When we anchored in the Mosquito Lagoon, the scene was beautiful. The sun was near setting and the huge, full moon was also out. The space shuttle assembly building at the Kennedy Space Station could be seen way off in the distance. A fire way off to west brought the smell of fire which made it feel like we were camping in the wilderness. The water was calm and it was a very relaxing evening. The morning was even more spectacular. The water was as smooth as glass with the exception of the dolphins coming up for air. There were numerous fishing boats off in the distance and just a very slight fog. The mangroves looked as if they had a frost on them, but it was probably just white from the salt. Every now and then a boat would go by and create a ripple across the water which made the scene even more splendid. (I was going to add a picture, but my camera is not being recognized by windows, ugh! - sorry. I better call tech support - oh wait, that's me :).
Yesterday we got to Daytona around 3:00 p.m. Although the weather reported 70's the day felt very chilly motoring up the ICW. We just couldn't get the chill out. Michele even put a scarf on (thanks to Nathan's Christmas present last December). Since the sun was behind us all day, the cockpit remained in shade making it even harder to warm up. The wind was usually blowing around 10 knots. When we arrived in Daytona and it was time to anchor, however, the winds decided to pick up to 18 to 20. It just loves doing that! Even though we didn't have a plan B on where to go, Steve wanted to just keep on going. We passed up two anchorages (including the one we were in last December). After continuing on past all the bridges in Daytona, we decided on a spot to drop the hook. We were happy we did too.
At around 5:30 we met Ray and Helen, Rigamarole, at Carribbean Jack's for dinner and drinks. Since we hadn't seen them since Maryland last year, we had a lot to catch up on. Originally they had planned to go to the Bahamas this winter, but circumstances kept them land locked (except for a weekend cruise to Nassau over Valentine's). They will also be heading back up north within a couple of weeks, so we hope they catch up to us and we can travel together up the east coast. It was really fun to hang out with them again.
When we were dinghying ashore to go to dinner, we noticed another Island Packet anchored before the last bridge (where we were going to anchor). Michele thought the name was Ariel, but couldn't see it well enough to be sure. On the way bag to the boat from dinner, we could clearly make out the name and low and behold, it was Ariel. We know Norm and Linda from NEB in Rhode Island and ran into them at Deltaville back in Virginia. As they hurried down the east coast, they made it to Bahamas back in the fall and stayed there all winter. It seems that their pace up the coast might be quicker than ours, but maybe we'll catch up to them in Fernandina. This cruising stuff is pretty funny how you just keep running into people you know.
This morning we started the engine at 7:30 and were back in the ICW by 7:45. We are on our way to St. Augustine's which is approximately 50 miles. Yes, a one hour car ride will take us 10 hours at 5 knts./hour. If the current isn't against us, we may do 6 knots and arrive in maybe 8 hours. It still remains to be seen how long we will stay in St. Augustine's and if the Millers will join us for a day or two. Happy Good Friday to all the Christians.
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