WEEK #29, 11-17FEB, BACK on SUMMERTIME

     

SATURDAY FARMER'S MARKET at NEW SMYRNA

On Saturday, we came by SummerTime long enough to drop off items we had picked up at the Saturday morning New Smyrna Beach Farmers' Market held by the town square, and pick up the laundry to do at the condo. At the Farmer's Market we bought a fresh pineapple which was cut for us, Florida wild honey, and some veggies at the Farmers' Market. Not a very big market, but a good assortment of Florida products. And we met Gene in the street, a fellow looper we first met at Cooley's Landing.
      We moved back to the boat on Sunday after church. As we had a rental car since the last of our children left the condo on Saurday, we drove to the local "Church of The Nazarene". It was too far too walk the past Sunday, but as it is our denomination of membership, we thought we should check out one of the Nazarene Churches in Florida. They had a person in to speak on "The Church" mission work, so we could not compare.
      Monday we got up and returned the rental car. We did small chores on SummerTime and took inventory of what we would need to start traveling after nearly two weeks off. On Tuesday afternoon, I walked to Avis and picked up another rental car.

VALENTINES DINNER on SUMMERTIME

We are going to Tarpon Springs on Wednesday for hopefully the last dental visit to repair the Steinhatchee broken tooth in Barbara's mouth. We get up early on Wednesday morning, and head for Tarpon Springs. It is a much shorter drive than the trips from Marathon in the Keys. We easily arrive in time to have lunch before the noon appointment. The dentist spends a little time putting the new bridge in, maybe an hour, and we are off to return to New Smyrna. We stop in Orlando and visit with my cousin and his family. They provided the name of a great BBQ restaurant to meet at, and my cousin, his wife, two sons, Barbara and I have a good sit down dinner together. We get back to SummerTime about 9.
       On Thursday morning we head to stores to re-provision SummerTime. Barbara goes into Aldi's to get a supply of her favorite chocolate. She picks up a few other items also. We buy groceries, staples, and hard goods to re-stock the boat for traveling. We know we will be getting on our way north again when we get up Friday.
       Friday morning we get up and ready ourselves to leave. We get the holding tank pumped out, and we fill the water tank afterwards. We are now set to fill the fuel tank completely. We are learning the sequence to get one tank empty, and one tank full. The water tank is 90gallons, or about 750 pounds when full. All the weight is on the port side, as the tank runs the length of the outside 1/4 of the boat. When the water tank is full, it is nearly impossible to empty the holding tank, as its pick up for pumping out is on the starboard end. The starboard side is elevated when the water tank is full.  And it is easier to fill the transversely mounted fuel tank, inlet on starboard side, with the water tank full. It gets the inlet on the fuel tank high, so the air comes to that point for venting and quicker filling. The New Smyrna Marina does not sell fuel, so we plan to stop at Ponce Inlet where fuel is listed at about 25c per gallon cheaper than other marinas. We get away from the dock after some last minute socializing at about 10:30.

BROWN PELICAN ROOKERY in ICW LEAVING NEW SMYRNA

We take the alternate channel from the ICW to Ponce Inlet to stop for fuel. The inlet is pretty, the water still very clean here, and the Ponce Lighthouse makes a beautiful subject in photos.

PONCE INLET LIGHTHOUSE FROM BOAT PERSPECTIVE

But when we finally get hold of the marina to determine the channel in, they tell us their docks are blocked. They can not sell any fuel. So we continue on by turning north to the ICW. We pass through Daytona Beach on the ICW. There are some nice homes along here. And a good anchorage, but it is too early to stop. My plan is to anchor this evening, but farther north on the ICW. I am just not sure where. Most of this part of the trip is rather uneventful, some in dug canal, some in creeks or rivers marked and dredged for use as a part of the ICW. The narrow areas, with few to no side canals has me re-thinking the anchoring. About 3:30 we call Palm Coast Marina about 5 miles before Marineland. We know from the persons we talked with this morning on "Odyssee" that there may not be slips at Marineland, which was my out if no anchorage was found. Palm Coast tells us that they can put us at the fuel dock for the night. We get to their dock about 4:30. And we fuel here for the first time since Boynton Beach area. We take on 95.7gal of fuel for 32hr of running time, and 7.5hr of generator time (about 6-3/4gal). We eat on the boat after debating going to a nearby resort where there is supposed to be an assortment of restaurants. We wave the walking to a restaurant as it is farther than we think we should exercise Barbara's leg which is actually getting better. We turn in early as we know we have to get up and leave early to clear Palm Coast's fuel dock before the fisherman and pleasure riders show up.

SUMMERTIME SITTING at PALM COAST MARINA FUEL DOCK