New Smyrna Beach City Marina, New Smyrna Beach, FL (docked)
June 11, 2022
New Smyrna Beach is a great little town that is very friendly for boaters. This morning we had breakfast sandwiches from the farmers market right across the street from the marina. There’s also a great bus system with a depot that is also right across the street from us.
John and I completed a few tasks today. I took the bus to Publix and restocked a bunch of essentials. Because I was a bus rider, I had to make decisions about how much I could carry.
John identified the problem of the air leak in the fuel line in the port tank: the fuel pickup inside the tank had fallen off, so he needed to replace it. He had to ride the bus to Home Depot to get half inch OD copper pipe to replace the piece that had fallen inside the fuel tank. After cutting it to the appropriate length, he then braised it to the fuel connection and reinserted it into the fuel tank. Now we can use both fuel tanks again.
This marina has interesting wildife. A sea turtle swam through this afternoon; it had barnacles as well as some tumors growing on it. I called the sea turtle rescue folks who said that if the turtle was swimming well to leave it alone; if the turtle was having difficulty and if I could catch it, to let them know. They apparently have a full house at their center and can only take the sickest ones. This one was swimming okay, but it does have some health issues.
Tonight we could see and hear an owl way up on a sailboat mast. They like to hunt for night herons who hunt fish from the docks.
We also had a new experience today – a visit from the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Patrol who checked to make sure our waste tanks were not dumping into the water. One officer added some fluorescent dye to our heads (toilets) and had us flush and pump the heads while another officer made sure no dye came out of the boat. The environmental issues of human waste, fertilizer runoff, and really warm water are taking a huge toll on the wildlife here.
Tomorrow we will go to St. Augustine, which is a city we really like.
Life on Lailia 
Most of us would be lost without our vehicles. Much more planning into your outings for carrying things, how to get there and back. Great that the leak in the fuel system is fixed. That’s been on your minds for quite a while. Congrats 🎉
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I think it’s helpful to me that I grew up in Philadelphia with its great public transportation system – but I do miss the convenience of having a car at my disposal.
That fuel tank issue has been a pain for so very long! I am so glad that it’s finally fixed.
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My daughter’s family lives in Abington, great transport network.
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Are you working your way back, home to Charleston – or will you head a different direction – or would you rather not say?
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We are heading north – will spend some time in Charleston (I have to fly out of there at the end of the month for a workshop) BUT we will go past that, hopefully to the Chesapeake for a while. I do plan to go back to Charleston to teach, probably in the spring of 2023.
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