Places, Stories, and Thoughts of the Atlantic ICW Ft Lauderdale to St Augustine

April 10-April 27, 2018
18 days. 43 since start.
253 nautical miles. 383 total since start.

Las Olas Marina Ft Lauderdale to Lake Boca Raton April 10, 2018
19 nautical miles. 149 total since start.
4 hours motoring
Beautiful huge mansions line the ICW here. Lots of draw bridges that had to open for us.
Anchored 6 nights
This was an unexpected stop for us. At the draw bridge just south of Lake Boca Raton, the bridge tender informed us that the Southern Blvd draw bridge a few more hours north was closed for construction for the next 7 days! Totally surprised, we quickly tried to figure out what to do next. We had planned on continuous hops and being in St Augustine in just a few days. No good inlets nearby to go on the outside and bad weather coming anyway. Turns out Lake Boca Raton is an excellent anchorage. We decided just to stay there. Anchor held nicely through two storms with winds in the high 20s, easy shore access, good restaurants, and the beach is just a short walk away. We did an awesome 4 mile hike up the beach at Red Reef Park, around Gumbo Limbo Nature Center, then back along the park path on top of the dunes of Red Reef. We also made some new cruiser friends that also got stuck there, David and Jenni on SV Ever After. Good example of a situation that was initially frustrating turning out to be great. Also a good example of how you can not have a schedule while cruising.

Lake Boca Raton to Southern Blvd Bridge anchorage at West Palm Beach April 16, 2018
18 nautical miles. 167 total since start.
5 hours motoring with some motor sailing when the ICW would open up.
More mansions. More draw bridges. 🙂
Anchored 1 night
Ready to be on the move again, we headed to the bridge under construction to get the very first opening at 7:30 AM the next morning. Nice anchorage area just a few feet off the ICW. About 20 other boats shared the anchorage with us having the same idea. Around 7 AM all the boats started moving toward the bridge. All had been trapped by the construction, and you could hear that people were antsy in their radio transmissions. Some of the boats were pretty big. While waiting on the opening, the boats on the north side of the bridge informed everyone that the Coast Guard were directing them to not pass a certain area close to President Trump’s Mar a Lago. He was there at the time, and all these boats gathered in the exclusion zone had caught their eye. Holding position among a bunch of boats in a tight area with a decent current and some wind, plus being herded by the Coast Guard made for a hairy situation. Finally the bridge that had held us all hostage opened, and the mad dash was on. Unfortunately, there were too many boats, and the bridge had to close to clear the mounting car traffic after about half the boats went through. Holiday was among the boats that had to wait a little longer. There was grumbling on the radio as well as a pretty good “fire drill” for the boats closest to the bridge as they all “slammed on the brakes” and tried to turn around without all running into each other. Always erring on the careful side, Holiday was well back from the fray. After about 10 more minutes or so, the bridge opened back up, and all the boats including Holiday made it this time. As we passed the north side, the Coast Guard boat sat and watched us with a giant mounted gun on the bow and a young sailor manning said gun. I gave a careful wave and was happy to see the young sailor give a nod and wave back, while remaining very serious. All in all this was a really cool experience. The random things that can happen are what keep cruising interesting.

Southern Blvd Bridge to Peck Lake April 17, 2018
29 nautical miles. 196 total since start
7 hours motoring
This is the stretch where the mansions of S Florida start to shrink and the coast becomes a little more natural. Also, draw bridges become fewer with more and more 65 foot fixed bridges.
Anchored 1 night
We anchored at Peck Lake last year just before heading across the Okeechobee Waterway. It’s a beautiful anchorage, and we were excited to return. It’s really just a widened area of the ICW with enough deep water for 10 or so boats to comfortably fit. Just exiting the urban sprawl of S Florida, it is also very nice that it is surrounded by trees with no houses in sight. The east side of Peck Lake is a small strip of barrier island covered in trees with a beach that is a state park on the ocean side. The 50 yard long path from the anchorage to the beach is covered by a canopy of coastal trees. There are miles in both directions before you can see condos and hotels. You only share this beach with other people from the anchorage or beach joggers that have run for miles from the areas described. David and Jenni on Ever After from Lake Boca Raton were here as well as meeting up with Bob from Boot Key Harbor and Narrow Point. We hung out on the secluded beach and had a nice evening.

