Author: Snug in our Tug

[sorry, this post is old — we thought it published weeks ago]

We are enjoying our stay at the Ortega River Marina immensely. We have been here before but without a car. We walked about last time so we knew there were beautiful old homes and sweeping live oaks in the areas along the river. We did not know about Avondale, a quaint village right in the middle of the beautiful neighborhoods. We have found a few neighborhood type places here. Good service, a variety of food and refreshing beverages.

We also had no idea of the vast, gorgeous, white sand beaches here. Jax Beach is actually a town—beachside! We have a bit of a drive to get to the beaches as we are on a river west of the city of Jackson. So, if you’re like me, you may have thought Jacksonville is near the ocean. Not true. Having driven by on the freeway many times (good old I-95), you can see the St. John’s river and the assumption was always that the ocean was close by. You actually need to head east through beautiful low country and lots of undeveloped land to get to Jacksonville Beach and to North Atlantic Beach. We boated through part of this area to get to our current marina.

So, one windy, rather cool day we decided to check out the beaches. Wow, the area around where we parked seemed all new…hotels, chain stores, etc., but the beach was stunning! Wide, white, clean and deserted. Well a few families were out there braving the cold. We saw one young boy sitting on a towel in swim trunks and a heavy jacket. There was also a couple, event planners, trying to set up a low, long table with party wares. Not going well in the gale!

We then drove a bit north along the coast and found, possibly, an area that looked a bit more old Florida—our preference. We’ll go back on a better day.

On another day, we had the privilege to behold a private beach club with our friend Dorene. A beautiful club, nestled in between multi million dollar homes. We swear the entire coast, and all the waterways, are crammed full of these homes. Sadly, you never see any people at them. At any rate, we had an absolutely perfect day to sit on the beach, talk and walk for miles. The perfect way to spend a day in my opinion.

Now comes the part of the story that we have been thinking about and discussing for the last month or so. We were reminded by a friend not too long ago that this whole endeavor was a “two year plan……. It started with ‘maybe we should get a boat and leave it in Florida’.”

Well, we have decided to sell our extraordinary (to us) boat, Pursuit!

This decision of course is bittersweet. We have had a fabulous adventure, starting in 2016. We have traveled from the northern end of the Chesapeake to Palm Beach. We have this wonderful blog to document/record our exciting experiences and will always have the memories.

We have seen so many places we would love to revisit and heard about so many more we want to see. You know, “see the USA in your Chevrolet”!

We have loved the comments from you about our adventures. Some think us a bit foolish but most think we are adventurous. We could not have chosen a better boat (3rd times the charm) than our little Transpacific Eagle. Her small size gained us entry into every marina where we wished to go. The larger boats, not so much! She was easy to anchor due to her shallow draft. We encountered many people who just wanted to compliment and talk to us about our unique little tug boat. Hopefully, one such person will buy her and feel the same about her as we do.

Like our sailboat Moonlight, we always felt safe. Her small engine sipped fuel, but sometimes we wished for big twin engines and a bow thruster but hey, we never hit anything or ran aground (well ok, Mona dragged the keel through a sandbar on one occasion). Pursuit has several places to hang out; we especially enjoy setting up chairs on the flybridge.

Coconut knows her way around this boat and thought going in and out the pilot house doors was great fun. We also were secure in knowing she couldn’t fall off the boat.

Pursuit’s galley, though microscopic, had everything we needed to create wonderful meals. The fully enclosed bridge came in handy for those cool travel days. What can we say…we really love this boat but change is good and we feel it is the right time.

Thank you all for riding along.

March 14, 2023

The Plan and the weather didn’t hit it off this morning. Wind! Always wind. So, the Conch Marina placed our boat down a runway, almost to the end, which was the main dock. The main dock, not floating, is high and the posts are covered in clam shells. Not really something you want to run your inflatable Zodiac dinghy into while backing up. It just wasn’t going to work in the confined spot we were placed in along with the wind driving us right into those posts. So Joe and the dockhand decided we would back out with the dock hand holding a long line attached to the back of the boat. He was on the next dock over hoping to keep our back end from swinging out. A single screw diesel that likes to go starboard (right), without bow thrusters is not an easy boat to control in the waves and wind.

It worked. All went well, the dockhand flipped the line back to the boat and I caught it! A line in the water is never a good thing; they tend to end up in the propeller which you can imagine, just ain’t a good thing.

Well, we backed out almost all the way to the end of the fairway when the wind grabbed us. At this point, we are in the rougher water. We’re very close to the ocean inlet, so it’s almost always a bit rougher just past the last dock. Joe had to let her spin until we were facing forward and power out. Power out is not all that forceful with a 90 hp Diesel engine. “But Captain, I’m giving her all she is got”….. a common Captain Kirk/Scottie exchange.

So, a bit of excitement to start…. See, it’s not all sunsets and margaritas!We powered past the rough waters of the inlet and by the Bridge of Lions to the calmer ICW Tolomato river. A pleasant ride was in store for us all the way to the Jax Beach Marina. Many, many, too many, stunning homes along the waterways of Vilano Beach and then again on the outlaying areas of Jacksonville but in between is a wonderful preserve, the Guana Tolomato Mantanzas National Estuarine Research Reserve. Holy Cow that’s a long name. GTM for short. A quick read indicates it has interconnected habitats from the ocean to the forests. It is one of 29 such research reserves in our Country.

