seven Gables House, which is the Fort Pierce Visitor Center. The building was moved to its current location after spending its early years as a Brothel!

We spent an hour or so at the museum and then headed back to the boat. On our way, we found a Geocache! We noticed that there were large decorated paintings of Crayola crayons all along the marina fence done by local students. We were wondering about them until we saw a sign. It seems that Edwin Binney, who invented the Crayola Crayon, was from Fort Pierce and an influential member of the community. The crayon paintings are part of a fund-raising effort to turn his former home into a museum.

For dinner, we walked into town and visited the Sailfish Brewing Company, a combination brewery and restaurant. The food was very good, and their beer was excellent!

Day 10 – Saturday, December 14th, 2024 – In Fort Pierce, FL
Wind Blown & Rained Out Farmers Market

Overnight, the wind picked back up, and rain moved in. One of the reasons for our visit to Fort Pierce was to go to their large Farmers Market, held every Saturday in the park right at the end of the dock. Around 8:30, we headed to the market to try to beat the rain. It was quite large, with about 100 vendors spread across two adjoining parks. We started to walk around. Most of the vendors were hanging onto their awnings to keep them from blowing away, especially those along the waterfront.

We wandered through the first section of tents and checked out the bakery selection from the bakery we had visited the day before. We said we would stop on our way back to pick up some muffins and danish. We had just crossed to the second section when the wind really picked up, toppling a few vendor tables, and the skies opened up. We ducked under one of the awnings and chatted with the vendor for a few minutes, hoping that the rain would pass quickly, but after about 10 minutes, we decided just to bite the bullet and go back to the boat. The bakery booth had not put up their awning because of the wind, and even though they tried to put the trays of bread and pastries under the tables to protect them, all of the baked goods were soaked, as were we, by the time we got back to the boat. We toweled off and changed into dry clothes.

The rain let up about 30 minutes later, so we put on our raincoats and returned to finish visiting the market. Many of the vendors had packed up and left. You can see the main ICW channel from the park, and there were 2-3 foot white-capped waves just outside the marina’s breakwater. We’re glad we were in a protected slip! After checking out the few vendors remaining, we went into town to a diner for some brunch.

The wind continued to increase. By 11:00, it was a steady 28 mph with gusts over 30 mph, and the rain was coming through in waves for most of the day. We stayed on the boat for the afternoon. We’ve been having issues with our new refrigerator on this trip. It will warm up into the mid-40s from time to time. I had pulled the refrigerator out of the cabinet in Eau Gallie to check the circulator fans and found that the main cooling fan for the condenser was failing. I ordered a new one from Amazon and also some replacement life jackets. When inspecting them before we left on the trip, we noticed that they had expired in 2022!

Our order was delivered to the marina in the afternoon. I put the new fan on the refrigerator, and after unpacking the new lifejackets, we decided to test the old ones. We’ve never had to deploy the life jackets, and we’ve seen some set-off when we took Captain Chris’ training class, but we had never experienced it ourselves. So, Brenda donned the life jacket and pulled the cord.

In the evening, the wind was still up, so we deflated our bear decoration and then walked back to Sailfish Brewing for dinner.

Day 11 – Sunday, December 15th, 2024 – In Fort Pierce, FL
Walking Around & Dead Elves

Sunday was a much nicer day. It was partly cloudy and warm. The wind had calmed down a bit, so we decided to go for a walk and see if we could find another Geocache. We walked about a mile north to Cracker Boys Boat Yard, stopping in a park along the way, and found a Geocache. We’ve been to Cracker Boys once before on a tour with Captain Chris. The boatyard is at the end of a long dead-end road, so after checking it out, we turned around and walked back toward town, this time taking the street along the railroad tracks. It started raining from a passing cloud as we were getting close to downtown. As it happened, we were right next to the Pierced Ciderworks, so we popped in and had a glass of excellent cider. I had the tart apple, and Brenda tried the pear. By the time we finished our ciders, the rain had stopped, and we continued back to town and the marina.

On the way, we passed a house with a rather bizarre Christmas display. It was a bunch of skeletons dressed as Elves! I guess they figured it was easier to redress the Halloween decorations instead of putting them away!

For dinner, we went back to the Marina Restaurant. The bar overlooks the waterway, and we were treated to a spectacular full moon rise over the marina.

Day 12 – Monday, December 16th, 2024 – To Cocoa, FL
To Cocoa Village, A Rainbow & Rocket Launch

By morning, the winds had calmed down a lot. It was only partly cloudy as we pulled out of Fort Pierce to head back north. It looked like it would be a good ride up to Cocoa Village. A number of boats were taking advantage of the calmer winds after the last few days’ gale, including our friends on MV Ginny. They had left their marina about an hour before we pulled out. They are a slow boat, so we hoped to catch up with them before we turned off to Cocoa Village.

