VERO BEACH, FL TO HAMPTON RIVER

DATE: May 23 to June 13, 2001 Miles Traveled: 961 statute (ICW) plus 13 nautical Engine Hours: 173.5 Generator Hours: 0 Sailing Hours: 25 motor sailing

We arrived in Vero Beach and said Au Revoir Bahamas! We said goodbye to the fabulous beaches, the snorkeling and the potluck dinners, which were so much fun with all our new friends. And goodbye also to the cold fronts and dingy bums, (soggy shorts from bumpy dingy rides). Hello civilization: ICW, cigarette boats, lightning storms every night and cellular phones.

At Vero Beach we said hello to emergency wards, and handsome doctors! Thank you for looking after Jeffrey during our crisis. How lucky we were that this kidney stone did not appear during the 22 hours crossing back to the USA. Of course if it had, Jeffrey may have taken the $3.00 painkillers given to him by the cute Bahamian nurse and saved a whopping medical bill. Thank you God for waiting the extra few hours until we were safely docked. But could you not have waited an extra few hours until we had some sleep?

On the Memorial Day weekend, everyone was out boating including a couple in a 20 ft power boat, each talking on their respective cellular phones. She was standing up on the bow with the phone in her, hand and he at the wheel, on a different phone. We wondered if they were talking to each other? Probably they just could not miss the last minute business deal? The floating hot dog stand at New Smyrna Beach, just south of Coronado Bridge was also doing great business. The cute young lady serving in the swimsuit probably helped.

On May 24, after an overnight stop in Eau Gallie, we hit Titusville and enjoyed our first close up Manatee sighting: four adult Manatees with a baby. What a thrill. They all munched sea grass in a corner of the marina, totally oblivious to our enjoyment. We saw several other Manatees on our way north but none as close as this.

The next stop was Daytona Beach; now we know why we had avoided this place on the way south. We tried both anchorages but neither lived up to our expectations and we had to run anchor watch all night. Early next morning, we headed for St Augustine were we again played tourist with Val and Steve, going back to our favourite Mexican restaurant and wandering around the quaint narrow streets. Our destination on May 27th was Fernandina Beach where we parted company; Barefoot'n had to rush home to Virginia as their agent had charters booked for them.

Stopped May 30th at Jeckel Island Marina, a wonderful friendly place with a courtesy car and bicycles. Unfortunately we were not able to use their pool or visit the beaches because of thunderstorms, which were forecasted for every evening for the next 4 days. From there we headed for New Teakettle Creek where we just anchored in time before a downpour.

When the storm was over, we sat in the cockpit listening to an original stereophonic masterpiece. From the north, you could still hear the rumble of the thunder, while from the east, the singing of birds and from the west, a bumblebee and flies buzzing by. We wondered how many people have the good fortune to appreciate such a feast for the ears and at the same time to watch a show put on by the pelicans and the 2 dolphins swimming by.

We decided to avoid the big cities on our return route and instead anchored in Wapoo Creek Island, and Prince Creek. In Prince Creek, a 6-mile long winding narrow waterway, we anchored from the south in the centre, and after the powerboat traffic and a chat with some friendly locals, we settled down for a quiet night. It was not to be; a thunderstorm struck early in the night and we were glad of the protection afforded by the high trees in the narrow creek. We were however, pushed stern first onto the eastern side of the creek for several minutes but the sides were steep and there was no damage to Perce Neige.

We continued to Wrightsville Beach where the beach had been taken over by young people as school was out and from there to Mile Hammock Bay other- wise known as Camp LeJeune. There the US Army entertained once again with on the water military maneuvers involving: landing craft, amphibious vehicles and other heavily armed boats.

We continued to the Pungo River and then to the mouth of the Little Alligator River where we stayed overnight before our crossing of the Albemarle Sound to Elizabeth City. We had intended to stay at Elizabeth City, but it was very early in the day and so we continued up the beautiful Dismal Swamp route through the first lock and stayed in the dock provided at the Virginia Welcome Centre. There were only three boats and so we did not have to raft and as usual the dock was free. The next day we transited the second lock/bridge combination, went past Mile Zero of the ICW and on to meet up again with Barefoot'n in the Hampton River. While there, we heard on the radio that Sea Turtle V was in Portsmouth, and so we drove with Val and Steve in their van to meet Joyce and Charlie for lunch and to enjoy some of the sights of the Virginia Beach area.