Monday, November 14, 2016

St Augustine to Rockhouse Creek

     Up and out by 6:30 in order to make the 7 AM opening of the Bridge of Lyons.  Thankfully, we allowed a time cushion as we fought the current, averaging 3.4 mph until we hit the inlet access. Only had to wait about 5 minutes for other boats to gather.
     Once through, we had the blessings of the current gods.  It is fun to watch the speed stay in the 9-10 mph area for long periods of time!  However, the weather gods felt we have had enough fair skies and mild temperatures.  It drizzled for a good part of the day.  Thank heavens for the enclosure!  Knowing today would be raw, I started a nice chunky soup cooking in the crock pot.
      Passing through Ormand Beach, we once again saw more destruction of roofs and docks. There really wasn’t opportunities for photographs, just these sunken dreams:
      My friend, Ann, called to say that her surgery was rescheduled for Wednesday. The original surgery was to be last Friday, but a transformer blew, placing the surgicenter into a blackout. Patients could not even get signed in, so everyone was sent home. The problem with the rescheduling is that her husband is away for the weekend, so I offered to stay with her a few days if needed.
         Our plan was to stop in Daytona for the evening.  With the currents being so strong due to the Super Moon, we stopped for fuel at 1 pm in Daytona and decided we could chop some time off tomorrow’s journey by continuing to New Smyrna Beach.  Since the marina had no slips available, we opted to anchor in Rockhouse Creek, just south of the Ponce Inlet.  It was a nicely protected anchorage, with deep water to the north and a sandy beach for Bailey to the south. Pete thinks that on the weekends, this place must be jumping. Add to that, the bottom is very hard packed sand.   As a result, a few comments on Active Captain were negative, but for us, it was a great spot.
        We did 71 miles in 9 hours today.  We averaged 7.7 mph all day!   No wonder we were able to continue past our original destination.  Looking ahead, if the currents remain favorable, we might be able to get to West Palm Beach on Thursday, instead of Friday and be there for Ann.
       The soup was perfect for this raw day. Did a little reading after dinner before calling it a day.


~ ~ ~ /) ~~  K & P

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