2/22 - 3/4/23 - Ft. Pierce to St. Augustine
Wed, 2/22/23 - Ft. Pierce to Melbourne (Eau Gaille Yacht Basin) (51.8 nm). Early rise for another gorgeous day of cruising the ICW. Sooo many dolphins, and beautiful birds - life is good.
Around 2:00 p.m. we pulled into Eau Gaille Yacht Basin and were greeted by 3 people on the dock. Still not sure if they were slip holders or employees, but it was the first indicator of a GREAT stay!
- I could probably do an entire post on how great Eau Gaille Yacht Basin was - highlights:
- $1.50/foot transient dock fee includes water, electric and pump out - what a bargain!
- Conveniently located on the west side of the ICW on the Eau Gaille River, Melbourne.
- We arrived on a Wednesday - Every Wednesday is Potluck night at EGYB. Trays ofstuffed cabbage, hot wings, homemade pies, decadent desserts, etc. All prepared and shared by the lovely, friendly people.
- The property is old, but well-cared for. The shower and laundry rooms were very nice.
- A short walk to a cute town / art district
- Cool Intracoastal Brewery that clearly had some influence from local artists.
- Lots of safe, flat terrain to run/bike.
- The owners, Mike & Melissa, live in a beautiful house overlooking the marina. They joined us for docktails along with:
- Gold Loopers, Joe & Christine on SeaBatical (44 DeFever)
- Earle & Lynn on Aries (44 DeFever)
- Mike and Melissa were very gracious, and we learned about the other investments they are making in the local boating community; 2 more marinas in the future.
- Christine had a flight out of Orlando the next morning. Melissa was also flying out of MCO, but a little later. They generously offered to leave earlier and take Christine - WOW!
- Space coast excitement started to build as we crossed under the Cocoa bridge and the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building came into sight.
- Titusville is a huge, city marina with helpful staff. Mark greeted us at the dock and helped us tie up.
- We checked out the amenities, which were very nice, and
- Walked about 1/2 mile to Playalinda brewery. We would have liked to sample the "Liquid Stupid", but it wasn't quite ready to be tapped yet.
Sat, 2/25 - Titusville Marina. Field trip to the Kennedy Space Center.
- I was finishing up my shower, when a woman (who I now know as Katie), came in and mentioned they were going to the Kennedy Space Center. I said, "so are we". She asked if we would like to share an Uber with them. Which we did.
- And by share, Katie meant, come along with us - n/c! I'm telling you; this boating community is the most generous and helpful group of folks.
- Of course, the KSC was great. We spent the entire day, and still did not see everything.
- We really hated to miss our Grandson, Harvey Brown's, 1st birthday, but sending lots of love and kisses to our beautiful boy!
Sun, 2/26 - Titusville Marina. We extended our stay with the hope of catching the launch of SpaceX Falcon 9 taking 4 astronauts to the International Space Station: 2 American, 1 Russian, and 1 United Arab Emirates.
- The marina is flanked by parks on either side providing lots of space for a 3-mile run.
- I noticed a couple of gators in the pond so after I returned, I jumped on the ebike to get a picture. Whoa - that guy/gal was huge!
- Brian applied another layer of ceramic coat to keep Port-A-Gee's shine.
- I showered and did laundry - very nice, clean, air-conditioned facilities.
- Our alarm clock went off at 1:00 a.m. so that we could catch the Space X launch. We walked a little over 1/2 mile and stood on the A. Max Brewer bridge for a fantastic view. The countdown got to about 1 min. 30 secs. and the mission was scrubbed due to an ignition issue.
2:00 a.m.!!
Mon, 2/27 - Titusville to Daytona Beach (Halifax Harbor) (47.7 nm). As we made our approach out of the marina, we saw a lot of boats anchored - they must have wanted to catch the launch too. We entered Mosquito Lagoon and set our course north.
- New Smyrna marked the end of our passage on the Indian River which began in Port St. Lucie. The Indian River serves as the ICW between Jupiter and New Smyrna Beach.
- Next we navigated the Halifax River.
- This last of part of the Indian River had all of nature's critters were on exhibition!
