Launching South

Launching South

Finally dropping our lines in Ortega – an easy place to spend time – we headed back down the St John’s River and after a night on the Sister’s Creek dock on into St Augustine for a mooring ball and afternoon among the tourist of our oldest city.  As kitschy as this town may seem, we enjoy the bustle and this time of year the holiday lights. A good choice of restaurants doesn't hurt either. Wanting to make an early start, we headed to the dock to turn in our keys and pull the dink only to see the fog roll in.  We sat enshrouded in pea soup until after 10:30 and finally left with a mere quarter mile viz and radar running for a short hop to Palm Coast Marina.  This was a first time stop for us on the boat – we visited here when we were boat hunting.  The marina seemed full of happy customers – spontaneous testimonials by resident boaters speak for a well-run facility.  A host of shops and restaurants a short walk away also make this an attractive stop.

With slightly less fog we made the trip into New Smyrna Beach where the free dock was both free and empty.  We were welcomed by the unofficial hosts who live in the neighboring condos, and they oriented us with maps, helped with our ropes and provided a friendly assurance that the “No Overnight Docking” sign was not enforced. This allowed us to walk the historic downtown plus sample the local eateries/pubs. Tough duty but someone has to suffer! The ladies nite specials were a bonus as were the festive holiday lights. Sadly we did not have time to visit all the shops or the museum in this town founded in 1767, so another visit here will be on the list for next spring.

The Orion Launch delayed from 12/4 did launch on Friday, 12/5 on schedule at 7:05 AM just as we cast off and headed into the sunrise.  We were headed into the launch and although a good distance from the cape, we had a nice view of the rockets against the black rain clouds – that almost delayed the launch once again. This is the closest we have ever been to a launch and one more tic on our bucket list!  With brief stops in Cocoa and Vero we are headed to Fort Pierce and a date with the haul out lift at Cracker Boy Boatyard!