At 0700 hours we pulled the anchor and departed from Fort George River and headed north on the ICW towards Fernandina Beach, FL. We would be spending a week in Fernandina Beach attending the MTOA Southern Rendezvous being held at the Fernandina Harbor Marina. SANCTUARY departed at the same time as we did.

We did not have far to go today… but since we would be staying at a marina we wanted to arrive early to get the most bang for our buck as they say… we arrived at approximately 0915 hours and contacted the marina on VHF… we needed a pump-out before we docked for a week… after pumping out our holding tank we moved forward 100 yards to where we would be docked for the next 7 days… Fernandina Harbor Marina at approximate location N30°40.227’, W081°27.991’.

Today we traveled for 2 hours and 15 minutes covering 16.98 nautical miles averaging 7.54 knots.

At just after 0600 hours the drag alarm went off again… I shut the alarm off and sat in the pilot house and monitored our position… the winds were still 25 knots plus and the current was in the opposite direction… we were swinging worse than before… at least 180 degrees… one moment SAILS would be port side directly beam to the wind and then moments later SAILS would be starboard side beam to the wind… decided it was time to start moving again… we pulled the anchor and were underway north again at 0700 hours.

After being underway for an hour or so I was hailed by SANTCUARY… Jim and Peg Healy… they were behind us… leaving Daytona Beach that morning as well… We ended up cruising together and anchored together in Fort George River approximate location N30°26.511’, W081°26.376’. We were also joined in the anchorage by SECOND STAR… Michael and Jana LaPorte… both are MTOA members and were also heading to the MTOA Southern Rendezvous in Fernandina Beach.

Today we traveled for 11 hours and 25 minutes covering 84.46 nautical miles averaging 7.39 knots.

Last night Chuck and Arlene Custer joined us in the anchorage at Rock Point... we enjoyed some cocktails on their boat and then moved over to SAILS and we had a lovely dinner together.

We pulled the anchor and departed from Rock Point at 0800 hours… the Chuck and Arlene Custer on TURTLE TROT left a few minutes before us as they needed to stop and get fuel and water. Then they would catch p to us in Cocoa, FL… I have mentioned it before but we always plan a stop in Cocoa, FL… either for the night or lunch…. Today it was going to be for lunch… we had about 4 hours to get there… so our 0800 departure would put us in Cocoa right at lunch time… Ryan’s Village Pizza… some of the best New York style pizza I have tasted… and they make a 24 inch pie… I get Meat Lovers… it’s awesome!

We arrived to Cocoa at 1140 hours and docked at the Cocoa City Docks… they allow you to tie up for FREE for 3 hours… we have spent the night there several times though. I had some banking that I had not had a chance to complete before we left Punta Gorda and there was a Wells Fargo just a mile and half from the docks… so after we were secure I was off to the bank on my bike. We had a little time to kill to wait for Chuck and Arlene to arrive from Melborne where they had stopped for fuel and water.

I arrived back from the bank and TURTLE TROT was tied to dock behind SAILS… TURTLE TROT had discovered a problem during the night and had a leaking expansion tank on their water system… I googled on my phone where the closest West Marine was and found it was just a mile and half away… we called them and they had the expansion tank that they needed in stock… Chuck borrowed my bike and was off to pick up a new tank. It was not very long before he returned and we were off to Ryan’s Village Pizza for lunch… we had a great lunch and returned to boat about 1500 hours.

The plan was to continue on after lunch… however, Chuck wanted to repair his water system… we were very tempted to also stay and depart from Cocoa in the morning… bellies full of pizza a nice nap sounded great! But, we really needed to cover some more ground I order to make it to Fernandina Beach on Sunday. So we tossed the dock lines and departed from Cocoa at 1530 hours… TURTLE TROT remained and in Cocoa to complete repairs and leave in the morning.

We were not sure how far we would go but we would get as far as we could… New Smyrna Beach was the original plan… that was about 7 hours away… we would arrive there between 2200 and 2230… we decided that is what we would do… and we arrived in New Smyrna Beach just over 7 hours later at 2209 hours… we wanted to go to the FREE city docks but upon arrival found that they were currently being revamped and there was no way to use them safely… next available location was Rock House Creek about 20-30 minutes further north on the ICW… a quick 180 and we were off to Rock House Creek… upon arriving there we found 6 other boats already anchored… this is a small narrow anchorage… it looked like there was a spot we could slip into… but when I turned the bow into the creek the wind hit us… we had been in the lee of the wind for so long that we totally forgot that it was blowing 25 knots out of the east... and Rock House Creek runs east to west… so we had 25 knot winds… there was a strong current in the creek… tight space… and it was dark,,, very very dark… decided it would not be safe to try to anchor under these conditions and did another 180 and returned back to the ICW heading north… Next available destination Daytona Beach… approximately 12 miles further north.

We arrived to Daytona just after midnight and exited the ICW west just north of marker 44 into an anchorage area… there were probably 15-20 boats already anchored here… we found a suitable location and dropped the anchor in 8 feet deep… I let out 100 feet of chain as it was still blowing 25 knots and with higher gusts… at approximately 0015 hours we were swinging on the anchor in the wind at approximate location N29°11.774’, W081°00.192’… I set the anchor drag alarm and laid down to get some rest… but could not really sleep under these conditions… maybe an hour or so later… beep, beep, beep, beep was heard… the anchor drag alarm was going off… I went to the pilot house and it appeared that we had not moved from our original position… but we were hanging in a different direction… the current had picked up and was causing to hang in a more north-south orientation… I had set the drag alarm for 50 feet… 100 foot of chain out… I attributed the alarm to be a false alarm… I rest the drag alarm and this time to 100 feet and again laid down to try and get some rest… I did dose off and on but it was not a restful at all… it was just NASTY out.

Today we traveled for 12 hours and 10 minutes covering 82.35 nautical miles averaging 7.01 knots.