Cruising to our Winter Port

Fernandina, FL to Melbourne, FL

*    5 ports   *  250 miles   *

Leaving Fernandina, we were greeted with a bright and warm day, a big welcome to the Sunshine State. We had three more days of cruising before reaching Halifax Harbor in Daytona Beach to meet up with family. Our mission has been to get to New Smyrna Beach where one of Tasha’s cousin’s lives and another would be visiting from Ohio. The marina there is small and when reaching out recently we found there would be no room for us. We’ve learned to always have a plan B, and even C. Plan B had us docking in Daytona and renting a car for a couple of days. Daytona to New Smyrna is a 17 mile drive, a little more than the 1.5 mile distance we had hoped for but doable.

Our cruising days have been full of dolphins. Lots of dolphins, we have missed them. The captain, one that does not get too excited about most things, was having a hard time containing his enthusiasm from the helm. He spent most of his time pointing at all of them. Out of character and in the most excited voice, he proclaimed, “Honey Look! Oh, my Lord, it’s like f^#%ing Sea World, they both came up out of the water completely.” Of course, we have no photos but can see it perfectly in our minds.

Sisters Creek first come dock on the ICW, was our first night’s destination and a short cruise of 23 miles, from Fernandina. We arrived at low tide early afternoon and had to inch our way through the shallow water to the dock, luckily no one else was there and we could tie off at the very end. Fishermen and the game warden were the only ones joining us for the night. We enjoyed a great evening cooking out and watching the tide roar in and out. We were glad to be tied to a strong concrete dock as the tidal swing of 4’ and the fast current had the water ripping by Now or Never.

We left early morning, the dark fall mornings have been challenging, and transiting across the St. Johns River by Jacksonville and an installation of military and other large vessels was a bit intimidating in the dark. Our cruise took us by St. Augustine and under the Bridge of Lions and ended at Palm Cove 64 miles further south. We arrived late in the day, so a short evening followed by an early morning start didn’t leave any time for adventures. We were off the following morning to Daytona Beach and Halifax Marina just 30 miles away.

Daytona Beach was much quieter upon our arrival that it was just a few days prior as we missed Biketoberfest and unfortunately, David’s cousin visiting from Ohio.

We did make it in time to meet up with both of Tasha’s cousins. Before heading to New Smyrna Beach, we picked up our car and ventured to the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse and Museum.

After taking in the short film, we climbed the 203 steps, 17 stories, 175 feet to the top. It is the tallest lighthouse in Florida. Completed in 1887, the brick lighthouse stands upon a foundation measuring 12 feet deep by 45 feet wide. The outer wall tapers from 28 feet in diameter at the base to 16 feet in diameter directly below the lantern room. The brick walls are 8 feet thick at the bottom and 2 feet at the top. It took one and a quarter million bricks and three years to build. The lighthouse continues to operate today as a private aid to navigation.

The view from the top is incredible once you get there. The first mate had to take a couple of breaks on the way up, and the captain was a bit worried by a sign that signified a lightkeepers demise midway up. From the top, we watched a couple of cruisers on the ICW take the route we had taken in May and will again in the next few days. We were happy the ICW navigates around the inlet as the water was flying through the very shoaled areas. We could see Disappearing island at low tide, but the name makes it clear with what happens at high tide. A clear day for viewing made it so we could Daytona Beach to New Smyrna Beach and beyond.

We found this lighthouse much easier to climb than Bald Head Island. Although much higher (65’), the rise in the steps was consistent and not as steep. Also a metal staircase was welcomed over the rickety wood at Bald Head.

We met up with Tasha’s family over a few days for beautiful views from the front yard on the intracoastal near the North Causeway Bridge in New Smyrna Beach and wonderful dinners sharing many family stories. You may recall we passed the house in May while they were out of town. Deb and Michael are Mama Sally’s first cousins. Their three fathers were brothers.

Mama Sally was there in spirit and would have loved it. It was an enriching few days filled with laughter, love, and learning a lot about New Smyrna Beach. Tasha so enjoyed the stories and connection to her mother.

Our final day in Daytona started with breakfast on the beach. We returned our car and headed across the Main Street Bridge on bikes back to the beach.

We found our first watering hole of the day with an entrance off the beach. Enjoying a cold one, we took in the salt air, big crashing waves, and warm sunshine. It was one of those pinch us, tourists’ moments. Cruising south (on our bikes), we found our second beach front bar of the day. Meeting the nicest couple from Iowa and enjoying conversation with them including the fact that we were all on the beach in the sun while a cold front had swept into both our home states.

