.

April 12, 2015  Day 142 South for Winter

Halifax Harbor Marina
Daytona Beach, FL     

We departed our anchorage at Cocoa at 7:10 and headed north up the ICW.  We decided fairly quickly to go all the way to Daytona Beach rather than to an anchorage in New Smyrna Beach. We were concerned about the weather forecast of thunderstorms.

Sunrise at our anchorage at Cocoa

Our cruise took us past Titusville and then through the Haulover Canal. This narrow canal was lined with people fishing – some on the banks of the river and some from their boats.  Add to this the fact that there were several manatees and some dolphins in the water and we were going at a very slow pace.  That canal leads to Mosquito Lagoon which is much wider.  We reached New Smyrna Beach by 1:00.  Because we were traveling on Saturday there were many small boats on the water, and that continued to slow us down.



Approaching the Haulover Canal

We finally arrived in Daytona Beach at 3:30 and went first to the pumpout station and then to our slip. We heard thunder just as we arrived and we were happy to get secured in our slip.

We had a quick dinner on board and then went for a walk around the marina. This is one of the largest marinas we have been in and we are on the far south side.  We saw several boating friends that are also here to attend the three day MTOA rendezvous which begins on Tuesday. Shortly after we got back to the boat from our walk, the storm began with heavy rain, wind and lightning and lasted for a few hours.

Look at the large osprey nest
on top of this house

                     
On Sunday morning Joyce went to Publix with one of the couples who also has a car here.  Bill washed the boat while she was gone. By late afternoon more of our friends arrived just before the thunderstorms developed and lasted into the evening!



Friends Rick & Margi arrived on Journey this afternoon

We had dinner onboard and read and watched television to relax.