Northbound ’19 – Travel Day 8: Daytona, Fl to St Augustine, Fl

Conditions: Fog and cooler to start, then partly sunny and warming, sunny and hot on arrival.  Winds NE 5 – 10 mph, ICW calm.

Distance traveled: 57 statute miles

Time underway: 6 hours  

Average Speed: 8.2 kts

Max Speed: 18.2 kts

Fuel used: 59 gallons

Halifax Harbor Marina in Daytona is a BIG place and the office can be a twenty minute walk from some of the docks, including ours.  So they have a unique way of having you return your gate key upon your departure as seen here…

Shortly after leaving the marina we opened the Main Street bridge which, on this day, was a portal to the fog.  Fairly heavy fog stayed with us for quite some time, meaning a slower go than usual and staying hyper-attentive at the helm.

After around an hour, the fog lifted and the day began to warm.  We are now traveling in a pack of boats (mostly sailboats with names like Northern Goose, Rumbo, and Vertical Wing) that have become familiar to us as they start their days earlier than us and we eventually overtake them each day.  Our familiar passing arrangements are part of the migration ritual.

It was another great day on the water with some beautiful sights along the way.  As we got closer to St. Augustine we made the decision to burn some diesel and speed up to around 18 knots where we could so we could make the Bridge Of Lions opening on the half hour.  Our calculations had us missing the opening by a couple of minutes otherwise and we were eager to get tied up so we could plan the seemingly complicated next couple of days.

An easy arrival at Camachee Cove Yacht Harbor where we have stayed before.  A nice place with floating docks, not in town, but that’s not important to us as we’re just passing through. [Cruiser’s Note: Camachee Cove is a great alternative in St. Augustine if you don’t need to be right in town and don’t want to dock in the strong current at the municipal marina there.  While the entry channel off the ICW to Camachee Cove is well-marked and straight-forward, the potentially strong cross current will abruptly stop as you reach their breakwater.  This will pivot your boat in a way you should anticipate but not overreact to as it ends as soon as your whole boat is inside the walls.  They will advise you of this on the radio as you approach].

It looks like Jekyll Island in Georgia may be next!

Thanks again for all your comments, we try to respond to all of them on the blog post where they were left so please be sure to look back for our replies.

See you out there…

OLOH instructions. M/Y OLOH back to 1-6.