A place to look into on a future visit. They have a visitor center, trails and a beach access. Oh, their field research office is at Marineland. A place we recently visited and discussed in this blog. It’s near and dear to my childhood heart. They had a dolphin show and we have faded photographic evidence of it from the 60’s.

We have gone through this sanctuary several times and even spent one night anchored in the solitude and beauty of the marshes. We’ve observed the flocks of birds (lots of white pelicans this time) and seen many fishing boats heading here from St. Augustine. A truly beautiful place.

Once you start seeing the very tall highway bridges you know you are getting closer to Jacksonville. Huge waterfront homes all along one side. Most have docks and boathouses that are equally impressive. We are not sure why the west side of the waterway is not developed but are thankful it is not. Cannot imagine how congested this area gets on a hot summer weekend.

So, a few years back on our way South we took note of our friend Cam’s brother’s house along this waterway. Well, this time Cameron himself came out to the dock to greet us. Low tide would not permit us to get too close but we could talk enough to make dinner plans. Cameron and Dorene are house and dog sitting while his recently retired brother enjoys a bit of a holiday.

We motored onward to the Jax Beach Marina and settled into the place for one night. Cam and Dorene drove over for a happy hour on the boat and then across the marina to the Dockside Seafood Restaurant, which came highly recommended. A fun, unique place where you queue up outside, order right inside the door and they bring you the food. Everyone was happy and full. A wonderful evening! They too are boaters having joined us on a few escapades at Stockton Island.

So, to finish the adventure of getting to Jacksonville …. We got off the dock in the morning around 8:30, timing it with the tide to avoid the convergence of water at the bridge at Pablo Creek. This huge bridge was build narrowing the very wide waterway to just big enough to get boats through. With the ocean inlet so close, when the tides change, the water gushes through this narrow waterway. It was a nonevent for us again. Thank goodness. Once more, not a lot of power with our little trawler.

We moseyed along, enjoying the scenery, wildlife and boats. We saw an old Navy warship in dry dock and just about the time we passed it, a securite’ announcement came over the marine radio saying another war ship was on the move, heading out into the ocean. Not something you hear everyday! We did not see it.

This area becomes quite industrial with the huge equipment used to unload container ships, barges, tugs and railroad. Next is the Jacksonville Jaguars Stadium and then you come into the City. Not a huge city but it is split in two by the St John’s River. We turned off the ICW and onto the St. John’s right about the time we saw the drydocked warship. We have been here before and blog about it in more detail.

So you meander through the city, under bridges until you get to a very old bascule railroad bridge that normally is open. It was not… oh oh. We hail the bridgetender. “Work is being done on the bridge. It will reopen at 3:00 p.m.” hmmm, it’s 1:30 now. Well, the city tore out a big entertainment center that used to be along the waterfront. Blocks and blocks of buildings and docks. In its place is a nice long dock and a grassy park. This is right downtown. So we tied up the boat, made lunch and took turns doing walkabouts.

We passed a retired Navy ship made into a museum on our way in, which was also along this dock. The “grey ghost of the Vietnam coast” the Destroyer USS Orleck. The Orleck operated with the seventh fleet in support of the United Nations forces during the Korean War. She underwent an extensive overhaul in 1962. In June 1965, the Orleck assisted in the recovery of the Gemini IV space capsule.

During the Vietnam war, the Orleck served as the plane guru for aircraft carriers on “Yankee Station” in the Gulf of Tonkin, participated in “operation sea dragon”, patrolled on search and rescue duties and carried out Naval gunfire support missions. She was decommissioned in October 1982. She also became part of the Turkish Navy from 1982 to 2000. She is the most decorated post WWII built Navy ship ever! We have a few rainy days coming up so we may go back downtown to tour the destroyer. More info is available at http://www.jaxnaval museum.org.

As we are sitting in the warm sunshine (forgot to mention it got cooler—long pants came out of dry dock), another boat came by and was in the same predicament. A bit tougher for them as they were on the very last leg after completing The Great Loop. Their home port marina is right next to the marina we were heading toward. Anguish!

So, about 2:45 we hear a train whistle and spot the train heading for the bridge. The workers and equipment were gone. Chug, chug, chug….Stop. The damn train stopped with the last car in sight—don’t y’all miss a good caboose?

Of course, the train stopped on the bridge, which made it impossible to lift. Well, after radio calls to the bridge-tender, multiple calls to update the marina of our arrival time and a bit of fear about the possibility of spending the night tied to a dock in downtown Jacksonville, the train started to move about 5:30. We followed our new boat buddy friend past the now opened bridge, across the waterway, had the Ortega River bridge open to let the two boats through, and finally arrived at the Ortega River Marina. The lovely Jennie, the harbor master, waited past closing time to greet us on the dock and get us tied up safely.

We watched the sunset with a margarita …..

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

We left Daytona about 7:30 on Tuesday March 7. We thoroughly enjoyed our month long stay here in Halifax Marina and hope to repeat next year.

