Yes, the Intercoastal Waterway is saltwater

Imagine a dinghy....Imagine a dingy dock....now imagine me somewhere between the dinghy and the dinghy dock. A funny thing happened to me on the way to the Vero Beach Municipal Marina this morning. Yes, within a fraction of a second I was able to verify the water in the ICW is saltwater.  I neglected to anticipate the metal dinghy dock was slippery with morning dew and my one foot on the dock quickly turned into no feet on the dock and no feet in the dinghy. Ok, if you are going to embarrass yourself, at least do it on the way to take a shower and laundry.  Some hot water and laundry soap soon washed away all traces of my embarrassment.  The clothes dryer and hair dryer restored me and my clothes to operational status and Marlene and I headed into Vero Beach to explore shopping and the beach.  It was our first beautiful sunny day we spend on land during this trip.  The temperatures were warmer and the sun was out.  We enjoyed a nice lunch at a Mexican Restaurant and headed back to TIKA completing a great day in Vero Beach.

A new personal record

Thursday, December 27

Waking up shivering at dawn, we were anxious to find warmer temperatures, so we headed off south at sun up.  It was so cold, the windows were fogged up in the boat requiring wiping them down every ten minutes until the sun warmed up the windows.  The winds had dropped down and it turned out to be a great travelling day.  We made 72 miles and arrived in Vero Beach around 5:15pm.  We travelled about 20 miles beyond what we expected.  Vero Beach is a great stop for boaters, so we plan on spending Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights and depart for Stuart on Sunday morning.

Riding the Storm Out

Wednesday, December 26

We sat out our trip south in Titusville for a day due to forecasted high winds and small craft advisories as a cold front moved through Florida.  The forecasters were correct.  High winds limited our dinghy trips to the marina and we decided to stay aboard TIKA for the day.  When the front moved through, the winds rapidly changed direction swinging us around rapidly.  The temperatures dropped about 20 degrees from 60 to 40 and we spent a chilly night on the boat.

Christmas Day with dolphins

Tuesday, December 25

Christmas morning sunrise in Daytona Beach was clear and calm, so we decided to bring in our lines and cruise towards Titusville.  The water was so flat on the ICW it looked strange in some places.  Along the waterway we saw more dolphins than we ever have in one day....well in excess of 50.  A couple of times Marlene when on the stern to watch dolphins chase along side.  Marlene said one was so close, it almost blew water on her when it took a breath of air.  We also saw a bald eagle sitting on a ICW marker sign in Mosquito Lagoon. We arrived in Titusville around 2:00pm and made Christmas dinner on the boat.  We even tried baking chocolate chip cookies in our oven, which apparently from the looks of the interior, had never been used.  The cookies turned out perfectly and we both concluded that today was the most unique Christmas we had ever experienced.  A storm front bringing high winds is expected to arrive on Wednesday, so we plan on staying on the mooring ball in Titusville on Wednesday.

Christmas Eve on the water

We debated whether to hang out in St. Augustine for a couple of days, but the cold temperatures continued and the warmer temperatures of southern Florida beckoned.  So, we cut loose from the mooring and pointed TIKA in the direction of Daytona Beach.  Tides were favorable and we made exceptional time averaging 8 mph. OK, remember, this is a trawler, not a speedboat.  Anything over 7 mph is fantastic. We decided to spend Christmas eve at a Marina, so we pulled into Halifax Harbor Marina around 2:00pm and took nice hot showers, ate dinner at an Italian restaurant, and walked around Daytona Beach.  All in all, another nice day and we are now officially in Central Florida. 

Dec 23rd....and were off !

Up at daybreak, it is time to begin this adventure.  Lows were in the high 20's overnight, so our electrical cord was a little stiff rolling up.  We left the dock at 7:30 am, just about sunrise for a beautiful ride down the St. Johns to the ICW.  The timing was almost perfect with the tide and we went through downtown with only a light current against us.  By the time we made downtown Jacksonville it was almost slack water, so the journey to the ICW was made in just about 2 and one half hours.  Then down the ICW to St. Augustine arriving around 4:00pm, averaging over 7 mph.  The day could not have been more perfect as the water was basically flat with winds under 5mph.  After securing a mooring ball for TIKA, we took our dinghy into St. Augustine for the Christmas festival of lights and some dinner.  The evening concluded with a 1/4 mile dinghy ride in the darkness back to TIKA who was resting peacefully on her mooring ball.  A perfect start to our latest adventure.

The Best Laid Plans.....

Marlene and I have been excited anticipating our departure from our home port at "'The Marina at Ortega Landing" for our first extended cruise to southern Florida.  All the preparations of TIKA and the provisioning of food and supplies were completed for an anticipated departure on December 20 or 21st, but mother nature had other plans.  The tail of the winter storm that hit the Midwest and eastern states managed to dip through Jacksonville dropping temperatures into the 30's with wind gusts in the high 20's. We decided to opt for staying at the marina with our electrical umbilical cord firmly attached to power our heater at night. While cruising, we plan to tie to mooring balls or anchor, limiting our options for cabin heat overnight to warming the cabin before going to bed by running our generator and waking to prevailing temperatures in the morning. With lows expected to get back into the 50's early next week, we figure the wise choice for marital bliss is to wait for the warm up.