April 5, 2011.

We slipped the mooring and visited the fuel dock before leaving Vero Beach on Friday morning. We had a short 30 mile day to Melbourne planned. It’s good to get back underway with a short day to rejoin your traveling rhythm. We did pass through the new Republic of Canamerica. The reason we like to stop there is that you can anchor right off the Eau Gallie public library. Free wifi. An unexpected bonus tonight was live music from the beach bar next door. Being completely unmusical myself, I know I shouldn't criticize but after all the great live music we've heard I am pretty confident when I say that the band was "sub par". We actually laughed a few times....

The next day was another short one so we pulled the hook around 0900 and headed up towards Titusville. We had a bit o’ current pushing us so we opted to knock a few extra miles off the following day’s schedule. Since there was no wind we dropped the hook right in the middle of the Mosquito Lagoon.

For the hell of it I fired up the laptop and found (unbelievably) that we had a wifi signal. We were literally miles from anywhere and the Bullet was grabbing some pretty decent wifi. Cool.

On Sunday we rolled out of bed at the crack of nine and started slogging northward on another short day. We transited New Smyrna without an encounter with the heavy handed FWC units that patrol this area.
We again dropped the hook at 1400 hours just off the ICW in Daytona Beach. 300 yards away and across the ICW the boats were jammed into an anchorage that’s suggested in the Skipper Bob guidebook. While we were the only boat in our chosen anchorage for the night. Oh look, and there’s internet.

On Monday we had to get up and underway before the 2 lift bridges in Daytona Beach were closed for the morning rush hour. We rode the tide and some building southerly breeze as we motor sailed quickly north towards Saint Augustine. During the trip we heard the Coast Guard announcing that the Main Street Bridge in Daytona was broken in the down position. The early start for us worked in our favor as we had just transited the bridge 2 hours before.

We made the 1400 hour bridge opening of the Bridge of Lions in Saint Augustine. I was going to stop at the fuel dock but the winds were already up over 20 knots. It was actually kind of snotty south of the bridge so we scurried through the opening. On the north side of the bridge the water was flat and it even seemed sunnier. Since the moorings have been installed there's not really much room to anchor but we scoped out a spot and headed that way.

We curled to starboard as we came through the bridge just as a small SeaRay type powerboat did the same thing. He probably only draws 3 feet of water so he can anchor just about anywhere but he had to drop the hook in the exact spot we were coveting.

So we dropped the hook right next to him although a little closer to the channel than I would have preferred. By the time we had the snubber on and the hook set….he was gone. His micro tiny powerboat hook hadn’t set and he dragged back into the local boats anchored behind us. He retrieved his hook and motored forward to make another attempt.

I really wanted his spot but we didn’t have time to pull our hook and move before he was ready to try again. We opted for patience. We left the boat running and we sat and stared as he once again scampered over the windshield and out onto the bow. He reminded me a lot of John Belushi in Animal House. (When they were on the stairs, about to burglarize the dean’s house.) Anyway, he dropped the hook again only to have the same results. It never set and he dragged away in 2 minutes and gave up. As they left with their tails between their legs we pulled the hook and moved away from the channel and into their spot.

We’re at anchor across from the fort watching the boats go by. We have a nasty front coming through in the morning so our travel schedule is a little up in the air.


Its now morning, the front is here and we'll sit this one out....