Our dock mate and local knowledge guide, Pierce, helped get us off the dock. Narrow runways! We got to know Pierce right off the bat because he has a dog. A 17 year old Chihuahua, named Pricilla. B-dock was hers and she let all four-legged encroachers know this fact. She and Coconut became friends. Pierce is a boat detailer and lives in the marina. He has a lot of Florida knowledge as he is a native Floridian. You don’t meet too many of them, although our friends from NSB, Cindy and Jeff hale from Orlando. Thinking about it, I think Pierce was from Orlando too…

At any rate, the weather forecast was good, water was flat and it was a beautiful sunny day. We figured we had about an 8 hour run to St. Augustine. A bit longer than we like but it was all familiar waters and we had an early start.

It was a great cruise to start….until the wind started picking up. Why does this always happen? We did get a great tidal push for awhile increasing our speed to a breakneck speed of 9 mph or a bit more. However, with the wind picking up and on our nose and the tide switch, we slowed down. Still we arrived an hour earlier then we loosely predicted.

One interesting occurrence was the sighting of a FWC (Florida Fish and Wildlife) boat that had pulled over a cigarette type boat. Ok, nothing to see here folks until we saw 3 more of the official boats pulling over other boats and then the cigarette boat zoom by us at a high rate of speed, do a 180° turn and zip by again. Ok, we think it was a practice session by the FWC’s division of law enforcement. A bit of excitement for an otherwise ordinary cruise. Maybe they confiscated the cigarette boat and now use it for practice (or fun).

So we spotted the beautiful Saint Augustine lighthouse and knew we were getting close. The Conch House Marina and the lighthouse are both on Anastasia Island, the ocean side of the historic city of Saint Augustine. We have stayed in the city Marina in Saint Augustine several times and decided to try the Conch House Marina and Resort.

Now if you look at a map, you will see that we go right past an ocean inlet. In previous posts we have indicated that going under the Lions Bridge at Saint Augustine can be quite treacherous. This time we had no trouble and rounded the corner to the marina as directed by the marina staff. We were met on the dock and safely tied up. A little disappointed that we were so close to the main dock but found that here, as in many places, there is hurricane damage to docks that have not been repaired. The main dock connects the restaurant, a cocktail bar, and the marina offices. The last two buildings are out on the pier. It only means there are a lot of dock walkers.

Calling this a Resort is stretching it as there are only 18 rooms, but there is a very nice pool with a tropical plantings all around it that we have enjoyed a few times. The resort did not seem to be fully occupied. The restaurant, however, with its multi level Tiki huts is very popular and was extremely crowded over the weekend. It is a very nice setting.

We did eat at the restaurant once but weren’t real impressed with the menu. We decided on appetizers and cocktails. However it is in a fabulous setting and I’m sure our Bayfield friends will spot the similarities in the tiki huts to our special little spot at Tom’s Burned Down Cafe.

The cocktail lounge is a very interesting old building out over the water with tons of maritime memorabilia inside. Unfortunately whenever we were inside it was so crowded we couldn’t really get pictures. Friday through Sunday there is live music. We took part Friday night as the sound of the saxophone player and the familiar rock tunes pulled us in. The band had set up inside as rain was impending. We stood outside and watched through the open glass doors for a while until we took note of the weather brewing. We went inside and found the two last open seats. Lucky us because the weather turned bad almost immediately to cold and windy. Anyone who could not get inside fled. We had a most enjoyable evening with happy hour prices and a lot of people our age bonding over the familiar old rock tunes.

Last night we listened to the live music from our flybridge. The band had set up outside and we could hear the music just like we were sitting on the dock. It was extremely crowded with a standing room only crowd. The younger band played a lot of familiar songs and they were quite good. We enjoyed our little world with some tropical cocktails provided by Pursuit’s bar. Of course there was great people watching down the main dock. Pretty much everyone waved at us, a few thumbs up and one couple was dancing. An enchanted evening.

We have enjoyed exploring the islands near St. Augustine by car (our 4 wheel dinghy). We have been to Vilano Beach previously but never took the time to actually walk the beach. It was very nice. Especially since we went there on a weekend and just getting through historic St. Augustine was a chore. After all, it is spring break and the last weekend of bike week. The beach at Vilano was surprisingly not crowded. It has a nice wide white sand beach and is dog friendly. Lots of shells. It has a great small town feel. We spotted a restaurant called “The Reef” that we certainly would like to try. Maybe next year…

The other island we never have explored thoroughly is the one our marina is on, Anastasia Island. We have driven through it on A1A many times and have enjoyed our lunches at the beachcomber on two occasions on this trip. We did not know there was a State Park here until we started looking at the surrounding areas from the marina. We could tell it had beautiful beaches but we did not know there were hiking trails, bike trails etc. So one beautiful day, we paid our $8 and went into the park. The first thing we did was check out the campground sites for our camping friends. They look very nice to us, private, well-spaced and shaded. 139 sites. Nice shower buildings and roads. Lots of open spots for March!

The park it’s self is advertised as having “1600 acres of unspoiled beaches, tidal marshes, maritime hammocks and ancient Sandunes.” We decided to hike the nature trail loops but finding the trailhead was a bit of a search. They hand you a map at the ranger station but it does not include the nature trail hikes. Odd…

It was a very nice walk through the green vegetation with lots of familiar trees. We thought it was funny that the tree roots were all spray painted a bright orange… Lawyers at work!

Coconut was disappointed there were no squirrels but we did see a Five Stripe Blue Tailed Skink. At least this is what the woman who pointed it out to us said it was called. We would’ve never noticed it up in a tree.

