St. Augustine FL to Daytona Beach FL

Start time and hours                  0730                              3495.76             MM  778

End time and hours                   1400                              3501.50             MM  829

     We awoke early for our run down to Daytona Beach.  The weather was beautiful and the water calm as we left the mooring field and made the 0730-bridge opening.  We did not need the bridge to open but it was opening for two other boats right in front of us so we went through anyway.  There was a good-sized trawler, Almost Perfect, that we followed all day until we got to our anchorage.

     We cruised past the canals and nice homes of Palm Coast and also saw the old abandoned section of the ICW just south of Palm Coast.  It was surprising to see how narrow the old ICW was.  The scenery along the route was as always beautiful.  The number and variety of birds are amazing.  I never seem to get tired of watching the pelicans.  They are so big but fly so gracefully.

     We got to our anchorage in Daytona Beach in great time.  The tides were favorable almost all day.  We carefully selected our spot among the crab pots and dropped the hook.  After letting out about forty feet we discovered an additional small black crab pot buoy right in our swing circle.  The anchor came up with mud and shells on it and we chose another spot after again carefully searching out all the crab pots before dropping.   The anchor caught and held well.

     We took the dinghy ashore at the boat ramp by the bridge and walked to the 7-11 store for ice and ice cream.  The section of town where we walked was not very attractive.  There were no restaurants that looked good and no shopping that we could see.  There were, however, quite a few dumpy bars lining the boulevard.

     We went back to the boat and enjoyed a peaceful afternoon and dinner.  During the night the wind shifted to the north and picked up a little.  The boat was bouncing quite a bit, but not too uncomfortable.

     The next morning was Thanksgiving.   We were expecting rain on Thanksgiving and we were not disappointed.  The day was not a total washout but there were periods of thunder showers and heavy rain.  We found some new leaks in the boat as the rain was coming down, up, and sideways toward the boat.  It was nothing a few strategically placed towels could not take care of though.

     We did have turkey on turkeyday.  We bought a three pound butterball turkey breast and prepared it in the pressure cooker with chicken stock and herbs.  It came out very moist and delicious.  We also had gravy, cranberry sauce, and sweet corn risotto.  We were able to get all of the football games on the radio and listened to that all day.  Before dinner we had cocktails and hors d’ouerve to include pate, brie, crackers, guacamole, and assorted cheeses.

     The evening was again a little bouncy but we are used to it by now.  We sleep pretty well even in very rough weather.