Cruising by Flamingos

Merritt Island and Flamingos on the Great Loop

Just as the sun was rising, we viewed a rocket launch at John F. Kennedy Space Center, right from the quiet solitude of our beautiful anchorage. Despite how easy and wonderful it would be to stay, it was time to continue north.

The first few cruising hours along the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway were through Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge (Bairs Cove to Haulover Canal to Mosquito Lagoon) and then Canaveral National Seashore. Both were gorgeous and teeming with wildlife to spy. We saw flamingos, manatees, and, of course, tons of shorebirds and dolphins. The highlight of the day was catching a ray breach twice. They can jump high in the air!

As we approached New Smyrna and the population density increased, the impressive natural beauty of old Florida faded away. We navigated westward through the Ponce Inlet towards the anticipated anchorage for the evening. We could see the Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse! When we arrived, we observed that it was a relatively narrow spot with a large S/V in the prime spot. There was a shallow section that boats were cutting through to hit the nearby sandbar party. That made the decision to keep moving north an easy one.

We motored on to south Daytona Beach, Florida, a notoriously terrible tourist trap in my humble Floridian opinion. We arrived to a busy anchorage, found a spot to tuck in, and dropped the hook. As we enjoyed a late lunch on the flybridge, we enjoyed the local sailing club races, which was quite enjoyable to watch. We settled into getting some work done with plans to leave at first light.

Watch the vlog on YouTube!