Next we drove out to the Beaches. Apparently there are 4 miles here of pristine beach. We had to take turns walking out there as no dogs were allowed. It was a stunning walk over the long boardwalk to the ocean. You could see the dazzling lighthouse off in the distance and what I think might’ve been our marina. It really is a nice beach.

This is quite the park, offering: camping, bike trails, hiking trails, kayak rentals and picnic areas. It’s supposed to be a good surf area but we didn’t see any the day we were there. They advertise geocaching as well but we haven’t caught that bug. There was also a concession stand and picnic grounds but we did not check those out. All in all a very nice day at this beautiful state park.

We understood there were remnants of a Spanish coquina quarry in this Park as well. We drove around a bit but didn’t find it until after we left the park. Again, a poorly plotted map. It was a short walk to what used to be the quarry. Not much of the remnants is visible.

The stone fortress, Castillo de San Marcos in the town of Saint Augustine, is made of the Coquina rock quarried from Anastasia island. It is said that without the Coquina rock, Spain might’ve lost St. Augustine as a colony. From its founding in 1565, St. Augustine suffered many attacks and raids and for the first hundred years nine wooden forts were built to defend the colony. The forts either burned, were destroyed by storms or rotted away in the damp conditions.

The coquina (Spanish for “ tiny shellfish”) is a component of the sedimentary lime stone called the Anastasia formation. It lies just below the surface of the ancient dunes and extends from the northern end of Anastasia Island 250 miles to Palm Beach. It can be as much as 50 feet thick. This rock was formed when Florida’s present coastline was under the sea.

Who would think that a fort made of seashells would last 300 years? Who would think that a fort made out of seashells would last three days under cannon fire? But the Castillo de San Marcos made of local Coquina Stone did just that.

The Coquina rock contains shell fragments of many animals but the bulk of the stone is the small clam about three-quarter inch in length. The Spanish colonist were the first to see it as building material. The Fort was ordered in 1669 by Queen Mariana of Spain. The laborers used for the stone cutters were Native Americans, British captives and in later years enslaved Africans. Early quarrying was strictly regulated by the Spanish crown to ensure enough stone was available for the fort and government buildings. In 1702, before the fort was finished, British naval forces attacked. Saint Augustine’s inhabitants were vastly outnumbered and took refuge in the fort. The British retreated being unable to take the Castilla. However, they left the town in ashes.

The cannons battered the coquina walls but had no effect. Cannonballs simply bounced off or got stuck in the soft rock without breaking it. Several attacks ensued this but the fort could not be captured.

In 1689 the coquina pits were open to the public. Most of the historical buildings in Saint Augustine are built of Coquina rock. The outer walls are often covered with plaster and paint to seal out the weather. The thick walls work well as insulators cooling in the summer and warming in the winter. These buildings could not be burned. Today it is still mined in a few locations. Possibly more than you ever wanted to know about Coquina rock but anyone visiting Saint Augustine is in awe of the gorgeous buildings.

Our week here has gone by fast. A bit of walking, viewing history and laying about. The marina lacked a few advertised amenities such as Wi-Fi 🤨, a pump-out station and “reggae” Sundays. Not sure why the Wi-Fi wasn’t working and this is the 2nd marina with no pump-out due to “the hurricane” [a pumpout removes the “stuff” from the toilet’s storage tank]. After all, the hurricanes were last fall. We didn’t have to have either so it was ok. The missing reggae music??? A reliable source indicates a few of the Jacksonville Jaguar players would come, pick fights and beat people up. I guess we can do without that as well.

When we booked our slip in Daytona, we booked for a month. This got us a reduced rate on the slip and who doesn’t like a bargain, right?

During week 2 of our stay, we decided that as long as we aren’t / weren’t on any schedule, we would stay here for another week. The dock office was agreeable so we signed up.

Later in the day, Mona was looking at the calendar and realized 2 things. First, my birthday would now fall during our Daytona stay and secondly, much to her horror, we would be here for “Bike Week”.

I know y’all know what that means but until you experience the constant low rumble of shiny chromed and painted American two wheelers rolling through the air, you can’t fully appreciate the impact on the senses. It’s like the first spring weekend day in rural Minnesota or Wisconsin when all of a sudden a line of freshly polished bikes go by and set off your car alarm. But in the case of Bike Week, the noise invades your consciousness for the entire day and well into the night.

Confession: when I was younger, I had a number of modified cars, trucks and bikes that featured some pretty wild exhaust systems. I’m sure that I was responsible for many poor souls in my home town being awakened at all hours as I passed through… I never had a chance to apologize for those transgressions…. And now… Paybacks are a B!tch, Baby. I have to just smile and bear my cross…

The number of bikes here is pretty amazing. All shapes, colors and brand names. Most are somewhat stock with a couple of chrome add-ons. But some are highly modded and reworked. A lot of hard earned cash has gone into the individualization of these things.

We’ve seen High Riders, Low Riders, Long Riders and everything in between. There are far more 3 wheelers than I expected. You used to see maybe one 3 wheeler bringing up the rear of a group, usually ridden be a veteran rider who maybe aged out of his 2 wheel baby but still wanted to be part of the scene. Now we see groups of 3 wheelers riding like it’s the preferred vehicle. And a good number of them are powered with V-8’s. Good old American Iron.

