TOTAL MILES TRAVELED TODAY: 55 NM
ANCHORED AT: PONCE DE LEON INLET JUST NORTH OF NEW SMYRNA
ICW MILE MARKER: 843
SUNRISE: 7:05 SUNSET: 7:46
HIGH: 85 LOW: 66
The early docking of the nearby cruise ships heralded the arrival of another splendid morning. Exhausted cruisers resigned to giving up their snug berths were being roused by the booming authoritarian voices requesting their cooperation in a speedy and orderly departure. Soon there would be another herd of folks eager to begin their week of frantic eating coupled with the exploration of new ports of call.
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| GOOD MORNING CRUISERS! |
Dan and Charles spent the morning fishing on the 32’ Luhrs sports -fisher named Blacksheep. Although they returned with no tangible proof of their prowess, Charles did capture Dan’s protracted fight with the 150 lb. shark that broke the pole and cut the line before escaping.
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| JANET AND CHARLES AT THE MARINA |
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| THE FIGHT |
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| THE BROKEN POLE AS PROOF OF THE INTENSE STRUGGLE WITH THE "ONE THAT GOT AWAY" |
We quickly began the process of readying to leave the dock then made our way out the channel and into the sea, once again. Oh how I do love cruising out in the ocean!
The launch pads were visible to us as we passed Cape Canaveral and the now delayed space shuttle, Endeavour, was staged and ready for it next flight. The lift off is now planned for April 29 and will be delivering the EXPRESS Logistics Carrier-3 and an Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the International Space Station.
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| ENDEAVOUR AT THE LAUNCH PAD |
Since our departure from Cape Marina was late, we were definitely pushing our arrival at the Ponce De Leon Inlet. We watched the sun setting over New Smyrna then followed a fisher through the channel’s inlet. We anchored just before full darkness, grateful for the longer hours of daylight.
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| THE SUN SETTING OVER NEW SMYRNA |
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| TRYING TO MAKE IT INTO THE INLET BEFORE DARKNESS DESCENDS |
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| LIGHTS FROM THE PONCE LIGHT HOUSE BY OUR ANCHORAGE |
The New Smyrna area was first inhabited by Greeks. In the early 1800s the sugar mills were built with a natural limestone called coquina, formed of broken shells and coral. The sugar cane was processed into granulated sugar to be sent to the North. The by-product, molasses, was then shipped south for the production of the ever popular RUM.
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