Titusville

Thursday, November 17

Cold front today.  The combination of high winds and choppy water and an opposing tide mean that we were not going to make good time over water today.  So, we nixed the idea of shooting for Titusville today and settled on New Smyrna instead, a disappointing 15 miles down the waterway.  But it was a draining stretch of the ICW as there were many shallow areas as you pass the Ponce inlet to get the heart rate racing!

Dolphins in tile at base of bridge supports. How cool is that!

We arrived at New Smyrna at noon.  Due to the cold front, the marina was full so we had to anchor.  We found a sweet spot in 12 feet of water just 100 yds off the ICW - easy in, easy out.  It was full by 2pm, so we were glad we stopped early.  With the shorter days and the increased number of boats on the waterway, space at night can get competitive. 

New Smyrna

After a morning of steady rain, the skies cleared in the afternoon, and it was hard to believe there was a small craft advisory on the ocean. Ignoring boat projects, we dropped the dinghy in the water and motored into town.  We pass through so many of these seaside towns on the waterway without ever visiting them ... and I've always wondered how far it is to cross from the ICW to the ocean.  Well, at New Smyrna, it takes 10 minutes!  Just a straight shot from one body of water to the other!

The Atlantic Ocean

New Smyrna.  Weird name. Great place.

Yes, we are wearing shorts!

Friday, November 18

Finally, Titusville is in our sights!  Not that there's anything significant about Titusville itself ... it's just that we've thought we were "just a day or so" from this town for the last week!  We did reserve a slip in the city marina just to give us some options once we get there.

The front passed through last night, giving us a windy night at anchor and a beautiful day today.  The winds are still running 25-30 knots and the conditions offshore are still treacherous so we don't mind another day of slugging along the ICW.  We have the enclosure up in the cockpit so we're toasty, and the ride is nice as long as we have land protection from the east.  Whenever we hit an open area, you know it right away as the waves start to break over the bow.

The channel is narrow enough and the water is choppy enough that Dan is hand-steering, earning his keep, no lounging behind the autopilot today!

Traffic on the ICW

This section of the ICW takes a hard right into the Haul Over Canal.

Haul Over Bridge into the Indian River.

A nice bridge tender left the bridge open for all 4 sailboats in the canal.

Once thru the Haul Over canal, we had a smoother passage on the Indian River into Titusville. It was still blowing 20+ knots with white caps on the waterway so we easily decided that we wanted to spend the night in the marina!  Such babies we are ... willing to pay $50 to not worry about the anchor dragging as the wind howls through the shrouds!  Plus, it's a really nice marina so we like to give them our business.  Laundry is a deal at $1.00/wash and .50/dry.

Nothing beats being tied at dock!

Docking is never easy for us so kudos to Captain Dan for bringing Maja into the slip with a strong wind off our beam ... this meant that when Dan began his turn into the slip, Maja caught the wind full on her side and gracefully glided sideways passed our intended slip!  For a very long minute, the dockmaster and me and Dan all exchanged shrugs, wondering if the bow would come back around into the wind and allow Dan to drive back up into the slip ... or did we need to go to Plan B, and look for another slip in the direction that the current was carrying us?  We are all relieved that Plan A worked out!

View from dock out to anchorage. Rough ride out there.

Titusville Bridge.