Good news, haven’t seen one electric bike… unless you you count E-bikes…

The other event that happened this week was my birthday. I usually spend my birthdays sitting under a palm tree and this one didn’t disappoint. Palm Trees and Eighty Degrees! Enough about that.

March 1 , 2023

Yesterday we rented a golf cart. We wanted to drive up and down the beach. See the sights… hurricane damage, Floridians….etc… Of course, anything we ever rent has issues. The first cart we drove didn’t want to stay running, was very loud and jerked at low speeds. Guess what the speed limit is on the beach?… 10 mph. So back we go. Ha, sign on the door “be back soon”. We waited around for about 45 minutes. Right about that time we began discussing whether we wanted our money back or get a different cart, he returned. We did choose a different cart and ended up having a fabulous time. Strange…how do you run a rental business on the beach and leave in the middle of the day?

We did stop to take pictures of the “Smith family bus”. My maiden name is Smith. Fabulous to have a name no one asks you to spell. We met the inhabitants of the bus. They were here setting up a stall for bike week. They had a cute puppy with them who frolicked a bit with Coconut. They were very concerned about following the rules of no dogs on the beach but when they saw Coconut they brought her out. We had a nice chat! Y’all notice the Smith bus is a short bus — right?

We have learned about a few legends here in our neighborhood. The first is Brownie, the town dog. Brownie’s grave is located in historic downtown Daytona Beach’s Riverfront Park, near the Halifax River. There is a statue of him but the entire riverfront is being revamped into a great green space so Brownies tribute is behind a fence.

Brownie was born sometime around 1939, and entered the front door of the Daytona Cab Company soon after. Owner Ed Budgen and his drivers took a shine to the friendly dog, and built him a dog house out front. Brownie quickly became known up and down Beach Street and along the riverfront, belonging to no one, but to everyone.

Locals, Beach Street merchants and tourists all donated funds to keep Brownie well fed and well cared for, and Ed at the cab company even established a Florida Bank and Trust account in his name to make sure there was always enough to buy dog food and pay any vet bills.

Brownie’s sweet disposition and diplomatic demeanor made him a must-see for shoppers and tourists, who all stopped to greet him, take a picture with him, or just sit with him while waiting for a bus or cab. Each year, the townspeople bought Brownie a dog license, his tag always #1 signifying that he was the official goodwill ambassador for the town.

As his popularity grew, Brownie was written about not only in the local Daytona Beach press, but in national magazines and newspapers, and every year he received Christmas cards and presents from all over. 

He died on Halloween in 1954 at the age of 15. The entire city mourned the good dog’s passing, and 75 people attended his funeral in Riverfront Park. Mayor Jack Tamm gave the eulogy.

Another thing I learned is that this Parkway is part of the “Sweetheart Trail”. The trail is part of Daytona Beach’s section of the East Coast Greenway, a 2,900-mile-long shared-use trail between Calais, Maine, and Key West, Florida. We did not know this.

Our day usually begins with “what do you want to do today?” Joe was thrilled to be going to Gnome Hill. It’s located on the river in Holly Hill. At least it’s close!

Gnomes have been quite popular lately in case you haven’t noticed 😉. My SIL Donna has made two for me, a Fall door decoration and a nautical one living on Pursuit. They seem to be especially popular at Christmas. I painted one on a barn board at a paint night at our friends winery. It is stunning.

Gnomes are thought to have been started in Germany , a country steeped in the folklore. They are thought to be cheery, if not slightly mischievous, creatures who offered late night assistance in gardens and the protection of property. They wear pointed hats, have rounded bellies, long beards and dress in bright colors.

Gnomes have populated a large tree along the Halifax River since 2003. The first ones arrived courtesy of Virginia and Dewey Morris, and the population has grown ever since, only shrinking when they’re taken inside by the Morrises if a hurricane approaches. They bought the first three gnomes (Hall, Lee and Hill) and took them to the tree spot and got permission from the city to add more. The gnome population exploded over time and expanded to include a notepad at the site where people could leave notes for dreams, memorials, any thoughts the wide variety of gnomes inspired.

Notes and letters delivered to the gnomes are taken to the Holly Hill History Museum, where they are logged and stored. I must have missed the notes.

It was very whimsical. Joe stayed in the car….

Well, I bet your all thinking we must be bored, elderly or a bit nuts but when you wonder around a town for 5 weeks you notice things. There’s things we’ve seen and heard and people we’ve met that we cannot write about so as to protect the innocent but we will say the smell of pot wafts through this marina when certain people are on board…

So, on Tuesday we move to St. Augustine. We are ready to move but hopefully will be back in Halifax Marina next year. So many things we didn’t get around to doing here.

No posts for awhile. We were having some technical difficulties with this software and didn’t have time in our busy days to deal with it…… 😉

February 26, 2023

We really haven’t been having any fabulous experiences to write about these last few weeks (except for the glorious weather). The days go by so fast. We have been here at Halifax Harbor almost a month already. We are still liking it even though many boat neighbors lament the downward changes the last few years (that sounds familiar).

You boat (and RV) owners know there are always projects when living this life. Joe has been working on some of the exterior wood. Cleaning, sanding and one coat a day on the grab bars and door frames. Not fun but it turned out great. Keeping the boat clean is a never ending battle: pollen (pollem, is the local pronunciation), salt air and Miss Coconut’s fur make boat cleaning almost a daily chore. Oh, and then there are the beach walks—do we go North or South. Challenges!

