Perceptions
02 December 2017
Tuesday November 28
We left Sister's Creek dock at 9 a.m. after Wally's group left. It was sunny and so warm that we had to roll up four panels of our surround. We will probably take them completely off soon. The sky got dark, we had a brief shower and then the sun was out again. Welcome to Florida! It was a nice, calm, easy day. We listened to some music and watched dolphins swim around us. We spotted flocks of white pelicans on the sandbars. We were just in time for the 3:00 opening of the Bridge of Lions Bridge. We pulled into the fuel dock at the St. Augustine Municipal marina, fueled up and checked in, and then turned around and went back through the bridge on the 3:30 opening to our mooring on the north side of the bridge. As we pulled into our mooring spot, I noticed a boat next to us that looked just like Carl's previous boat, Perceptions. Then I saw the name on the transom. It was Perceptions! That's just crazy! What a small world! We enjoyed an early happy hour at 4 o'clock and watched the Christmas lights come on in town. We had a perfect view between the bridge and the fort. After dinner we went back to the cockpit and were joined by a lone dolphin who came up and spouted off several times as a heron standing on the mooring ball behind us looked on.
Wednesday November 29
We waited for the pumpout boat to come before leaving the mooring field this morning. We untied from the mooring ball at 9:45 a.m. and went through on the 10:00 a.m. opening of the Bridge of Lions bridge headed south again. We followed behind two Canadian boats. It is just a three hour trip to Marineland Marina. We are tied up at the dock at 1:10 p.m. Since we were here two years ago, they have just recently completed renovations including new concrete floating docks, new bathrooms, showers and laundry facilities. Getting in early gives me time to do a load of laundry. After that we took a walk to the beach and stopped by the gift shop at Marineland and had ice cream. Marineland reminds me of my childhood. I'd love to see a dolphin show but we don't have enough time. The sand dunes were rearranged by the last hurricaine. Bulldozers are still moving sand back across the A1A highway. We took our showers and ordered a pizza from Tony's. They delivered to the marina. We need to get an early start tomorrow. We will try to get 50 miles behind us.
Thursday 11/30
We were underway at 7 a.m. There was so much moisture in the air. I had to wipe and re-wipe the front windows to see.The sun is right in front of us too. I finally rolled the front window up for better visability. There were crab pots everywhere. We saw more damaged docks all the way through Daytona Beach. There were very few that were spared. Some had boats still in the lifts, sitting out in the water with no dock left. There were lots of sunken boats and sailboats with no masts. We motored through the narrow channel of the ICW. We had no problems with the shoaling areas today. After two bridge opening we were at New Smyrna Beach and anchored by 2:30 p.m.. We made good time today with the tide. It is sunny and warm with a nice sea breeze. Before the sun sets, a dozen sailboats have dropped their anchors here.