Friday, December 2nd

Today we depart St. Augustine for Daytona Beach, a total of 52 miles including nine bridges.  After a chilly start to the day, we are sporting shorts and t shirts in the greenhouse by noon.  The temperature today will reach 75 degrees under sunny skies with 20 knot northerly winds.  

[caption id="attachment_2188" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Holiday decorations on private dock along the ICW"][/caption]

Today is a day for transiting narrow canals and cuts.  We pass alongside Crescent Beach, Matanzas Inlet, Palm Coast, Flagler Beach and Orman-by-the-sea.  Land fronting on the ICW is largely developed with housing, ranging from mobile home parks to modest homes and condos to upscale homes and highrise towers.  Nearly every home features a boat dock on the ICW, but most docks are without boats.  Along the way today, we pass dozens of boats in various stages of disrepair that appear to be abandoned.  We saw a few abandoned boats along the ICW in Georgia.  Thusfar, Florida seems to have collected more than its fair share of derelict vessels.

[caption id="attachment_2189" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Daytona Beach skyline"][/caption]

Cutter Loose is anchored just south of Memorial Bridge in Daytona Beach.  From our anchorage, the City's skyline is punctuated with highrise condos.  Daytona is an overnight stop along the way, not a place to pause and explore.  Tomorrow will be yet another early start as we aim to move Cutter Loose further south along the waterway.