Daytona Beach to New Smyrna Beach We no sooner dropped our anchor in Daytona Beach than a police boat pulled alongside. They wanted to let us know that we were welcome to stay 72 hours then we would be moving along. Real friendly fellows but an interesting choice for a welcoming committee. As it was we stayed less than 24 hours. During that time we were lucky enough to attend their open-air farmer's market. The carts of fresh citrus fruit were a delight to our eyes and taste buds alike. The dolphins continue to thrill and amaze us. While in our dingy at a dock in Daytona Beach we had one swim beside us as we were right on water level with it. A short ride down the ICW brought us to Rockhouse Creek where we found easy access to New Smyrna Beach at the Ponce de Leon Inlet. We enjoyed a hot (80F at last) sunny day watching surfers and collecting shells on this beautiful ocean beach.

Titusville, Florida Mile 878 ICW Merry Christmas November 28, 2006 - today we reached the Titusville Municipal Marina which is where we will leave our boat while we fly home for Christmas. Staff here have told us that the shallow waters of the marina are frequented by many manatee. So much so, they can be quite a menace. Since the manatee are so large and the water so shallow, they say you can almost use them as stepping stones. Apparently the boat traffic in the marina is often brought to a halt as boaters patiently wait for the manatee to finish dining on the sea grass and move out of the slips. We send our most sincere best wishes to all for a very Merry Christmas and good health and happiness in the New Year. We hope to resume our adventure and blog postings in January.

Manatee Stake-out As we move further south to the Central Florida area we note that much of the salt marsh is replaced by mangroves. We started seeing the familiar "slow no wake" signs being replaced by "manatee area slow" signs in Georgia. We've wondered since then if indeed the endangered manatee were really in the area or if it was just another way to try to get the boats to slow down. Our curiosity caught, we had to see for ourselves. Our "Skipper Bob" cruising guide showed a small basin at M869.5 ICW, in the Haulover canal as a manatee "hot-spot", so we decided to lay anchor and see if we could spot one. It took about 3 hours of watching the bubbles come to the surface before we finally spotted an adult manatee. It rose about 10 feet off of our bow, had a good look at us, as we it, and re-submerged. An average adult weighs in at 2,000 pounds and measures 11 feet in length. It was hard to miss and quite a thrill to see. The Haulover canal area was also a dolphin "hot-spot". Five made themselves very visible as we waited out the manatee. They were agressively feeding right beside the boat. Each time they came in to the small basin, the strength of their bodies had the water in a full frenzy. While in the Haulover canal, the operator of the bridge, Earl, kindly invited us in to show us the bridge operation.

Dolphins in the Intercoastal Waterway

St. Augustine - U.S. Thanksgiving Day We spent the U.S. Thanksgiving Day (Nov. 23rd) on anchor just off of the oldest city in the United States - St. Augustine, Florida. It felt very festive to be anchored in the midst of the holiday lights on the waterfront. We enjoyed watching the Macy's parade on board in the morning. Afterwards we did some sight-seeing of the historic Spanish influence in the City. We even found the famous fountain of youth (not that it helped). The evening found us enjoying a wonderful Thanksgiving Day feast at the waterfront Hilton hotel (when in Rome). We enjoyed the holiday immensely. Happy Thanksgiving to our American hosts.

Florida - Kingsley Plantation We spent a day on anchor in Ft. George River while we toured the Kingsley Plantation (1814). On its property stands the ruins of 25 tabby constucted slave cabins, in various stages of restoration. The Kingsley Plantation is the oldest standing plantation house in Florida, complete with its barn and kitchen house. Extensive restoration has made this site one of the most intact examples of the plantation system in Florida.

Lost Leaving the National Seashore behind we headed out across Cumberland Sound on our way south into Florida. Once across we stopped at a small town to make a phone call home. We were surprised to see that the town was St. Mary's Georgia as we had expected to cross the Georgia/Florida border in the middle of the sound. We were sure the number progression of the marker signs had been correct. We carried on after our call for another mile or so before we ran out of depth and had to turn around and retrace our steps back out to the sound. A second look at the markers revealed that the numbers were right but they didn't bear the small ICW yellow square or triangle. Barry quickly slipped below to hook our GPS up to the Fugawi software on our laptop to see just where we were. This enabled us to find our way to the correct ICW markers and across the Sound and into Florida. If we had to get lost we were glad it was at high tide. The 7 foot tides in the Cumberland Sound gave us more breathing room over the many shoals.

Cumberland Island National Seashore - M710 ICW It took us 2 visits to the Cumberland Island National Seashore park which encompasses Cumberland Island in Georgia, to fathom what an amazing place we had found - from the uniqueness of the ruins of the Carnegie mansion, complete with its recreational building, cemetery and decaying autos to the breath-taking beauty of the wild horses on the miles of sand, ocean beach. While hiking we encountered an armadillo and wild turkeys who were on the run like they knew Thanksgiving was near. The island houses a museum with items from the past that show the extreme wealth and opulence of the island's former residents - the Carnegie family. A sea-shuttle from St. Mary's Georgia brings campers, with their gear, to enjoy camp-sites on the island ($2.00 per night). The sites are surrounded by the beautiful moss-draped oak trees and ferns that cover the island. The unspoiled natural ocean beach edging the island is a nesting place for Loggerhead turtles. We were in awe of the natural beauty we encountered as we enjoyed this National Seashore park.

Wild horses and armadillo Cumberland Island National Seashore

Salt Marshes of Georgia Coastal Georgia has more deep, long creeks and rivers than the South Carolina low country. They thread their serpentine courses through the marshes. On board, our view is of only marsh grass, sky and our own small ribbon of water. The grass reaches towards infinity except to the west where occasionally a dark line of far distant trees defines the horizon. While travelling in the marshes we can see the masts of other sailboats miles away as they make their own progression along. The morning sunrise on the mist in the marshes gave us a gorgeous start to the day.

Tour of historic Beaufort, South Carolina

Mile 500 (ICW) On November 12th, in strong winds (20-25 knots), we sailed past mile marker 500 of the Intercoastal Waterway. We are constantly entertained by the dolphins. Each day we sight between 5 and 10. On two very exciting occasions we had them swim for a distance with us, along side our hull in our wake. We took time out to enjoy a horse-drawn tour of historic Beaufort, S.C., where we were in awe of the Spanish moss as well as the buildings made out of Tabby (oyster shells). In addition to their rich history, the residents of Beaufort take delight in being the location where the movie "Forrest Gump" was filmed. Beaufort's dock was the first place we saw a sign regarding the manatees. Tropical vegetation continues to become more evident. Just before we slipped into Georgia on November 14th we threw the anchor and enjoyed a stroll on a beautiful white sand beach on Hilton Head Island.

Pole Position Heron, Pelicans, Cormorants

South Carolina November 8th saw us anchored in Dutchman Creek (M310). As we travel along we enjoy viewing the seemingly never-ending row of huge homes lining the Outer Banks. They seem so isolated, strung side-by-side, mile upon mile, on their narrow strip of sand. Truly an ideal location in fair weather, but very frightening in foul. On November 9th we passed into South Carolina. Much to our delight we caught up to our friends that we met on the Erie Canal, Charlie & Christine McCullough, on Wingspread. We enjoyed their company at Barefoot Landing, near Myrtle Beach and travelled with them to spend the next day together as well in Georgetown. Here we were surprised to read the sign posted on the town dock prohibiting the feeding of alligators. No problem there. On the days we are unable to sail and must travel solely by power we put our hammock up on deck between the forestay and mast, where we take turns relaxing as we make our way along. It's a long ride - may as well enjoy it!