4/23/2012 TO 4/29/2013 OUR LAST DAYS IN FLORIDA

                What is it about Sunset Bay Marina in Stuart that keeps us there so long?  OK, so the facility is nice, the staff superb and it is close to everything, but still????  We have been here almost a month again!  Well, no more.  Quest finally severed the ties and headed north today!  

             

              After bidding Stuart farewell around noon on Wednesday we took the St. Lucie River to the ICW and headed north to pass by Jensen Beach, Fort Pierce and Vero Beach before coming to rest for the night at an anchorage just north of Sebastian.   Oh how peaceful!! 

SO LONG SUNSET BAY MARINA

                We are really back in the midst of the ICW now with tows and their barges working the waterway, fishermen trying out their luck, an occasional wake-boarder, fast boats zooming by and the ever present cruisers.  Now many of those cruisers, just like us, are heading north for the summer but some are just now making their way south to cross over to the Bahamas for the calm summer months.  Calm, that is, unless a hurricane decides to pay the lovely islands a visit.

COMMERCE ON THE ICW

                Thursday was a stunningly beautiful day on the water.  Today we sailed right on by Melbourne, Eau Gallie, Cocoa Beach and the Cape Canaveral area, Titusville and New Smyrna while making our way to anchor in Daytona.

CERULEAN SKY SALTED WITH FLUFFY COTTON CLOUDS

                We were entertained throughout the day by sporadic visits from the local dolphin.  Some were eager to perform for us while others shyly surfed in our wake.  I don’t think I will ever tire of their childish antics.

I  NEVER TIRE OF WATCHING THE  DOLPHIN PLAY IN THE WATER

                In Haulover Canal, where we saw numerous surfacing manatee while traveling south last fall, we were not rewarded with much of a show this time.  While we could see their hulking forms low in the water, nary a one came face-up to greet us.   Maybe next time. 

HAULOVER CANAL AND BRIDGE

                Our big prize of the day was witnessing Tug America transporting the last gigantic orange fuel tank, nose cone and transport vehicle used on the now retired space shuttle.  The tows and barge created quite a stir as they hunkered down under the 65’ Harris Saxon Bridge in New Smyrna while waiting for the tide to come in for a deeper channel.    The final destination will be the Wings of Dreams Aviation Museum at the Keystone Heights Airport in Starke, FL.  The final leg of their journey will be a 55 mile overland trek which will make it the largest aviation article transported over land since the Spruce Goose.   What a cool thing to see!

YOU CAN SEE THE TRANSPORT VEHICLE RIGHT BEHIND THE TOW AND
THE NOSE CONE IS COVERED WITH A BLUE TARP

LOOKING BACK AT THE FUEL TANK

               Thursday was a long day; I mean a really long day.  We pulled up the anchor in Daytona at around 7:15, traveled 101 NM and were lucky enough to have someone still at the Fernandina Harbor Marina to grab our liens at around 8:15 PM.  Talk about 0’dark: 30!!  Let me tell you, I do so much prefer leaving in the dark over arriving somewhere in the dark.

                During that 100 mile trek we glimpsed Fort Matanzas that was constructed in the early 1740s.  The Spanish that inhabited the area used the local coquina, a common shellstone building material, to fabricate this stronghold to protect their hold on the area.

FORT MATANZAS

                So we sailed right past St. Augustine and Jacksonville Beach and found ourselves perhaps within striking distance of Fernandina.  With the sun dropping below the western horizon, Quest pushed on.  Finally we rounded a sweeping curve and saw the lights beginning to blink on as we approached Fernandina Harbor Marina.  We hadn't expected to find such a crowded dock but found a place to tie up on the fuel dock for the night.  The American Cruise Line’s Independence had a good portion of the area taken up and later we found that the Motor Trawlers of America (MTOA) had just had a rendezvous here and many of the boats extended their stay.  We were lucky to find a space!  However, bright and early Saturday morning Quest was moving from the fuel dock (making space for them numerous vessels that stop here to feed their hungry boats) to a newly vacated space on down the dock.

NOT THERE YET AND THE SUN IS SINKING ON THE WESTERN  HORIZON

YEP, IT'S DARK ON THE FERNANDINA DOCK BUT THE
INDEPENDENCE RIVER CRUISE SHIP I S WELL  LIT

                It just so happens that this was also the day scheduled for Fernandina’s 50^th Annual Shrimp Festival Parade.  Talk about timing!  I think we must have seen shrimp depicted in just about every way possible, along with a few pirates and wenches, the usual fire trucks and marchers from every organization in town.  What a hoot!  Evening found us at the Amelia Community Theater watching the closing performance of the uproariously funny Lend Me a Tenor.

THE 50TH ANNUAL FERNANDINA SHRIMP FESTIVAL PARADE

                Monday morning we severed our ties to Florida when we left the marina, visited Port Consolidated for a fuel “fill up” then entered Georgia.