Peck Lake to Vero Beach Mooring Field April 18, 2018
35 nautical miles. 231 total since start.
7 hours motor sailing and motoring
When we crossed the St Lucie Inlet early in this transit, we entered water we hadn’t been in before. Last year, this is where we turned and headed across the Okeechobee Waterway. This is where I really felt that our journey up the east coast had begun. Looking at a map, we had traveled further from the Keys than it felt. It was exciting and amazing to think about how we would eventually be way up in Maryland after a whole bunch of small hops like we had been doing.
Moored 1 night
The Vero Beach mooring field is a beautiful place. Just off the ICW it is surrounded by mangrove islands on one side and the mooring field marina area on the other. The marina area looks like a park with giant oak trees shading lots of green space with picnic tables. The facilities and the people were very nice. This is also the mooring field where they don’t turn people away for being full. They just raft you up to other boats all tied to one mooring. Talk about being in close quarters with new neighbors (strangers)! We saw boats rafted, but since we were only staying one night and there was an empty ball, we had it to ourselves. It was a long walk to the beach, but we wanted to see the town so we opted for a hike over Ubering. The town is beautiful with giant oak canopy covered lanes lined with beautiful but not giant houses. Seemed like it would be a wonderful spot to live. We were headed to a beach restaurant because we wanted to watch the SpaceX rocket launch that evening at nearby Cape Canaveral. We were rewarded for our long walk by crystal clear visibility and a nice display as the rocket torched through the sky before disappearing into orbit. Really cool!

Vero Beach to Titusville Mooring Field April, 19, 2018
66 nautical miles. 297 total since start.
10.5 hours motor sailing and motoring
This was a longer passage than we normally do, but a nice one. The weather was good for motor sailing through the large sounds around Melbourne which was a little too close to Vero for a stop there. We had thought of stopping in Cocoa, but with the weather still decent for motor sailing and only a couple more hours to Titusville, we pressed on.
Moored 1 night
We decided just to stay on the boat since it was late, but just next to the mooring field was the pier I had fished on with my family as a child on vacation and a park where we had watched fireworks. It was cool to see this area from Holiday. The Titusville mooring field is a large open area. I would guess in strong winds its a little lumpy. There aren’t that many balls for the amount of space, but we have read that they are permitted for a ton of balls. I can imagine that this place would be a huge mooring field when they finally get them all installed.

Titusville to Memorial Bridge anchorage Daytona Beach April 20, 2018
39 nautical miles. 336 total since start.
9 hours motoring
A highlight of this transit was going through Mosquito Lagoon. It is not too far away from Titusville, but over toward the coast. It is in a large area that is secluded from any development in any direction. About the only sign of people you can see is the NASA building and towers far to the south. In Mosquito Lagoon we could see manatee pretty much at any time by scanning around the boat in the flat waters since there was no wind. We saw tons of dolphin, jumping fish, wading birds, sea turtles, and even a bald eagle. A truly beautiful natural place. I’d like to stop and anchor there on a calm night at some point in the future. As we approached Daytona Beach a storm was arriving and strong due north winds down the Halifax River had it looking like white water rapids. Holiday and crew did fine though.
Anchored 1 night
In the rough weather, we almost ran aground entering the anchorage just off the ICW. I didn’t interpret the instructions I read on Active Captain correctly and saw 4’2″ (our draft) as we were creeping in. I jammed it in reverse just in time and never felt us touch bottom. A boat in the anchorage kindly called me on the VHF and told me how to approach. We anchored and just stayed on the boat that evening since it was sprinkling, and the winds were high.

Daytona Beach to St Augustine Mooring Field April 21, 2018
47 nautical miles. 383 total since start.
8.5 hours motor sailing and motoring
Beautiful areas along this stretch of the ICW. Scenery was river type country with stilt houses and fish camps. Reminded us of the Homosassa area over on the west coast of FL. We were also getting closer and closer to the larger tides and higher currents of the N FL and Georgia coasts. It was noticeable whenever there was an opposing current as our speed over ground would drop a bit. A new aspect of cruising for us since tides and currents are relatively small in the Keys, Bahamas, and west coast FL. The scenery also began to change from palm trees and scrub brush to palms mixed with oaks and finally some pines mixed in. This made us excited to think about the further changing of coastal flora as we move further and further north.
Moored 7 nights
The mooring field is in an awesome setting just a few hundred yards off the fort and historic city. Cannons fire during the day time fort tours as well as pirate ship tour boats roam the waters. Very interesting. We spent many fun afternoons exploring the historic streets of the oldest city in the US and checking out the many excellent eateries. We also spent a couple nights off Holiday at my parents house nearby as well as a couple days touring St Augustine with them.