Eau Gallie River to Vero Beach

Another quiet day.  Beautiful blue sky and a west wind in the morning for a while that seemed to help us on our way south.  Later it switched around to the north but got lighter.  We traveled from mile 915 to mile 952, Vero Beach.  The Vero Beach Municipal Marina has moorings that they rent for $11 a night.  You are required to allow folks to raft with you if there is a need (up to 3 per mooring).  We dinghied ashore and took the free bus to Publix for supplies (hadn't had a chance to shop in 2 days!!!).  At the Marina we got showers and Jay and Pegg did laundry.  We got ice for the beer and came back to the boat to find someone had been assigned to raft to us.  We had another nice dinner and, as usual, we (some of we, anyways) are ready for bed (Pegg and Martha are getting ready to watch a movie as I type...the males are going to "read").  ~~~(\_~~~D & M
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Martha ventures from the cockpit to read and to get into the sun!

The view of Vero Beach mooring field from the bus heading to Publix. Note the rafted boats.

Returning to Brunelle we find a 45ft+ motor sailer rafted to us. They are headed to the Bahamas as soon as they can.

Mosquito Lagoon to Eau Gallie River entrance

Yesterday's storm and clouds were replaced by crystal clear skies and a pleasant west wind.  We were able to motorsail most of the day and made good time traversing the Indian River.  Very little traffic in either direction, so we were very surprised to pass a Monk 36 heading north whose hailing port was Spring Grove, PA!  Dan got on the VHF and began to chat with the "lady of the ship" as they tried to compare notes about SG.  I recognized the voice right away and kept trying to tell Dan, "It's Polly!"  They finally realized who each other was---"Flight" belongs to Ralph and Polly Bucklen who we have sailed with in the past!  They were on their way to Marathon to meet up with their kids but had mechanical trouble and realized they wouldn't make it, so were heading to a marina where they could leave the boat and fly to Marathon.  The rest of the trip was quiet except for the birdlife.   We seemed to have quite a following of gulls without doing any sort of chumming. Jay got bored enough to get stainless polish out and Dan felt guilty so he got the cleaner/polish for the dodger windows out.  We dropped anchor here at the mouth of the Eau Gallie River around 3:30 and look forward to the almost full moon. ~~~(\_~~~D&M
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The entrance to Haulover Canal which was our pass from Indian River
North to Indian River.

A. Hitchcock's buddies following us just in case...

Pelicans standing guard as we go under one of the 8 bridges we dealt with today.

Daytona to Mosquito Lagoon on the Indian River North

We got away from Halifax Harbor at 9:15 this morning after filling the water tank, emptying the head "suitcases", and having breakfast.  The forecast for the day was not great but since we have places to go and people to see we headed off.  All went well until the George Munson Memorial Bridge in New Smyrna.  We had called for the 11:40 opening and got an OK but at 11:35 the weather we were watching hit with 30ish winds.  We were unable to keep the boat the way we wanted to in the tight quarters so we dropped anchor quickly (!!!!) and called back to the bridge to cancel the opening.  The bridge tender wasn't looking out the window, didn't hear the cancel, so he started to open.  We reached him finally but he hadn'tn noticee the squall or our scrambling around the deck!!  We made the noon opening (we were the only boat trying for it) and the rest of the day was uneventful.  We were with the current all day until New Smyrna then we spent the afternoon fighting a knot or so.  Finally rolled out the jib for a bit of an assist.  Today we went from mile 831 to mile 862.
~~~(\_~~~D&M
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Pelican Island (just south of Daytona) be thankful this isn't smell-a-vision!

Martha must be feeling better! (Thanks Pegg for being my purchasing agent)

Sunset was the best part of the day! "....sailor's delight"

Lambert Creek to Daytona Beach

Very short day, only 21 miles because we had a dinner date with Pegg's dad and his friend, Annie, who both live in Daytona.  We stopped at Halifax Harbor Marina and got diesel for $1.94, (who would have believed it last summer!!) and took a slip.  We had a lovely visit and got some laundry done to boot.  Annie cooked us a feast and we enjoyed exploring the Pelican Bay community.

            ~~~(\_~~~D & M

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Had little room for fuel but topped off anyway at these prices (10
gallons of each is what we took).

Dan and Martha "navigating" down the ICW this morning.

Everyone below except for Dan who is taking the picture and "at the
helm" with his wireless remote!!

St. Augustine to Lambert Cove

Happy New Year! We're back! We flew down to Jacksonville on New Year's Eve and for the first time in 50 years, Martha did NOT see in the new year! New knees tend to make a person tired! We started preparing Brunelle for the next leg of the voyage after the New Year holiday which included a birthday party for Dan's brother Jay. We arranged to be hauled and washed today, so it was 1:15 before we left Camanchee Cove Yacht Harbor and headed toward the Bridge of Lions and on down the waterway. Our crew has expanded for this leg; Jay and his wife Pegg are with us for the trip to Key West. Dan received a new toy for Christmas, a remote for the autopilot and all SeaTalk instruments. Our late start meant we had to keep going past sunset to reach a spot where we could pull off, so here we are anchored off an abandoned cement factory.
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Brunelle (note bikes have moved out of the "attic" to make room for Jay and Pegg) waiting to be hauled at Camanchee Cove Yacht Harbor, St. A

Jay supervising Brunelle's quick haul

Pegg and Jay practice steering from the bow with the new remote.

Jacksonville Beach to St. Augustine

A great trip today.  Sunny with a good wind from the west so we motor sailed and timed the currents right and made good time down the Intercoastal Waterway getting back to St. Augustine.  We were doing 8+ over the bottom on a few occasions. We are still amazed at the currents that we have encountered in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.  I have always been aware of timing our trips through Hell Gate in NYC and up or down Delaware Bay.  I didn't think it would be necessary down here, but it is.

We spent a couple of hours securing the boat and getting ready to fly north for a few weeks.  It's great to have Jay and Pegg watching the boat for us and we are already looking forward to sailing on in 2009 to Key West and then to the Bahamas.  We aren't sure that there will be many entries to our Blog between now and the beginning of 2009.  I hope you all signed up for the email notification that Sam has provided...along with everything else he has done to publicize this adventure.  Thanks Sam!   Hopefully we'll see most of you while we are home for December.  For those we miss - - - - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!  ~~~_/)~~~D&M
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Here we are at mile marker 750 on the ICW and who should be right behind us but a trawler from Mears Point Marina at Kent Narrows, MD!

We are flying (with the tide) toward the Vilano Bridge with the St. Augustine lighthouse coming into view . . . back to our temporary home.

Blount Island on the St. Johns River to Jacksonville Beach

A very short day.  Storms were predicted to come in at 1:00 PM and so we got underway at daybreak hoping to get to St. Augustine before they did.  At Jacksonville Beach we decided that we were probably not going to beat the storms so we signed up for a night at Beach Marina.  Since this was the first time in a long time with a hose hook-up I washed down the boat while Martha did some cleaning below.  At 11:30 the front came through and gave the boat another freshwater rinse.  We are glad we wimped out on going on.  Winds were over 30 and rain was by the bucket-load.
~~~(\_~~~ D & M
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The black cloud approaching was more dramatic, but I forgot to grab
the camera in time.