We have been having a long string of hot, sunny weather but no one outside of Florida wants to hear about that…

We survived the Daytona 500 and now will overlap our stay here a bit with Bike Week. I doubt there will be much action here in the marina but I’m sure we will hear them loud and clear! More about Bike Week in a later post but I did learn it has been going on since 1937 in one way or another.

We had lunch here on Beach Street on the Halifax River (a bit confusing) with my brother Terry and wife Wendy. McK’s Tavern has become a favorite spot. A bit of Irish, great food, cold beer and a nice, dog friendly, outdoor space. After lunch, we drove beachside to observe the rides at the Daytona Beach Boardwalk and Pier in Screamer’s Park. The Slingshot propels you 365’ into the air at 70 mph. Screamers indeed. We drove by it previously on one of the super windy days and the thing was terrifying. Joe is threatening to do it for his birthday…

We also drove down the infamous Main Street of Daytona Beach where we could see tents and vendors beginning to set up for Bike Week. This will be Party Central for the first half of March. There are also a few landmarks on the waterfront I remember as a child but that was a long time ago. The band shell remains and as well as a fabulous clock tower. I’m pretty sure I talked about this in a post a few years back.

I do not remember the pier which can be seen in the Screamers Park photo. This morning we walked the beach to the pier which contains a very large restaurant: Joe’s Crab Shack.

Having a meal there seems like a much better thing to do on your birthday than hurtling or hurling through the sky!

Joe’s Crab Shack was started in Houston, Texas. I do recall there used to be one in Roseville, MN and there was some type of controversy about a racist picture on the wall. I’m sure that location is long gone. I know I’ve been to the one in Roseville and a few others including Clearwater, Pittsburgh and someplace in California. Not sure why….chain restaurants really are not my preference. More things I do not remember. 😏 Well, I take that [somewhat] back…a friend, Kris, used to love going there…..

Walking the beach here is wonderful. It is hard packed and wide. Of course you have to watch out for traffic in certain areas but it is pretty segregated closer to the seawalls. Speaking of seawalls here are a few photos of damage.

These walls failed after the hurricane and a lot of pools washed out. The last picture shows a new seawall made of sheet piling rather than reinforced concrete.

Another issue here, like a lot of places, are boats lost during hurricanes, abandoned or intentionally scuttled. We happened to be walking down a riverside path, here in our marina, when Sea-Tow was retrieving one such boat from the water.

Prior to the hurricane, the City of Daytona Beach had removed 30 boats, with one of them being in the water for close to 6 years! The sailboat in the above photo looked like it had been in the water awhile. They are then taken to a landfill.

Officials, partnering with Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, have overseen the removal of these abandoned vessels. Some of the vessels have been actively leaking fuel another was in the ICW creating a navigational hazard.

Daytona Beach Police Chief Craig Capri said other boats are floating criminal enterprises. “Some of these boats had drug activities going on where people were taking little dinghies coming in there and doing drugs on the boats. Some of these people were trespassing in residents' yards," Capri said.

A boat abandoned on a navigable waterway is not that simple. There, you’re dealing with maritime law. The county attorney generally has to hire external counsel — a maritime law expert — to handle those cases. Because of that, and how complex maritime law can be, it can cost tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees to dispose of one abandoned boat!

Boats were listing in the water, sinking or already sunk. How would you like to look out at one from your waterfront property? In some cases, the vessels were damaged in storms, including hurricanes, while in other cases owners just walked away. Officials say they have identified all the boat owners and plan to go after them for the cost of removal, disposal and some owners may even face criminal charges. This is a problem all over Florida and some cities are dealing with it better than others. A lot of communities say they do not have the funds to follow up on ownership of these boats. Sadly, Daytona now has more boats to deal with after hurricane Nicole.

We are beginning the process of planning our trip north to Georgia and figuring out which stops to make along the way. The waterway north of here can be very technical but with the help of the routing features on our electronic navigation charts we will find a safe way to go. First we have a week in St. Augustine then two weeks near Jacksonville.

More on that later…

Yesterday we had on the a/c…this morning the heat! It seems the cold front hitting most of the country has found us. Yesterday it was wind and heat and today it was wind and cooler weather. Apparently it will still get to 68 so no, we are not complaining about weather. However, we do have a complaint. Please sailors, make sure your halyards are tight when you leave your boat. The last two days we have heard the clang, clang, clang of metal halyards on metal masts. Thankfully 🤔 our heat/ac unit is noisy and covers the sound ….. mostly.

Since it is Daytona 500 weekend, we thought we would give you a little bit of its history. We have stopped many times at a bar on the southern end of the barrier island called the North Turn. If you look at a map, New Smyrna Beach is just south of Daytona split by the Ponce Inlet. While staying in New Smyrna, we would drive up to Daytona several times. The North Turn was always a good stop for an ocean front cocktail. Not too impressed by the food but there was a lot of cool stuff there about racing on the beach.

Racing’s North Turn Restaurant and Racing Museum sits on the exact location where racing history began in Daytona Beach. The Races took place on the beach starting in 1936 until World War II and then continued with the first Grand National Race in 1948. These great car races ran right here outside the door of Racing’s North Turn each year until 1958 when NASCAR relocated to the brand new Super Speedway.

