Shoved off from St. Augustine at about 0945 Friday AM for Daytona Beach. A relatively short cruise of 47 miles. Arrived 1615 in time to find a good spot to anchor on the east shore of the Halifax River in the middle of Daytona Beach. Splash the dink & run the pups to shore, do a bit of recon & back home by dark.
Although the Admiral liked Daytona, I found it unfriendly, and was ready to move on south before the tide turned. We did stay through Sunday morning. Saturday morning we walked to the farmer’s market just north of the US 92 bridge, and bought some fresh white grapefruit. Lots of fresh produce of every imaginable variety! Saturday evening we watched as the parade of lighted boats made its way past our anchorage. Interesting, but not as spectacular as Jacksonville’s celebration. Very sparse attendance. The downtown area close to the marina has been renovated and is a nice walk, but the revitalization evidently never took hold- there are lots of empty store fronts with a sprinkling of a few restaurants and antique shops along the street.
Sunday morning we decided to move south and head to a marina. Oil changes were due on both the main and genset, it has been over two weeks since we were in a marina. We noted from the guides and ActiveCaptain that Seven Seas was very inexpensive, a working yard, my kind of marina. No amenities. We left the anchorage about 1030 after a quick dog run, and made the 4+ mile run to Port Orange (south Daytona) and backed into our slip.
Good choice, very clean, some of the most accommodating folks you could ask for. Not much to look at, but it’s neat and orderly. It’s a welcome change to be tied up, plugged in, and not have to run the dink to get ashore. We’ll get the oil change duties done, do some wash, equalize the batteries and fill the tanks. Maerin will also get a much needed bath! Barb checked with a local salon and will get a trim tomorrow. She doesn’t trust my hair styling acumen, which I don’t understand since she did cut my hair, after all. There is a small cafe on the marina grounds, it seems to be the hot lick for breakfast for locals, so we will probably have breakfast out Tues. AM.
Probably will move on south tomorrow, perhaps anchor on the way to Cocoa Beach where we plan a stop. It will be too long a run to make if we leave late in the morning, and we probably won’t spring for another night of slip fees. Our weather has improved dramatically, at least for the time being! We had a high of 76 today, we were finally in shorts and tee shirts! The forecast promises the weather to remain the same for the rest of the week. Warm weather does wonders for crew morale! Maerin is clean, rested, maintenance is up to date, and she’s ready to cruise.