After our day on the beach, we headed back to the mainland and across the Orange Avenue Bridge. The intracoastal looks so big from the top of the bridge. We made one more stop at a local biker bar that we had driven past several times with claims to be the oldest bar in Daytona. We had to check it out and rode up on our bikes. It was a bit of a laughable moment for all.

Our four nights in Daytona wrapped up and we headed south to New Smyrna, bringing along Tasha’s cousins for the 17 mile voyage. Deb and Michael hopped on board and got to live a day in the life aboard the Now or Never. We couldn’t have asked for a better cruising day. Warm air, nice breeze, and little wind. Our guests were all smiles as we made the short but wonderful cruise. We did a few loops around the front of Michael’s house swapping photos with Zane in the front yard. We enjoyed a history lesson about the neighborhood and community as we passed by on the intracoastal.

Our family gathering commenced with one final dinner and a wonderful reminder that no matter how long it’s been since you’ve seen your family (50+ years for Michael, 1+ year for Deb), you can pick up and have a wonderful time, and that we did.

Back at the boat, just after dark, we witnessed our first space launch of the season, a SpaceX Falcon 9. The viewing wasn’t the best as there were tall buildings right in front of us and lots of lights, but still pretty cool to see. Our hopes are to anchor out at least once close to the launch pad this winter.

Our intended plans had us cruising back north to traverse the St. Johns river near Jacksonville. Numerous phone calls earlier in the week, found us without any confirmed dockage and a few places being too shallow for our draft. The unknown, the 100+ mile back track in addition to the 300 mile side trip, and us being plain tired, had us less than enthusiastic about the trip. We contacted our dockmaster to see if there was availability at our winter marina two weeks earlier than planned and with a quick, well appreciated yes, we had a plan and a destination. We would forgo the St. Johns and head from New Smyrna to Melbourne for the winter.

Our final cruise of the season could not have been more spectacular. We left New Smyrna Beach before first light, taking in the changing colors on the horizon, the stillness of the water, and the tranquility of the area. With big winds kicking up for the rest of the week, we wanted to be settled in Melbourne by the end of the day making it a 70 mile cruise.

The sun slowly rose as we transited through the long no wake zones with dolphins playing. So many dolphins. Life is good. Life is really good. How can you beat that? Well, you can, by cruising along with dozens and we mean dozens of manatees frolicking in the morning waters, basking in the sun, while the dolphins played. Mantees are very difficult to see and photograph as they swim and float just below the water line, making them very prone to prop strikes. You can catch a glimpse of a snout or a tail, as we did here the snout in the center of the photo. We gave up and just watched after a while.

We cruised at a crawl, especially by Haulover Canal where you transit from Mosquito Lagoon to Indian River Lagoon. We’re certain we added an extra hour to our already long day, but we didn’t care. So happy to see the sea creatures and waterfowl enjoying this glorious day alongside us. What a way to close out our 6 month travels.

We passed under the Melbourne Causeway Bridge, and turned west, the Now or Never making its way to Melbourne Harbor Marina, to the same slip we were in for a year, and our home for the next 4-5 months. A little bittersweet as the Now or Never sat here a year while we tended to family matters, it is the last place sweet Remy was on board, the last place Tasha called Mama Sally from the boat, and where we thought our journey might end with the unexpected heart surgery of our captain.

We now look to it as a port of renewal, spending our winter here, with a mended captain heart, happy memories of our first dog and loved ones lost. We’re excited to prepare for our travels to the far North, Great Lakes, and Canada in the spring continuing on our great loop journey.

Our return has us enjoying the cruising community coming through Melbourne on the migration further south. We’ve already met up with Tank, Karen and Eric on Tropical Horizons II, have plans to meet up with a few other friends as they cruise south, and we’re meeting new boaters passing through Melbourne Harbor.

We caught another SpaceX launch from Melbourne and anticipating many more.

Launch video

It’s good to be back “home” for the winter. After a fast and furious October, we’re ready to sit still a while. It took us 39 cruising days over the course of three and one half months to get to Solomons, MD from Melbourne, FL beginning in May. We just completed the return route with 21 cruising days for the month of Ocotber bringing us back to Melbourne from Solomons. That is a fast moving pace for our self procalimed slow looper lifestyle. Dock life sounds good right now.

If you find yourselves on the East Coast of Florida, near Melbourne, please reach out, we would love to see you.

Our next post we will share our statistics from our travels. Since leaving our home port in Indiana in the summer of 2021 we have cruised over 6000 miles, enough to have finished the entire loop, but find ourselves with a lot of miles ahead of us. Thanks for cruising along!

Cheers!  David, Tasha,  

                  & Remy forever in our hearts!

 

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