May 28, 2009: Daytona Beach, FL

Lighthouse Alert: This morning we saw the tall red Ponce de Leon Inlet lighthouse. This lighthouse is over a hundred years old, built in 1887, and is the tallest light house in Florida. Its 175 feet height rises above the river just north of the Ponce de Leon Inlet. We passed the city of Port Orange and just beyond it spotted Calico Jack, the first big commercial shrimping boat we had seen in a while. We did not have far to go today as we wanted to visit Daytona Beach.

We came under the International Speedway bridge and found it artistically adorned with leaping dolphin and manatees, and anchored by the Oakridge bridge. This location afforded us a nearby city ramp and pier, so we (Tom) packed the bikes into the dink and headed to shore.

Our outing for today was to visit the Daytona “beach” where Henry Ford and Louis Chevrolet tried out new automobile engines. This is where the auto racing began in Florida, and true to that tradition, automobiles still frequent the beach. The Daytona 500 opened in 1957, when the racing moved away from the beach to handle the crowds. We found a number of trucks and cars on the beach. One was a parasail meeting place, one a bike rental, and several were food establishments. We found a table with an umbrella almost in the water by one of the hot dog stands and that is where we had a wonderful lunch. The proprietor was very friendly. He told us he had a 5 year lease on that exact spot on the beach and brought his truck there every day. He said he had an offer of $125,000 from the Hilton across the street to buy him out. But he turned it down because he makes twice that every year.

The sand on the beach was quite unusual. You could walk down the beach, even in the water without leaving footprints. Children who were trying to play in the sand were putting some effort into making any dents in it. Apparently it is naturally packed and has been this way historically, hence the auto racing. Perhaps the sand is unusually fine, or the flatness of the beach allows the tidal water to make it harder, but it was interesting to experience. I even road my skinny tire road bike down the beach for a ways just to prove that I could. I’ve never seen anything like it.

After supper on the boat, we returned later in the evening to see a movie at a theater on the beach. We saw Night at the Museum: Battle at the Smithsonian with Ben Stiller (which I recommend!) The theater overlooked an amphitheater type plaza right on the beach. After some ice cream at the Stone Creamery, we headed back to the dinghy only to realize that the rain was starting to come down. By the time we reached the park, it was really raining as we loaded the bikes into the Caribe. Then we discovered that the tide had gone out leaving the Caribe in very shallow water, which took some work to get us shoved off and engine cranked. Needless to say, we were soaked climbing back into the big boat... but it was part of the adventure.

May 27, 2009: Cape Canaveral, FL

This morning we watched dolphins looking for their breakfast while we were having ours. Our table has a great view. We continued up Indian River today and saw serveral unique sailing schooners, one with square brown sails that were raised the old fashioned way. We saw two large dolphin cruising along close to the boat – I just wish I could get some good pictures of that.

Farther north we decided to take a side trip to see Cape Canaveral. We took the barge canal eastward that runs from Indian River to the Banana River; parallel to Highway 1A and cuts through Merritt Island. We saw fishermen along the way enjoying the opportunity to "wet a line"

Mid island we found a couple of large Marinas; Harbor Town had a huge storage warehouse for shelving boats; and hundreds of boats tucked away off the narrow canal.

We also saw the first long leaf pine trees that I had seen in a long time... sort of remined me of the dark green woods of North Carolina.

Entering the Banana River, straight ahead we could see the Canaveral Lock that connects the river to the Atlantic Ocean. It is the largest navigational lock in Florida and protects the river and surrounding shore line from the tidal currents and hurricane surf surges. We heard from the USCG that the lock was closed today due to a malfunctioning door so it was good we were not planning to go through to the ocean.

We continued up the river until we were across from the John F Kennedy Space Center, where we anchored just out of the 9 foot deep channel for a swim and lunch. The salty water felt great and there wasn’t much current – it was fun to take a dip in such a famous place. This is a 10,000-acre federal manatee protection area and part of the Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. So in addition to being where the space shuttle launches occur, it is also a pristine estuary. Because the fish are unmolested by outboard-motor noise (you could not go beyond where we were in a motor boat), and food for them here is so plentiful, the giant redfish and black drum feed easily along the grass banks of the Banana River and some grow to world record sizes.

On the other side of the bay at some distance we could see the US NASA complex inclulding the huge American flag drapped across the end of the building.

We retraced our path back to the Indian River and continued north to where the ICW crosses

over into Mosquito Lagoon through the Haulover Canal. There was a historical marker at a little park at the entrance to the canal documenting that American Indians carried their canoes across this narrow strip of land to reach the excellent fishing in the shallow lagoon on the over side. In 1835 Fort Anne was built here to protect the haulover place for military supplies during the 2^nd Seminole War. In 1887 the canal was dredged to allow passage for steamboats to navigate to the river. Then in 1927 the passage became part of the ICW and was taken over by the Army Corps of Engineers. While we didn't see any manatee there, we did see some fishermen standing waist deep in water as a dolphin slowly fished in the water right behind them!. We also saw some snowy white egrets fishing; so it must have been a great fishing place.

As we looked for our anchorage near New Smyrna was the storm clouds rolled in. We were trying to beat the rain, but there was current and a shoal to be dealt with so Tom got soaked on the bow as we set our anchor. After we found our storm again this afternoon, the good news was that it was over quickly and this time we were blessed with a rainbow. So we had both a rainbow, and as the sky cleared, a beautiful sunset.

