A Day in Daytona

      Daytona Beach is a neat little city, so we decided to hang out there for a day.  In addition, we had a fabulous marina (Halifax Harbor); a great slip with a view out to the channel; and some pretty cool  neighbors.  We also met some other "Loopers," as we call ourselves, and they had a car.  They took us out to run errands and then on a short tour of the city.  Of course, we had to see the Daytona 500 track (damn--it is really huge), and then we headed to the beachfront area.  That reminded me a little bit of Pismo Beach in that you can drive about 12 miles on the beach (for a fee, of course).
     Other than that, it was relaxing day.  We cooked on board and then prepared for our next day on the water, which presented us with our first real challenge of the trip (more on that after the Daytona photos below.)

 Sunrise at the marina (from the back of our boat)

The famous track

View of the channel from the inside of our boat (check out that cool heron lamp--stolen from the Goodwill store at an exorbitant price!)

Chef Kathy manning the galley

 

    

  About our "challenge" for the Day

     Our journey today took us through an area of "skinny" water (boater lingo for shallow) and it turned out to be a little more nerve-wracking than I would have liked.  We were advised, while still in Daytona, to pay close attention so that we would cross this passage at high tide.  Timing the passage got a little dicey and, as we approached the area, we heard that a boat who has passed before us had run aground and was stuck  (picture below--it was a big boat and he was sitting on the sand).  Listening to the radio communications between the boats around us provided the best advice and we ended up trailing a sailboat whose draft was a couple of feet greater than ours.  We figured if he hit bottom, we would have plenty of time to stop behind him (cowards that we are).  Obviously, we made it through, but not without a few laughs at the expense of the guy stranded there. 

     Other than that scary (and very slow) trip through the shallows, the day was great.  As usual, we saw lots of birds and dolphins (some of whom joined us) and some pretty luxurious homes along the banks.  Photos below will give you an idea of the scenery we had along the way.  

This guy is sitting on the sandbar.  It doesn't look so bad in this photo, but he isn't going anywhere.  We listened on the radio as he continually called for a towboat to pull him off (he eventually was freed because we later saw him in the channel).

I hope you can read this sign--it warns of the many manatee zones along the waterway (and basically says "Slow Down!")

Here are some dolphins jumping around in front of us

This is the local tourist tour boat here at St. Augustine where we have landed for the night.

Tomorrow I will write about St. Augustine (think Ponce de Leon and the "Fountain of Youth."  I'm there, baby).