Spending Time at Anchor in Daytona Beach

Halifax River YC to Daytona Beach Anchorage, FL

We just moved from the Marina to the anchorage.  May be 15 minutes and possibly a mile. 

Not doing the math!

THURSDAY, 11/29/18 ~    This morning the lows were in the low 40’s, but without yesterday’s winds, it really wasn’t bad.

     Since the laundry is free decided to do a load before we left.  We went to the laundry room, but there was another woman waiting.  When she arrived, there was a load currently in the wash.  It turned out to be two, floor washing pads washed by the staff.  Malinda was very thoughtful and let me do my wash first as she would be there another day. We wound up talking while the washer finished its cycle.  They came down from Annapolis.  Her husband was a former Commodore of the Annapolis Yacht Club. They now live in Marathon.

      As the laundry was finishing, I met Chris, the Harbor Master.  Thanked him for a great stay and handed back the keys.  I also assured him we would depart by 11:30, He offered to help us cast off, but I assured him that we are OK.  He said that we must be sailors. “Sailors know how to prepare for docking, approach carefully, and depart effortlessly.”

     We headed south for about 15 minutes then carefully entered the anchorage.  We got as close as possible to the park so that Pete could get Bailey to shore.

     It was so nice to spend the afternoon reading and watching the boat traffic on the river.

     I found another shrimp recipe made with pesto and dinner was delicious.
Tonight's Sunset ~ 
   

    After dinner we ran the generator for recharging the batteries, charge the phones, Kindles and heating water for showers. With the generator running we even watched some TV.

FRIDAY, 11/30/18 ~  As Pete was taking Bailey to shore, we could hear the fire department was heading south.  AS he returned he could see the smoke crossing the water.  When I came up, the smoke looked like fog and with the winds calm, it made for a great photo.  Hopefully with the speed at which the fire was extinguished I hope it wasn’t that severe and no one was hurt.

     

Smoke on the Water

Canadian-flagged boat
aground at low tide

     While Pete worked, I was able to get my hour of exercise in, but we both chilled and read the remainder of the afternoon.  The clouds became heavier as the day progressed.  According to the forecast, very heavy rains and possible tornadoes are predicted for north Florida and SE Georgia tonight, through Monday.

    

SATURDAY , 12/01/18 ~ We had some light shower bands come through the night here in Daytona.  As predicted, heavy rains are falling in north Florida and Georgia.  The possibility of tornadoes both in this area and the Midwest remain high.  Shower bands persisted through the afternoon.

      We watched some of the parade participants make their way up river during the late afternoon.  It might be a rainless evening according to the radar, which is great as the parade of boats begin at 6. The parade came down river then went into the north basin (Halifax River YC), returned to the ICW and turn into the South Basin (Halifax Marina), return to the river, turn into the lower marina basin, where they were judged, then return to the YC. We were anchored about 500 yards from the channel to the Chart Club, where the judges were located and were able to see the parade.  There were abut 35 boats.  A number were large Sport Fisherman, two sailboats and boats that probably ranged from 25-24 feet.  Our favorites were the Gingerbread house and the 4-trees of different colors.

The Boat Parade ~
    

           

    

SUNDAY 12/ 02 ~ To Halifax Harbor.  We were chillin’ after breakfast this morning, when we heard a strange banging sound.  We must have spent over a half hour trying to find it.  We knew it was aft, but where?  Our steering wheel kept wanting to turn, even though it was locked.  Pete wanted to show me how the boat would point with the current out of the south and the winds from the southwest. As he stood in front of the wheel, the noise happened again.  Only this time Pete felt the rudder shutter.  It was very low tide.  Needless to say, we started the engine, upped anchor, and departed immediately!

     Even though it was before noon, we were able to get into our reserved slip in Halifax Marina.  The winds made it a bit of a challenge when departing from the pump out dock and staying close to the starboard while docking.  Matt did a great job of pulling us back to the dock.  After securing, we had lunch.

     Pete took advantage of the down time to pack for his trip tomorrow.  I continued reading and enjoying the Florida weather.

     Speaking of weather, a series of tornadoes touched down in the Midwest.  Lots of property damage and a few injuries.  Heavy rains, up to 7 inches, have caused more flooding in Georgia and Florida.  It was also reported that 4 people received minor injuries when a tornado touched down on the Kings Point Navy Base on the St. Mary’s River.  The rains are continuing north of here.

~  ~  ~  /) ~  ~ K & P