Great Loop: Florida East Coast Segment

Journeying up Florida’s East Coast 50 miles at a time…  we found bald eagles, the easiest place to provision, dolphins, lighthouses, Marineland, nostalgia, the world’s best hardware store, ice cream and great bike rides … all just steps from our marinas.   Just for fun, here’s a quick photo essay & some comments on each of the places we stopped on our Florida East Coast Great Loop, South to North since that’s the way the spring migration of Great Loopers runs.

Just a quick note:  we are meeting many Loopers and other boats traveling up the East Coast ICW.  It’s fun “hopscotching” from location to location and running across many familiar boat names & faces.  Although we’ve only had “docktails” one time in two weeks,  maybe we’re starting to discover the magic of The Great Loop!

But on to the fun stuff … mixed with some thoughts on things we’ve learned…

Vero Beach

After crossing the Okeechobee Waterway, our first stop was a 54 mile day from the last lock (St Lucie), where we dropped 14 feet to get back to sea level,  to Vero Beach:  Suntex Vero Beach Marina.  Note:  marina & anchorage links are all Active Captain – we use Active Captain both online for planning purposes and underway to see what marina/anchorage we’re passing.

Suntex Vero Beach was very challenging docking – the wind was howling from the NE and the assigned slip was directly inside the channel meaning the winds were blowing the stern away from the dock.  David chose to go in bow first (unlike most trawlers, we like our stern out for the view, as opposed to stern in where our view is the dock and the boat across the dock).

The stern was blown almost into the next slip (luckily, empty) when our approach wasn’t close enough for me to get a line on a back piling.  Luckily the very capable marina staff with a herculean effort was able to winch the boat back in place and with considerable effort and lassoing, we were able to get lines on all the pilings.

We lazed around the next day while more ferocious wind continued to howl – enjoyed the heated pool and some r & r time.

When we left, David surprised me at 7 AM, saying – oh, btw, you’re going to back the boat out of the slip and take us to the fuel dock ….  WHAT???  I mean, I’ve been saying I want to learn to take the boat in & out of marinas … but so soon?  It’s been less than a week underway on the Loop.  Long story short, I did and the boat survived.  In no wind with open area and no current, the boat was surprisingly responsive and easy to drive!  WooHoo!  Since then we haven’t had any “easy” ins or outs, so I’m still waiting for my next educational opportunity.  🙂

Cocoa Village

Location, location, location!  Our day’s travel took us 50 miles, past the Kennedy Space Center where a SpaceX rocket destined to re-supply the International Space Station was sitting on a launch pad, awaiting it’s Monday launch.  We also passed Melbourne and the Haulover Canal which was a wonder of wildlife, including another alligator swimming by the boat.

Cocoa Village Marina was tight quarters, but a wonderful location – walking across the street got us to the famous S.F. Travis & Co, since 1885, hardware store (which we knew nothing about, but are super glad we didn’t miss!).

From there a block further was Historic Cocoa Village – a cute little artsy historical area with shoppes, restaurants & pubs.

Asking at S.F. Travis & Co, we discovered a great place to ride our bikes that afternoon… up Indian River Drive.  Just go west in front of the condo next door on the boardwalk & it runs right into Indiana River Drive.  From there ride up along the river past historic mansions, hurricane damage, hundred year old live oaks dripping with spanish moss and towering palm trees.

New Smyrna Beach City Marina

New Smyrna Beach City Marina turned out to be a very pleasant surprise.  First of all is the price/value.  At $1.25/ft plus $10 for 50 amp service, this is the least expensive we’ve seen (unless you count Moore Haven City Dock).

We needed someplace to hide Easter Weekend from the winds & of course, I hadn’t made any reservations.  Duh … luckily we were able to get the last spot at City Marina. With a public park (with a small fort) across the street, a Save More grocery a mile walk, a great Farmer’s Market on Saturdays and a “Historic downtown area” – maybe a little less quaint than Historic Cocoa Village, but still all good.

We had some of the tastiest pulled pork ever, fixed in a myriad of interesting ways at the Yellow Dog Eats pub.  Since it was Easter weekend, we found Easter Morning church services at the First Presbyterian Church, a few block’s walk from the marina.

