We decided to leave the ICW and take the eastern path over to see the Ponce de Leon inlet. It required some careful navigating because these inlet paths shoal up and the shallows move around in ways that don't show on the charts. We got a good look at the lighthouse and a good look into the Atlantic through the inlet. It was very calm in the ocean, but we could feel the strong currents from the tide rushing in to the ICW.
We broke out the shorts and t-shirts for the short trip up the ICW to Daytona. We arrived at Halifax Harbor Marina about noon. It was a huge marina with 550 slips and even had it's own West Marine Store on the premises. We tied up in our slip and enjoyed walking the docks to look at all the beautiful boats. John and Beau needed to get back home to Knoxville, so we ate dinner at the Chart House to celebrate a great week of cruising together. They had to get up 6 a.m. on Wednesday to ride a shuttle to the airport.
I was considering making the next leg of the trip (52 miles to St. Augustine) by myself on Wednesday...until I checked the weather. There was an 80 percent chance of rain with a possibility of severe thunderstorms. I hadn't done any of trip alone yet and this didn't look like the day to start.
The sunrise on Wednesday seemed to bear out the old adage, "Red sky at morning, sailors take warning." But as the day wore on, the forecasted rain never came. The sun was even out most of the day. There has been so little rain in Florida for the past six months, I think the forecast was more wishful thinking than meteorological science.
I rented a car and drove to the boatyard in Green Cove Springs to meet my next crew, Bob. He was going to leave his car there, as it is my final destination. The yard there will drop the mast and load Agaliha onto a tractor-trailer for the trip home.
We drove back to Daytona and went to bed early because we needed to get an early start for St. Augustine on Thursday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment