Overall Great Loop Statistics to date:
Statute Miles 407.0
Average Miles/Day 50.9
Total Hours Underway: 58.1
Average speed (mph): 7.8
Total Days 11
Travel Days: 8
Locks:5
Days at/Layover
Marinas: 4/2
Anchor: 3/1
City dock: 1/0
Free Wall: 0/0
Mooring: 0/0
The Nor-easter blew through Vero Beach without incident. While it certainly would not have been dangerous to travel, it may have been uncomfortable. We chose to wait it out.
We chose to try out the Active Captain-marked anchorage on the southeastern side of the railroad bridge just north of Titusville. There was a shoal/bar at the entrance that showed 4.5ft at low tide, but that may have been because we cut the corner just a bit. We saw 7ft at high tide on the way out, just a bit more north of our entrance track. This anchorage had some of the stickiest, blackest mud we have ever experienced. We can only conclude that there is railroad “stuff” (exhaust, diesel, etc.) leeching into the soil somehow making it so black.
The next stop was Palm Coast Marina after 10 hours underway. It was crowded, but, since weather was pleasant and we wouldn’t need power to run the Air Conditioner overnight, the dockmaster allowed us to stay at the fuel dock (no power pedestal). This overnight stay was a real bargain. We enjoyed a nice walk over to the European Village.
The last overnight was at one of our favorite anchorages – Pine Island just north of St. Augustine. Again, we saw a bit less than 5 feet going in at low tide, but 8-9 feet once inside. Tidal range is more than 3 feet, so entrance/exit is easy at high tide. There are sharp oyster beds surrounding the anchorage and some reviewers have reported anchor line being damaged on the bottom here – chain is a must.
Currents in the rivers just prior to Mayport/Jacksonville can get very strong during tide transitions, especially where the water is forced into a narrow waterway channel at bridges. We saw 4+ knots of current at a couple of the bridges in Pablo Creek.
-----
Great Loop Travel Days (GLTD):
005: Titusville FL from Vero Beach FL
006: Palm Coast FL from Titusville FL
007: St. Augustine FL from Palm Coast FL
008: Jacksonville FL from St. Augustine FL
Map of our Great Loop travel:
GLTD004 Titusville FL (from Vero Beach FL): We stayed in Vero Beach for 3 nights, waiting for a Nor’easter to clear out. Winds finally began to subside (as the forecast predicted). As you can see from the photo, we were up early for a long 10-hour day of travel.
During past travels through this area, I had noticed there is a lot of boater activity on the little islands scattered along Indian River. This year, however, I noticed a “name” on the island in Google Maps. Clicking on it, I learned of an organization, “Friends of the Spoil Islands” (FOSI).
Some of the islands are available for camping; others are designated conservation areas. My photo is not great (I’m sure that’s because it was cloudy 😉), but there are some beautiful photos on their website.
📞 Next-day marina planning: I made a reservation for a late arrival to Palm Coast FL tomorrow.
While Ray managed the helm, I set up my office and worked on the blog.
🔊 VHF Radio Traffic. Just as we were nearing our anchorage in Titusville, we heard US Coast Guard reports of a sailboat in distress. A nearby boater, moored at the Titusville Marina, radioed that they were in route, via dinghy, to assist, if possible.
By the time we got to the area, Towboat US was towing, with an escort from the local sheriff. And shortly, thereafter, we saw USCG arrive. Thankfully, it seemed the sailor was OK (mostly).
⚓Anchored. Ray navigated the shallow entry to our anchorage south of the NASA railroad bridge. After setting anchor, we heated our chili from the freezer (after thawing all day).
This was a peaceful anchorage, with a nearby beach. (I only heard a train twice during the night.) Ray would rate this anchorage 9 out of 10 for cleanup; it was even blacker and stickier than the Stuart anchorage! He couldn’t get the mud off of the nylon chain-length markers.
We retired early – just after the cloudy sunset—to rest up for another long day of travel.
GLTD005 Palm Coast FL (from Titusville FL): We were, again, up before sunrise. We always enjoy cruising the section between Titusville and New Smyrna, including Haulover Canal, where there is interesting terrain and plenty of wildlife.
Sunlight shining through the clouds was competing for my attention.
During the cruise, I got creative with our line loops (and Picsart) to wish everyone Happy Easter!
After 10 hours underway, we arrived at Palm Coast Marina at closing time. Ray quickly hosed the salt off of the boat while I checked in (and paid 😊).
We knew from our first stop here -- during our first cruise south to the Keys -- that Moonrise Brewing (in European Village) has good beer and food. They did not have the nitro milk stout, “The Dark Prince”, that Ray usually gets, or the imperial coconut coffee porter, “Black Moon”, that I always hope for a small taste of. So, Ray tried a new offering, “Moon Pie” porter, and a brown ale, “Wolf Bite“. Ray said the Moon Pie was as he expected -- with that name – no so great; the brown ale was a good follow-on though!
The Prime Rib Melt was awesome (we shared), and the Brussels Sprouts, with bacon, apples, walnuts and balsamic, were fantastic (as usual).
Alternate Marina Option: Last summer, we stayed several months at the Marina at Hammock Beach – across the river, on the beach side of the island (see our previous blogs). If you have time to stay in the area for a few days, we recommend a stay there, where you can enjoy the resort amenities.
A couple of additional good restaurants are within scooter/bicycle distance of that marina: Hammock Wine & Cheese has outdoor seating and live music most days (and great gluten-free pizza), and Rodie’s Place has good breakfast and lunch.
Publix is just 2 miles away.
GLTD006 Pine Island, St. Augustine, FL (from Palm Coast FL): We only had a short cruise to our anchorage (north of St. Augustine), but we had to leave early, since we were on the fuel dock (“late” arrival last night).
🔷 Boater Tip: Don’t steer by chart alone. Use all your instruments (depth sounder, for instance), and your own eyeballs. 👀
During this cruise, Ray had to sneak around a shoal that was encroaching the channel but not yet charted. In this photo of the depth sounder, you can see on the left, where the depth went very shallow (red line) and then dropped back. (It’s nice to have a boat with < 3.5-foot draft.)
⚓Anchored. We arrived at Pine Island (north of St. Augustine) mid-day. We had lunch and relaxed on the cockpit. The breeze was a little cool, but it kept the little bugs at bay.
We knew, from our overnight stay here last year, that this anchorage is full of wildlife. This visit, we saw a small skate, several dolphins, and lots of birds: pelicans, egrets, ospreys, herons, seagulls, terns, whooping cranes and a bald eagle.
We stayed here an extra night so we could kayak the next day before the wind picked up. (Well, we did not beat the wind, but we mustered the energy to paddle around and explore anyway.)
We captured video of several types of birds on the exposed mud during the low-to-mid tide.
I captured image of a bald eagle in flight.
I was very excited to capture the video (my first opportunity), but it was not easy. We are not equipped with powerful zoom lenses or stabilizing video cameras. So, I zoomed in as much as possible and “best-guessed” the location of the high-altitude, moving bird, with assistance from my binocular spotter (Ray). We recreated what this activity probably looked like.
I also got video of a flock of endangered whooping cranes (we think), in flight, and saved a still image. Apparently, the black tips on the wings are only visible while the whooping crane is flying.
I had seen a few flocks while travelling to this anchorage, but never reacted quickly enough. Again, I was thrilled!
📞 Next-day marina planning: I called the Jacksonville marina to confirm no change to our previously-assigned slip number.
(Tomorrow, before arrival, Ray and I would view the slip position on an online marina layout, review wind and current, and plan a docking approach.)
[Geek Alert, by Ray] Maximizing Solar Power Consumption: lower-voltage water heater.
When SCOUT is anchored out and not tied to marina power, all electrical devices (refrigerator, stove, lights, TV, etc.) use the boat’s battery bank to run. On most boats, this is typically only possible for a single overnight before requiring the generator or engines to recharge the batteries.
We have 1400W of flexible solar panels on the deck house of SCOUT and 1600Ah (800@50% discharge) of house batteries. To alleviate some of the dinghy shading, the panels are split into four “banks”, each with it’s own battery charge controller. Typically, the solar panels fully charge our batteries by noon on a sunny day, and the rest of the day’s solar power was being "wasted". This was nagging me. When our previous 240V, 1500W, 20gal (oversized) water heater went out (see our previous blog - 2021-03 March Islamorada), I had an idea. I replaced it with a smaller 120V, 750W, 11gal water heater and connected it to the inverter circuits (120V) instead of the shore power/generator-required 240V panel. With this arrangement, turning on the new water heater would draw 60-70A from the 12V house battery bank when heating. My thought was when the batteries were full around noon(-ish), We could just flip the water heater breaker on for an hour or two, running off the batteries/inverter, and then let the solar charge the batteries back up for the remainder of the day (partially supplying power during heating also). This arrangement seems to work well. We had a chance to try it out while at anchor at Pine Island. A solar "diary" of one of our days is below (no, we don’t write this down every day…): --- 1st week of April, North Florida Bow facing east most of the time 72deg daytime, full sun, 55deg night Static boat loads average 8 to 14A @12V, 24/7 in current climate (refer, computers, USB, etc.) ---
Day 1/1:00pm: Anchor down - 100% State Of Charge (SOC)
Day 1/6:00pm: Induction cooking range and microwave ~20min each. TV.
Day 1/9:00pm: Bed, 95%SOC
Day 2/7:00am: 88%SOC
Day 2/7:15am: Coffee maker and short microwave time, 87%SOC
Day 2/11:30am: Lunch bread toast 85%SOC, charging showing +23A after loads
Day 2/12:30pm: 90%SOC, charging showing +40A after loads
Day 2/2:30pm 100%SOC, charging showing +17A after loads
Day 2/2:30pm Turned on water heater, discharging showing -42A after solar input (72A total consumption)
Day 2/3:30pm Turned water heater off, 98%SOC, charging showing +37A after loads
Day 2/5:00pm 100%SOC, 20A consumption, charging showing +4A after loads
Actual watts output by all of the solar panels, shown on Victron chargers’ Bluetooth link below, shows 890W+1130W+840W+2210W=5070Wh produced for all of Day 2. This approximates an average 70+A per hour from our solar panels between about 11am to 5pm for the day/season/conditions we were in.
[End Geek Alert]
We have company! A fellow Great Harbour N37, mv Spirit, was also northbound and spotted us in the anchorage at Pine Island. They pulled in and dropped anchor for a quick visit (shouting from boat-to-boat)!
When you live on a boat, this is like a “You’ll never guess who I ran into at the grocery store” encounter. 😊
Ray grabbed some great “twin” boat photos with the drone. You can see Spirit is very similar to SCOUT – a “flat top” N37 (no fly bridge).
Thanks for stopping by Spirit! Maybe we’ll “run into you” on the loop. (You know what I mean. 😊)
One afternoon, we noticed what looked like a military helicopter slowly circling the area. Shortly after the helicopter left the area, I noticed what must have been a paratrooper gliding along the Atlantic coastline. I realize we enjoy the remote aspects of this anchorage, but I wouldn’t want someone to drop me there with nothing but a parachute. 😮
Can you spot him?
We enjoyed beautiful sunsets at this Pine Island anchorage.
And sunrises.
GLTD007 Jacksonville FL (from Pine Island FL):“I KNOW we are getting close to our next destination (Why is that, Lisa?), because when we left, I had JUST enough potato chips…..and….. I am out of chips!”
(Tribute to Captain Ron)
We hauled anchor before the moon set and the sun rose.
As the sun rose, the riverside trees were beautifully highlighted.
Early bird gets……the first wake! 😉
🔷 Boater Tip: Review Active Captain notes for bridges before you approach them.
We passed under several bridges on this segment. Ray had learned from his Active Captain preview that B.B. McCormick and Wonderwood Expressway bridges typically have strong current.
Passing through the B.B. McCormick bridge, our speed increased from 6.5 knots to 11.0 knots – without increasing the throttle or RPM! (Dang it! I wish I had been prepared with my camera, but it only lasted about 1 second.)
I was ready for the next “high-speed” bridge, Wonderwood Expressway, where we saw 10.1 knots.
Then, after turning west onto the St. John’s River toward Jacksonville, our speed went to only 4 knots due to the current flowing against us – again, all without changing the throttle!
🔷 Boater Tip: Don’t steer by chart alone. Use all your instruments (depth sounder, for instance), and your own eyeballs. 👀
(Notice a theme here?)
As we approached the San Pablo-Atlantic Blvd Bridge in Jacksonville, current was strong -- pushing us toward the bridge, and the angle of the bridge on the waterway created a “blind spot”. Fortunately, Ray was intently scanning for traffic on the other side of the bridge with binoculars, to ascertain safe passage under the bridge. There was a barge “meandering” its way south, and he spotted it through the trees! We both spent a few minutes searching with binoculars and concluded the barge was moving toward us -- not anchored.
So, Ray turned around, away from the bridge, and circled into the current flow until the barge passed us on the narrow channel.
In the photo, the channel seems wide, but not all of that space is deep enough for us to navigate. And, the area was full of crab pot floats -- just begging to wrap around our propeller as we were “zigzagging” toward the bridge opening from the right.
There are a few really tall bridges in Jacksonville. Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge (also referred to as Dames Point Bridge) has 174 feet of bridge height above the water.
Part of Jacksonville’s I-295 Beltway, it is the longest cable-stayed bridge in the United States, utilizing more than 20 miles worth of cables and spanning over 10,000 feet in length.
Larry Wehner, the project manager who supervised construction of the bridge, and several people carved their initials in concrete that was installed at the top of one of the piers, almost 500 feet above the St. Johns River.
Interesting Fact: There were no tide boards on this 174-foot bridge. 😊 We squeaked under with only 149 feet to spare. Whew!
The mechanical cranes in the busy ports of Jacksonville are a stark contrast to the unspoiled anchorage we left just a few hours before, but were, nevertheless, interesting. These cranes looked like robots, standing at the ready.
As we entered the downtown Jacksonville area, our son (who lives in Jacksonville) told us to keep an eye out for the Blue Angels. They had been flying around in formation for about 3 hours and had flown directly over his house about 10 times.
The Blue Angels were supposed to be at the NAS Jacksonville Air Show that weekend, but it had been very recently cancelled due to COVID-19 concerns (something about federal government regulations). ☹ (Our son learned they had stayed in town anyway to conduct practice maneuvers for a few days.)
Wow! I love an air show!
I spent the rest of the cruise to the marina on the bow, listening and searching. While I saw them fly over several times, they were too distant to capture with our cameras.
We arrived at Ortega Landing Marina early afternoon. Ray got us secured in the slip while I checked in at the office.
What’s next? We will layover here, in Jacksonville, for a few weeks, waiting to get our 2nd Covid-19 shots.
We look forward to spending some time with our son!
Several Great Harbours are currently in this marina, and some of the owners are planning to be in the area during our wait. We hope to get together with them, catching up with old friends and meeting new ones.
And we may need to do some mail-order shopping (since we are “parked” for a couple of weeks).