The Journey Begins
Nov 28, 2023
On Tuesday November 28th at 9:00 a.m. in 44 degrees, the boat was lowered into the water for the first time in seven months.
Altitude Adjustment hanging in the sling
Miraculously there were no leaks, both of the motors started, and we managed to navigate the tight waterways leaving the ship yard with ease. Once we hit the Saint Marys River, the channel widened and our stress levels dropped slightly. Our next mission was finding a place to fill up our fresh water tanks. My dad called multiple marinas to ask about stopping to top off and possibly staying the night, but was met with either “no vacancy” or an answering machine. As we made our way toward the intracoastal waterway (ICW), through large freight docks and towering cranes, we passed a marina my parents had used in previous years.
Feeling small beside the huge ships
It didn’t seem open as we passed and no one had answered the phone, but we could see a water hose on the dock as we passed. At the last second we called an audible, did the quickest 180 we could, and made a half-assed attempt at tying up. My dad hopped off the boat while I popped open the water tanks, he handed me the hose and we pirated ourselves some fresh water. As I filled the port water tank, the Coast Guard drove by us. Standing in the cold wind, hunched over in a hoodie, and tied up at a closed dock all I could think was “don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious.” They passed us and waved, obviously not too concerned with what we were up to. The next six hours were, at best, uneventful; we meandered our way south in the ICW with barely a boat passing us. The main highlight, other than the occasional dolphin, were the multitude of birds that we observed; from pelicans to pipers, birds are no stranger to these marshes.
The beautiful and vast marsh
Cormorants are everywhere on the ICW
The channel is narrow but, with no traffic, it was a breeze to navigate. We crossed the Saint Johns River without a hiccup, and after passing under a bridge or two we managed to find good anchorage for the night.
Nov 29, 2023
At no point in time when preparing for this trip did I consider packing long socks, a long sleeve shirt, or a beanie, but this morning I wanted all of them. In hindsight, Denver was 19 degrees and it was probably closer to 45 in Florida so we shouldn’t complain too much. Once the sun crept into the pilot house, all four of us were up there trying to photosynthesize.
Continuing south down the ICW we headed toward St. Augustine where we managed to score a mooring ball for the night. The ball we secured is on the south side of the Bridge of Lions, a historical drawbridge that spans the ICW. The bridge opens at half hour intervals and stays open until every boat waiting on each side has made it through. We arrived just after it closed so we had about half an hour to hold before we could make it through. I took the opportunity to experiment with driving the boat and spun some circles and kept us in place with the tide rushing out, it felt like I was driving a hoverbus. Eventually, the bridge operators called out on the radio that it was time to open, I urged the boat forward into the line and we made our way under our first of many drawbridges.
The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine, FL
The mooring field was immediately after the bridge, and after a little trial and error we managed to find it and get hooked up for the night. As it got darker, our more festive neighbors decided to brighten up the night with Christmas lights.
A tropical way to celebrate the holidays
Before calling it a night - I cannot make this up - we called “Pickle Rick” to inquire about diesel prices; they were a little high. Pickle Rick also informed us that his name is actually Jason. After a little research, I found his business online and turns out he has multiple fuel barges, one is named Pickle Rick, another one is Morty. Made me chuckle.
Nov 30, 2023
Waking up this morning was much less miserable than the previous, however it was still quite chilly. There was a strong tide moving south down the ICW, so we unhooked from the mooring ball early and took advantage of the speed boost on our way to Daytona. Pulling out into the channel, my dad noticed some dolphins ahead of us that seemed to be enjoying the morning sun. When we passed over them, they swam up beside the boat and seemed to be playing in the waves. Julia and I stood on the side of the boat and said our good mornings to them before they disappeared back under the surface.
Not a bad way to wake up
The rest of the day was filled with spying on houses that line parts on the ICW which ranged from modern three-stories with a dock and very nice boats to squatty old-school beach houses with pastel colors and lots of history. Julia got a chance to drive the boat today too. It was a little touch and go at first as she learned to steer with the autopilot, but she never got us into any trouble. After a couple hours of passing boats and going under a bridge or two her confidence level had grown tremendously.
