This island, right in front of our dock in New Smyrna Beach, had more pelicans (both brown and white) than we had ever seen gathered in one place:
We have taken a picture of Mary Frances 4 at every dock this whole trip....except this one. Here's as close as we get-John is unhooking the shore power to prepare to get underway Tuesday morning:
Ponce De Leon Inlet Light:
The water is SO SMOOTH today!
Why you want to be sure to stay in the channel. Our charts showed 3 feet just outside the ICW here. Our boat draws 3 feet, sailboats much more:
We also saw an 18 foot powerboat aground today, with two people in the water trying to push it clear. We didn't take any pictures because we didn't want to embarrass them and hope others will be as kind if we ever find ourselves in that position. By the way, we have run aground once more than the St. Joseph, MI experience alluded to (much) earlier. We were on the Banana River on our way into Patrick Air Force Base. When John realized there was sand against the hull, he shifted to neutral and the boat luckily floated free.
We passed our first tug and barge since Pensacola today. We have been in many very wide stretches of water but, of course, that's not where this encounter occurred:
Do you see the red and green (against the bow of the boat) channel markers? Not only does this boat have to pass between them, but we have to pass him in that narrow channel. John tries to turn around to get out of his way, but the water is too shallow even just outside the channel and the wind and current do not allow that maneuver. The tow captain is as professional and just plain good at his job as most we've encountered and John does his part and we squeak safely by. Mary was going to cope by closing her eyes, but there is just a little more room than the perspective in this picture shows.
Fort Matanzas from the water:
We saw a few dolphins today, not in yesterday's numbers, but fun whenever they deign to grace us (we mere mortals) with their presence:
We had three good passing experiences yesterday and 2 today, noteworthy because many trawler and sailboat operators profess to hate SeaRays, or "SR's" (all fast powerboats seem to be lumped into this designation) because they throw such a big wake and cause the other boats to roll and pitch. Purist seagoers may insist on calling it "overtaking" instead of passing, but picture passing a slower vehicle on the road and you'll know what we're talking about. All boats produce a wake, the faster and bigger the boat, the bigger the wake. We slow down when approaching (from either direction) pontoon boats, small fishing boats, kayaks, etc. so we won't rock them too much. No problem. The problems arise when we pass a boat that can maintain a speed of 8 miles an hour or greater. We throw a worse wave at non-planing speed, but trying to go fast enough to get by, than if we just stayed up on plane. If we pass on plane, we join the ranks of those inconsiderate speed-boaters who either don't care or are ignorant. We have treated this situation in the past by telling other captains that if they slow down enough, the pass will be gentle. We figured that those who didn't slow down enough were making the choice to be rocked, as our speed must be close to idle to accomplish a "soft pass". Perhaps those boats did not realize how much they should reduce their speed. The "good passes" referred to here consisted of the slower boats (one trawler, two catamarans, two sailboats) slowing to idle speed so we could travel just fast enough to pass. After we passed, they each turned behind us, into where our wake would be if we were on plane. We could then both increase our speed with no issue, as they were directly behind us so would not be affected by our wake. We may have each lost a couple of minutes, but we love being thanked for our consideration and say "thanks" in return for making it possible.
St. Augustine light from the water:
Mary Frances in her slip at St. Augustine Municipal Marina:
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