May 26 2009: To Valkaria, Fl by way of Fort Pierce

The sun was bright this morning as we pulled anchor next to a large white sailboat who shared our anchorage in Manatee Pocket. Our first task of the day was to fill up with 200 gallons of diesel fuel at the Pirates Cove marina where we met a lady with family in Durham. She commented that the river there reminded her of Eastern NC waterways (however, there was not a shrimp boat in site!) Then we began retracting our path back to the ICW.

Today the ICW runs along in Indian River. Indian River is a couple of miles wide but shallow, only about 8 to 10 feet in the channel. The broad water is dappled with small islands and sand bars. It is a delightful place for water birds and we were happily surprised to see our first pink flamingos dining along the shore. There was also a tall dignified blue Heron on the shore.

Our big outing for the day was a visit to Fort Pierce. Tom called the US Navy SEALs Museum and got directions for how to find the place by boat. We crossed under the Fort Pierce bridge and turned up a narrow channel, anchoring where we could dinghy the bikes to a little sandy spot on the shore. The beach was right by Highway A1A and there was a wonderful paved bicycle trail that covered the mile and a half ride to the museum. The museum sits on ground considered the birthplace of the Navy Frogmen and brought to life a segment of miliary history full of rigor, challenge and heroism. The museum was dedicated in 1985 and has had a stream of artifacts collected here.

On the grounds we saw a Huey helicopter and two desert patrol vehicles (DPV) which had been used by Navy SEALS in military operations in Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. The DPVs could be dropped by parachute, were heavily armed and could reach speeds of 80 mph. There were also unique underwater vehicles, some that were filled with water so that the occupants wore SCUBA gear while riding.

Inside the museum, the Navy history explained discovering the need for underwater demolition after the WWII battle of Tarawa. Many US Marines lives were lost because the landing crafts were not able to reach the beaches. After that underwater demolition teams performed reconnaissance for every beach invasion clearing the shores of defenses. They had a map of the Omaha beach in France show where each of the barriers were.

There were interesting life stories, like young Draper Kauffman who graduated from the Naval Academy in 1933 but was denied his commission because of poor eyesight. He went to France and volunteered as an ambulance driver until the French Army collapsed; and then enlisted in the UK Naval Reserves where he learned about how to dismantle unexploded bombs. When he returned to Washington, DC in 1941 he gained his commission with the US Navy, and was called on to formulate the training and operations of a new underwater demolition team. He chose Fort Pierce, Fl as the training ground, and from 1943 to 1946 thousands of brave volunteers were trained as members of the Navy Combat Demolition Units. They were the first on the beach on D Day in Normandy in 1944, and two weeks later Kauffman led the 100 man underwater demolition team (UDT) in the invasion of Saipan in the Pacific. The UDT's removed 600 beach obstacles in the battle for Guam making the way for 50,000 US troops and the securing of a firm supply line for the US troops in the Pacific. The museum included a small wooden sign said to have been left that day as a prank on the beach inviting the Marines to the USO!

Draper Kauffman served America well; later becoming an Admiral as well as serving as the Superintendent of the Naval Academy.

The UDTs became the Sea, air and Land Teams (SEALs) in Vietnam where they were charged with intelligence gathering in the jungles. There was a video showing some of the SEALs current training program including swimming with their hands and feet tied – pretty amazing.

Our return to the boat was quick and we were back underway. In the afternoon we passed Orchid Island with its elegant homes on the water front; and we saw dolphins playing in the wake of the boat in front of us. They seemed to be leaping over the boat wake like children playing in the surf on the sea shore.

We are learning the early summer Florida weather pattern. The late afternoon has brought storm clouds again and we anchored just minutes before the bottom dropped out. We could see the rain moving across the water and the lightening in the distance.

May 25, 2009: Memorial Day on the ICW

We have returned to the Next Thirty Years adventure and left Palm Beach behind today cruising north. The water front nearing the Worth Inlet was familiar after our many bike rides along the trail, and we passed the Flagler Mansion and other grand estates along the shore. The long sleek yachts gleaming in the sun spoke of the wealth of the area married to the love for the water. We were told that many of these huge cruisers are now for sale.

The industrial port at the inlet was stacked with dark red train containers 3 to 4 to 5 deep, waiting shipping to their destination. It is amazing to reflect on the commerce that we rarely see from this perspective.

The waterways and parks were crowded with boats and people out enjoying the holiday and the morning sun. We passed the JD MacArthur Beach State park and it felt, literally, like boats were everywhere. There were even boats pulled up to a sandbar so everyone was playing in water ankle deep. Dogs and frisbees were a part of the celebration. We had to pay a lot of attention to driving (maybe reminds one of Lake Gaston on Saturday!) We turned under the Federal Highway bridge and followed the ICW inland, but as we neared Jupiter, we crossed back east of the Federal Highway. The Jupiter inlet was also dotted with small craft coming in from the ocean. The water here was once again that beautiful jade green we had seen in the Bahamas. It made me smile to see it - my new favorite color. It was strange to see the water seem to change shades and I can only assume it is because the bottom here is sandy. The course led up the Jupiter Sound north along the inside of the barrier Jupiter Island. This led into Hobe Sound where we passed beautiful green and palm tree studded golf courses and an occasional waterfront restaurant. But wanting to move along, we had lunch on the boat without taking a break.

Tom found an anchorage up the St Lucia River and as we neared the inlet to the ocean, the waterway was jammed with high speed boats coming in to avoid the approaching thunderstorm. Our destination for today was Stuart, Florida. We saw lightening in the distance under the dark clouds as we set our anchor in the calm water of a small shallow bay called Manatee Pocket. The stage was set, but we never had a hard rain. The steaks we grilled on the back deck were perfect even without a sunset.