St. Augustine Municipal Marina to New Smyrna Beach (anchor)
We had a cold start leaving the marina this morning but the sun was out so our cockpit got pretty toasty within an hour or so.
Each stretch of the ICW is different: in South Carolina we traveled through a lot of twisty channels with spartina stretching endlessly. In Georgia we passed cool islands and sounds (with tidal creeks, too). Florida has some long, straight sections that remind me of canals. Today we began to see less spartina and more mangrove type foliage. The water is also more clear.
The really noticeable change is the number of bridges over the ICW. Today we passed under 12 of them including four bascule bridges. Three of the bridges open on request which means we hail them on the VHF radio and wait for directions. I like the interactions with each bridge tender. You can hear their personalities. We did have to wait with a few other boats for the last bridge opening as it has scheduled openings.
We usually plan to travel about 50 miles each day, figuring ten hours at about 5 knots/hour. Today we averaged over 6 knots and made it over 68 miles to New Smyrna Beach, which is great because we got to spend time with family.
Shore is a dinghy ride away. We lower the dingy, climb in, and hold on until the motor starts. After a quick ride, we tied up at a restaurant pier where Warren and Linda picked us up.
We’ll spend tomorrow here and plan to leave Tuesday morning.
Life on Lailia 