Captn. Julia, I like the sound of that
The cruise today was largely uneventful, which I think on a boat is probably a good thing. The only hiccup we had was when trying to find an anchorage. We tried to use a similar spot to the one my parents used last year, but when we split off from the ICW the water got shallow fast. The boat draws (requires) five feet of water and at one point our depth finders read only four and a half. Needless to say, we reversed our direction of travel and, after some fancy maneuvering from my dad, we managed to escape. We pulled back into the ICW channel and shortly after found a much better spot to drop anchor for the night.
Dec 1, 2023
Today Jules and I were up early enough to catch the sunrise. The weather was dreary, but the sun worked hard to burn off the thin clouds. Daytona was shrouded in low lying fog that enveloped most of the shoreline in both directions.
The sun peeking through the early morning fog in Daytona
Once again we left early; the low light, thick fog, and quietness made for an eerie drive to start. Our cruise today was by far our shortest yet. It only took us about two and a half hours to move from Daytona to New Smyrna where my parents friends, Steve and Anja, live. This anchorage was much friendlier than last night’s. Julia even had dolphins come up and see her at the back of the boat!! She put her feet in the water and they came right up to investigate, I’m sure wondering what those weird appendages were attached to. Steve was nice enough to pick us up from the dock and let us do some laundry at their house. We also ran some errands for food and some parts my dad needed.
Steve and Anja added jalapeño and datil pepper plants and a few other herbs to our small garden. We are really looking forward to our fresh greens. Steve and I drove to a seafood market a little south of New Smyrna and got us some mahi mahi for dinner. The fish was killer and hopefully that’s just the beginning of the seafood diet we all plan to adopt soon.
Dec 2, 2023
Today we plan to make our way down to Cocoa, Florida. The “cold” we endured our first couple of days has now made way for 80 degrees. Julia and I love the cold and snow in Colorado, but I’m starting to see the appeal of Florida winters. Wearing a t-shirt and shorts in December just isn’t too bad. The rootbeer-colored water we were treading through in Daytona is getting clearer by the day.
(Left) root beer in Daytona, (Right) clean water in Cocoa
The scenery also changed pretty dramatically today. The ICW that was a narrow ditch lined by houses and docks became a vast pool miles across. The main channel we had been traveling in didn’t change, but dry land was much farther away than before. Some people might have been nervous, but the feeling on the boat is pure excitement as each day we inch closer to good fishing, snorkeling, diving, and beautiful sunny days. Eventually, we made our way down to Cocoa and anchored for the night. Then, we went and explored the street fair that was going on before stopping at a German pub for some beers.
Cheers from the Village Bier Garten
The lederhosen was out in full force! They had a live one-man band who was definitely getting his exercise. He took the stage and after a few mentions of free shots and chugging beers he had everyone’s attention. He played piano and cowbell, sang everything in German, and had an alphorn which none of us had ever seen before.
Herb playing his heart out!
We finished our biers, applauded the performance, and headed to the boat. Once again we ate well: elk steaks from Pagosa Springs, CO and stone crab claws from Hermosa Beach, FL - the ultimate surf and turf. Our dessert for the night was watching SpaceX launch a rocket. When they tell you it’s taking off at 11pm, you better be watching at 11pm. We all got up just moments before ignition to watch. At exactly 11 o’clock there was absolutely no doubt that a rocket was launching. The entire horizon lit up as if the sun was rising and seconds later a rocket lifted into the air. Initially it was so bright, it hurt my eyes to watch. The rocket climbed into the night sky illuminating the thin clouds into a beautiful portrait.
(Left) Spacex rocket, (Right) the rising moon
The sound took a while to travel to us but once it did it was unmistakable; it shook the whole boat for a short time. We all stood and watched until the first stage stopped burning and the next one ignited and continued propelling the shuttle into space. It was pretty freakin sweet!!!