There were a few southbound boats, but overall, traffic was light, and we made good time to Vero and the slow zone. On the way, I had a marina condo board meeting conference call. We just slowed down, and I dialed into the meeting, which ended just as we reached Vero Beach. Once we were past Vero, the clouds thickened, and we had off-and-on showers, some heavy. We called Cocoa Village Marina on the phone just to let them know we were on our way. The Dockmaster said that it was raining heavily there and that we should take our time to let the rain pass.

Just before Cocoa, the rain stopped, and the sun came out, and we had a great rainbow. At about that same time, we caught up with MV Ginny. We chatted with them by radio to congratulate them on finishing their Loop!

When we arrived in Cocoa Village, there was a pause in the rain, and we got tied up to our slip and plugged in just as the next round of showers started. Perfect timing!

By early evening, the rain had stopped, and it was clearing up. We walked into Cocoa Village and had dinner at the American Grill Diner. After dinner, we went back to the marina and walked to the end of the dock to watch a nighttime rocket launch. It was neat to see it from so close (only about 20 miles to the launch pad) and at night. It lit up the whole sky!

Day 13 – Tuesday, December 17th, 2024 – In Cocoa Village, FL
Christmas Shopping & The Village Idiot

When we were in Cocoa Village the weekend before it was for the Christmas Market, it was so crowded that we skipped going into the local shops. On this visit, we spent the morning walking around town, visiting shops, and doing some last-minute shopping. After a good workout walking from shop to shop, I got my reward with another visit to The Village Idiot Pub, where we had some refreshments and a spot of lunch.

We went back to the boat and just goofed off for the rest of the afternoon. We had planned to go to Hogan’s Irish Pub for dinner, it’s one of our favorite and right next to the marina however when we were at the American Grill, we asked the waitress about a restaurant called Murdock’s that we’d liked on earlier trips and was now closed. She said the owners had opened a new restaurant called “Tin Whiskey” just up the street, so we decided to try it. Seating at “Tin Whiskey” was mostly outside, and it was a bit chilly. The food was okay, just the standard burger and fried seafood fair. It was not quite what we hoped for, but it was okay.

Day 14 – Wednesday, December 18th, 2024 – To New Smyrna, FL

We could have made it home on Wednesday if we put in a long day, but we were in no rush. We were able to get a reservation at the New Smyrna Marina, which has Outriggers Restaurant, which always has great food and is one of our regular stops.

The weather was overcast with light rain when we pulled out around 9:30. As we spun the boat around in the marina to head to the exit, there was a beautiful rainbow directly ahead of us across the ICW. So, we headed under the rainbow!

Again, we meet a number of southbound boats, mostly sailboats. I think we counted 12 boats all together. The weather had cleared up by the time we got to New Smyrna, and we swung up to the dock and tied off. When you stay at New Smyrna Marina, they buy you your docking beer at the Outriggers Bar! When you check-in, you get two wooden drink tokens to use. So, after checking in, we stopped for our docking beer and a snack.

We didn’t do much in the afternoon. I took care of some minor boat things, and Brenda did a bit of straightening up to get ready for when we got home. That evening, we had an excellent dinner at Outriggers and admired the Christmas lights on boats in the distance.

Day 15 – Thursday, December 19th, 2024 – To Palm Coast, FL (Home)

In the morning, we planned to leave New Smyrna for home around 7:00 am; however, when we woke up, we couldn’t even see the boats on the dock behind us due to the fog. It was THICK! We weren’t going anywhere for a while. We had some breakfast, and by 8:30, the fog had started to lift. We could see about a mile when we pulled off the dock just before 9:00. We went under the lift bridge in New Smyrna without having it opened and headed toward Daytona. In Daytona, we had to have the Main Street Bridge opened for us, and again in Ormond Beach, at the L.B. Knox Bridge, we had to have the bridge opened for us.

We made pretty good time heading home. The traffic was light and mostly heading south, so the passing was quick. We got back to Palm Coast at about 12:30 and stopped across the canal at the Palm Coast Marina to top off with fuel and get our blackwater tanks pumped out. Fuel prices at Palm Coast Marina are a little higher than at some of the spots in Daytona, but we like to support our local marina.

When we were coming down the rivers on our loop in November 2023, we met a boat called Journey, a 75ft cruiser. The owners had hired a young woman, Sarah, to captain the boat for them. She was a great person and handled the boat like a champ! We traveled with them off and on from Chicago to Mobile. We’ve been keeping an eye on them and saw that they were at Palm Coast Marina! They were surprised when we walked up the dock and said Hi!

After filling up and emptying out, we popped across the canal and into our slip. Another successful trip!