The sands at Daytona Beach have attracted drivers since the early 20th century. British daredevil Sir Henry Segrave set the world land speed record here in 1927, and again in 1929 when he pushed his Golden Arrow to 231 mph. In the 1930s a portion of the beach was made into a an oval shape for stock car racing—the beginning of an annual event which would eventually become the Daytona 500.

To this day, you can still drive on Daytona Beach and portions of new Smyrna as well. We do not like to take our own vehicles on the beach but have taken a rental car or two out there. 😏

Our only advice is to remember the tides!

And the other problem is getting stuck in soft sand…

Well we don’t have tickets to the Daytona (although we were approached on the beach this morning by a couple wanting to sell some) but we enjoyed the Thunderbirds air show, the Goodyear blimp and the cool (very expensive) cars in town for the weekend. Oh and last night after the race, there was a steady stream of private jets leaving Daytona International……

February 16, 2023

We are still in Daytona and enjoying ourselves immensely. However, the Daytona 500 is this weekend. We will be able to hear the cars and most likely deal with crowds but we will get to see the “flyover”!

In a sight that has become a symbol of the start of the NASCAR Cup Series season, the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds will perform the flyover for the 65th running of the DAYTONA 500 on Sunday, February 19, Daytona International Speedway announced today.

This will mark the 13th consecutive, and 14th overall, time the U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, also known as “America’s Ambassadors in Blue,” will perform their signature “Delta” formation to kick off The Great American Race.

The fan-favorite flyover also marks the start of a year of milestones that go beyond the 65th running of the DAYTONA 500. The Thunderbirds will be celebrating their 70th year in 2023, just as NASCAR’s 75th Anniversary gets underway.

We did try to get tickets to the 500 but there was only one ticket left in the price category we thought about paying. Besides, it is Mona’s 65th 🥹 birthday on Sunday and really, watching cars “go round and round” is not her thing even though she is a “car person.”

Home

Having been here for two weeks we have seen a lot of beautiful cars. Old, new, silly and spectacular. Also a lot of them bumper to bumper on the highways but that is a whole other storyline…..

We wander around here in Daytona walking or driving. Mona rides her little bike nicknamed “earth cruiser”. It’s amazing, she can get in two quick miles without leaving the marina/park!

We have had several lunch dates with friends and family. Mona’s 2 brothers are just south of us in NSB. It’s been great; we have extended our stay another week as we feel we haven’t had enough beach time or tried all the restaurants that look interesting. We already plan on a stay here next year. Of course, the fabulous weather doesn’t hurt. We feel very fortunate as another thing that occupies our time is trying to keep in touch with people. We have an inordinate amount of serious illness touching family and friends. We hope our contacts help even in a small way.

Yesterday, was spent completing the boat painting started several years past. Time flies! We never got the interior gunnels done and the doghouse beneath the front hatch turned out poorly due to cold weather. The product is a bit tricky to apply. We are thrilled with the results and relaxed afterwards in the cockpit with margaritas. A boat neighbor stopped by to discuss the excess amount of pollen in the air. We know—we drive a black vehicle. He suggested helping Coconut out by giving her some eye drops. She has watery, red eyes so I will be looking into this….

Beach walks show damage pretty much everywhere. Most access parks and walkways are closed. We have found a concrete stairway close to us that is still accessible near a closed boardwalk. 30 properties in Daytona Beach Shores were deemed unsafe after getting hit with Ian and Nicole. At least one complex has been torn down.

During the day, the Thunderbirds cruised by several more times. So spectacular! We never knew when or where they would show up so we couldn’t get a picture. While looking for a picture of them to post, I learned the Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. They were created 70 years ago in 1953. They are the third oldest formal flying aerobatic team (under the same name) in the world. There are the French Air Force Patrouille de France formed in 1931 and the US Navy Blue Angels formed in 1946.

The group flying this weekend are a select group of Thunderbird team members who come from Florida.

A bit more on the weekend:

Jimmy Johnson,  seven-time NASCAR Cup champion turned in a relatively surprising performance in Daytona 500 practice, leading the Friday afternoon session with a speed of 194.225 miles per hour in his return to stock car racing after two years in the IndyCar Series.

But wait…there’s more. And the more was faster. Much faster.

Also on Friday, Johnson hitched a ride with the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, the high-flying fighter-jet squadron that performs at air shows and other events and will do a flyover prior to the start of the 500 Sunday. Johnson became the latest Cup driver to make a high-speed run in one of the team’s planes.

“I’ve never felt anything like that,” Johnson said. “The adrenaline, the acceleration. The first thing we did off the runway was a ‘performance’ turn up to 10,000 feet. Instantly, I had to practice the heavy-G breathing they talk to you about. It’s just wild — the weight of your body and pointing that thing in the sky and pulling it over and turning.

“I was really worried about getting sick. I’m happy to report my get-sick bag was empty. I didn’t get sick during the ride, so that was super-good. But I did take a little nap. We pulled 9.1 G, and I blacked out. I came to sitting in the back wondering where I was. I couldn’t hear anything. I’m looking around (and thinking), ‘What am I doing here?’ Then I could heard somebody going ‘Jimmie, Jimmie, Jimmie.’ He said, ‘You’re back. You took a nap.’ ”

As I said, time flies…..

