Daytona and South
27 April 2012 | The Beach
Dede & Jim Sunny Florida
Underway from Marineland Marina to Daytona Beach on a rising tide on Wed, April 25th via the ICW. There is much history along this section of the waterway. General Hernández once owned land along the waterway (Bella Vista Plantation). He not only was a farmer but a military leader during the Seminole Wars. Between uprisings, he quietly cultivated sea cotton and oranges here. Unfortunately, his military success cost him his homestead…in retaliation for his leadership in the Seminole Wars, the Seminole Indians burned his entire plantation to the ground. It is now a park, w/some archaeological excavating producing remnants of the foundation of his home.
History states that apparently President Herbert Hoover was transiting this area of the waterway aboard the “Sequoia.” The yacht made an abrupt turn, Hoover was thrown from his chair, and angrily shouted, “Someone ought to straighten out this damn curve…”and so they did!! That part of the waterway is now straight and a new island has been created…”Snake Island.” Believe it or not…
Two unusual retirement hangouts overlook the waterway as we approach Ormond Beach. John D. Rockefeller’s retirement home…called “The Casements” after its’ many casement windows. Rockefeller lived here until he died at the age of 97. The other…much less famous…is an old 2-story building jutting out into the Halifax River. A group of residents wanted a yacht club, cut a deal w/the city and the building never appeared on the tax rolls. This clandestine club, still w/its old time members, still “doesn’t exist!!”
On to Daytona. This area of Florida is called the Halifax Area because the ICW in this section is known as the Halifax River. It was named in the 1760s for Lord Halifax of England by a British surveyor. Rather than anchor, we decided to try our luck w/the Halifax River Yacht Club. They recognized our reciprocity w/the EGYC, and we laid up on a t-dock for 2 nights at $.75/ft!!!!. The club is beautiful and VERY accommodating! Spotless showers and laundry facilities, a heated pool and 2-wonderful restaurants!! It is in the heart of “Beach Street…”
We spent our 1st day touring on foot…the little shops and museum on Beach Street, had a lovely dinner…then to bed. We arose early on Thursday, got on our bikes, over the bridges and on to the barrier island known as the infamous Daytona beach. For many years, Daytona Beach has been synonymous w/speed and racing. From 1903 to 1936 all land and speed records were set on this beach, giving it the designation of the World’s Most Famous beach. In addition to speed trials, various types of competitive races were run on the beach, but the most famous of all, the Beach Road Course was created in 1936 for automobile stock car and motorcycle races. They continued to be held on this course until the Daytona Internat’l Speedway was opened in 1959.
We enjoyed our biking on the beach…as well as watching cars on designated areas. The beach was crowded by 11am…temp 85…and off we went for ice cream after a swim!!
Jim spent a good portion of the afternoon exploring all the motorcycle shops…I hope this is not going to be his next adventure!! Yikes!!
Dropped lines from the dock, and left early Friday am…on a rising tide…to head south.
Jims take on things:
Funny tides here on the AICW on the outside of Daytona Beach and at the Ponce De Leone Inlet the tide is high is high, here at the dock on the inside the tide was high at 4 am and still dropping! They seem to be several our out of sync. However that works quite well for us. I like the water to get out of the narrow cut into the Yacht Club and the high water at Ponce Inlet Cut will give us an extra 2’ ft in the shoals around the channel.
Now a couple of hours later we have made it down to Ponce Deleon Inlet and into New Smyrna beach. We managed it with only a slight bit of confusion with AICW and the main inlet boys. Got to remember the little AICW Triangles and Squares on the IOCW marks! Anchored in front of the New Smyrna Yacht club-they have no room for us!. That’s of the anchor is free and hopefully it will hold in the 5kn current and 15kt wind. Temp is 85 degrees at noon—I’m going for a Mexican type siesta! We’ll dingy into club and do our visiting later in afternoon.