And we topped the weekend off with our longest bike ride yet (4 miles each way) over the North Causeway out to Smyrna Dunes Park to take a photo of the Ponce de Leon Lighthouse.  Unfortunately, although it was clear when we departed, 20 minutes later when we arrived at the beach park, fog had settled in — keep in mind, this was Easter afternoon around 2 PM – fog should have been LONG gone!!!

Marineland Marina

Nostalgia rules this stop.  When I was maybe 9 years old (say 1964), my family took our first ever vacation.  One of my fondest memories was Marineland and the world’s first dolphin show (plus the first time I ever saw the ocean).  When I heard there was a nice little marina literally across the street, it became a must stop.  Turned out, Marineland Marina was also a great surprise.

Marineland itself is not a dolphin show anymore … but a research/conservation facility owned by the Georgia Aquarium.  There’s no “show”, just a demonstration of interaction between the trainers and dolphins.  Their training methodology is “ask” – they “ask” the dolphins to do whatever – catch a ball, jump, whatever … and they’re rewarded by affection and dinner. The dolphins appear to be healthy and having a blast.

Walking from the marina, Marineland is directly across the road.  Next door is a nice loop hike along the river in a preserve area (just ask Eric).  And crossing the road north of Marineland, there’s a small trail across the dunes to the beach. We liked the north beach better, but you can also go south of Marineland to a boardwalk and beach access.

The south beach has rock jetties every so often but the north beach is just beach.  The coquina sand is a cool coralish color – coquina is a naturally occurring sedimentary rock composed of shells & fossilized organic matter.  Walk the north beach as far as 2.5 miles.

Jacksonville Beach – Palm Cove Marina

Palm Cove Marina just off the ICW Marker 32 in Jacksonville Beach was a pit stop to resupply & do errands.  It’s about a quarter mile to Publix – you can take a marina dock cart if you promise to lock it to the bike rack at Publix (or one person promises to remain with the cart).  We walked, took the cart, locked it to the bike rack with our bike lock cable, and reprovisioned totally.  Hurrah!  We also did laundry, topped off with water, pumped out and filled with diesel.  All good, all necessary.

There’s a fabulous restaurant, Marker 32.  Not our usual style – VERY expensive, but the food was OH SO delicious.  We were a bit put off when we went in, but the atmosphere & view over the marina was great.  Drinks start at $10-ish each, the least expensive bottle of wine was $28 … entrees with fresh fish were $26 – $29.  We don’t regret the splurge – Marker 32 was one of those restaurants where the food was better than the price.

More photos from Palm Cove …  AMAZING!  And then there were the eagles….

Moving on …

Amelia Island Marina

Amelia Island Marina was a last minute stop & our last stop in Florida. We really really want to stop at Cumberland Island National Seashore – a mere 11 miles north of Amelia Island.  However, weather is forecast to be 80-100% thunderstorms, some severe for 3 of the next 4 days.  Ugh.  Cumberland Island is a bucket list stop for me & while I don’t mind dodging a 50% rain forecast, 80-90% thunderstorms along with strong N and S winds will make the anchorages very uncomfortable against the significant current.

But we might as well make the best of the chance to see Amelia Island, and the marina has not one, but TWO, courtesy cars!  We borrowed one to visit Fort Clinch State Park, the Amelia Island Lighthouse, Fernandina Beach’s downtown and the beach.  Nice to see parts of islands we might never see otherwise.  Crazy traffic on A1A is a bit scary to ride our bikes here.

Next stop?  Looks like Plan B … or C or ….   the weather is not being helpful for my bucket list visit to Cumberland Island National Seashore …  thunderstorms every day from now to forever.  It’s looking like it may be a different trip – is this the reason so many Loopers go around more than once?.  You can’t anchor there in strong North or South winds because of the wind opposing the current.  So what’s the forecast?  Rain, thunderstorms and wind from the wrong directions for the next week.  We may skip it and go to Brunswick to catch up with some of our Looper friends.  🙁