Oooops, we thought we published this post – a bit old….

Wednesday, February, 1, 2023

We didn’t leave NSB until about 11:00. Joe bribed Cindy with an ice cream cone to get her to take him to hardware store. We have seen some ants on the boat and needed something to get rid of them. We learned the fabulous old hardware store beachside had closed. Sad, it was a very cool place—you could get anything there and the people were great. RIP Coronado Hardware, you are missed. Our SUV (don’t call it a truck) is still in Titusville….Hopefully.

The good thing about heading to Daytona is it’s only 15 minutes by road from NSB. So, if my brothers want to buy me birthday drinks and presents I’ll be close. We will be in the Halifax Harbor Marina for the month of February.

An uneventful cruise north. Lots of dolphins. We did see a lot more damaged boats on the shore once we got close to Daytona. This town was hit hard.

We assume we will be seeing a lot more damage Oceanside.

We have been to this marina before. The grounds are fabulous for walking and biking and there is a lot of retail and restaurants close. We are on the river, not beachside. We can see the bridge that will take us to the beach.

My brother Kevin and niece Karen brought us down Titusville to retrieve our vehicle. Rained like crazy. We were lucky to have a younger person to drive us around 😉.

The last few day’s weather has not been great, wind, cooler temps and a few drops of rain. January’s weather was terrific especially compared to last year’s cold and wind. But, when looking at the temps back home it makes us thankful to be snug in our tug.

We did have one snafu with our home in Wisconsin. Our wifi thermostat told us the temp inside was dropping. Yikes! We do have 2 heart sources (a boiler for the in-floor heat and a furnace) so we don’t think the house would actually freeze but still…. We suspected the intake pipe outside had frosted up again. Thankfully, our wonderful neighbor Dave went over to the house and found that this was the issue. I guess we need to find a way to stop this from happening. Any ideas? It only happens with brutal cold weather. And thanks Dave!

We will not have a lot to write about this month. We have explored a lot of this area previously hopefully, we will find some interesting people and places worthy of a paragraph or two. We are enjoying it here immensely….. and this morning the sun is shining 🌞

Monday, January 30

We are leaving Titusville this morning to head North to New Smyrna Beach City Marina. Just want to say we never did see live people on the derelict yellow boat. They were in there, I know it —an air conditioner hung off the back and it was on a few days then off. I also heard another argument one morning. On the very last day, I saw footprints in the dew on the deck of the boat. So bizarre. We cannot even imagine the living conditions on such a boat… [shudder]. Ok, enough of that!

We left again at around 8:00 a.m. We anticipated about 4 hours to the marina. The water was absolutely flat to start out. It was incredible. We saw an amazing number of dolphins and we had them in our bow wake a couple of times. Such beautiful animals.

Up the Indian River Lagoon we traveled, through Haulover Canal and along the Canaveral National Seashore. At some point the Waterway switches it’s name to Mosquito Lagoon. We know we are getting closer to NSB. Oh, and plus the fact you can see the Oceanwalk condos, all 20 buildings, Twenty, which were built almost to the National seashore…. Don’t get me started….

As we traveled north, the outflowing tide was with us and we experienced a dramatic increase in our GPS speed from the normal 7.5 mph to 8.3 mph. That’s over a 10% increase. I know that you might not think that it makes a difference in the overall trip, but it allows us to run the diesel engine slower thus lowering the noise level in the boat. It’s just more relaxing that way.😌

We enjoyed this cruise immensely even spotting a flock of Spoonbills along the way. We thought they were flamingoes but later learned we were in a Spoonbill nesting area.

We saw many familiar sights having passed through here many times by boat. Some new homes and some wrecked boats.

Our friends Jeff and Cindy were at the dock to greet us along with Lilly Long Legs, their Sheltie pup and Coconut’s new friend. We were in the same slip as we were two seasons ago. So, it’s been a while and things looked pretty much the same except for one tipped concrete floating pier that was a result of the last hurricane. Even so, it was nice to be here if only for a couple days.

We had a wonderful cocktail hour with the Jeff and Cindy and made plans to head to Disappearing Island, via dinghy, the next day. Joe and Jeff compared their recent guitar purchases (both Breedloves) and reminisced about their youth and rock band histories. God knows what Cindy and I talked about 🤭

Our day at the island could not have been better. No one was there! The dogs ran and ran – out to the many sand bars and through the tidal pools. Coconut got surprised by one pool that was deeper than she thought and she wound up doing the infamous dog paddle for a bit. It just made us all smile to watch them.

Beautiful day, picnic lunch, sun and sand…what more can I say.

That evening we enjoyed a very splendid dinner at the Corkscrew restaurant. All and all two very nice days in NSB.

One new addition in NSB is sharks! The city installed five decorative shark statues around town — painted by five local artists — as part of a three-year project created and led by NSB’s Youth Council Task Force.

The statues have their own unique designs, each drawing inspiration from the artists’ personal lives, as well as from their experience as New Smyrna Beach residents — the latter especially significant, as the city is known as the “shark bite capital of the world.” The 7 foot shark statues were crafted by Rick Hardy, a shark taxidermist.

We will look for the others as we venture back and forth.

That’s all folks. Next stop is Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona Beach for the month of February.