- Dolphin, Manatee, alligators, huge white pelicans, brown pelicans, loons and turtles.
- We arrived at Halifax Harbor around 4:00 p.m. and were greeted by "Coach" at our slip in the south basin and he gave us the rundown of the surrounding area.
- Halifax Harbor is a huge marina located close to a quaint waterfront downtown.
- The shower rooms were adequate.
- Wifi was pretty good
- While we were walking around the marina, I got an alert from my Space Launch App notified me that Space X was sending up more Starlink satellites in 8 minutes. So we DID get to see a rocket launch after all!
Tues, 2/28 - Daytona Beach
- Just steps outside the marina were miles of wide, flat sidewalks for running/walking/biking.
- Downtown was a short 1/2-mile walk to lots of restaurants and shops.
- Bike week was beginning the following week, and the early birds made themselves known as they cruised the waterfront.
- Our friends Penny and Thunder came by to have dinner with us. It was great catching up with them!
- Happy 34th Birthday, Dominick!
Wed, 3/1 - Daytona Beach to St. Augustine (Rivers Edge Marina) (53.5nm). It was too foggy for a first light departure, but by 9:00 a.m. we were pulling away from Halifax Harbor on a gorgeous morning.
Thurs 3/2 - Sat, 3/4 - St. Augustine: St. Augustine will definitely make the "Best Of" final cut. We spent 2 days riding our bicycles around town. So much to do, see, eat & drink!!!
- Rivers Edge Marina isn't as popular as the City Marina, but we found it to be just great!
- Paul, the dockmaster is super laid back, and very helpful.
- Floating Docks - YAY
- Nice shower (but could use a more regular cleaning), 2 washers, 2 dryers in good shape.
- Courtesy bicycles
- Free Pump out
- Restaurant on site - Hurricane Patty's, but we never made it there.
- Less than 1/2 mile walk into town.
- 1/2-mile walk to Winn Dixie, West Marine, and any other provisioning needs.
- Incidentally, it's not really a bicycle-friendly city. Seems the guided Trolleys are the way to go. Oh well, we enjoyed our self-guided tour of:
- Cathedral Basilica of St. Augustine
- The Lightner Museum
- Flagler College
- Castillo de San Marcos historic fort
- St. Augustine Lighthouse, and bonus Heritage Boatworks was very cool too!
- St. Augustine Distillery
- Dining / Drinking highlights:
- Columbia
- Fish Camp
- Ice Plant
LEG STATS:
Miles: 191.10 Nautical Miles (51.8, 38.1, 47.7, 53.5
Locks: 0
Marinas: (4) Eau Gaille/Melbourne, Titusville Marina, Halifax Harbor/Daytona Beach, Rivers Edge/St. Augustine
Anchorages: (0)
Hi. My name is John McGee in Fort Walton Beach, FL. I have a Mainship Pilot 34 also. So, Im very interested in how your boat has performed, and what you think about looping on it. Too big, too small or just right? Im sure I’ll have some questions for you. Im hoping I can do start my loop next year. I communicated with you about your canopy as you started on your loop, but then I lost track of you. Ive read all of your blogs through your stop in St Augustine. Im looking forward to following as you continue. Im sorry I didnt get to meet you when you passed through Ft Walton Beach. Safe travels. Maybe next time!
ReplyDeleteHi John - Sorry we missed you in Ft. Walton. The weather wasn't great when we were coming through, so we pushed on.
ReplyDeleteWe love the 34' Mainship Pilot, and feel it is a great Loop boat. Some may feel it is still on the small side, but we covered a lot of the Loop on a 26' boat, so I guess it's perspective!
Our Pilot has the unique feature of a hard enclosed pilothouse w/doors and windows. It has given us protection, privacy and security.
It met most of our Wishlist items, with the exception of a generator, which was resolved with 3 large solar panels; and a separate shower/head, but it is spacious enough that it has not been a problem. We particularly appreciate the extra fuel and water capacity.
We like that we can cruise at 8kts, but she can move out when we don't mind burning the diesel too!
We can go under bridges, and skinny water, the multitude of Locks were easily managed.
We're happy to get on the phone and give more detail if you'd like.