Our position is 29:11.956N 81:00.360W

Left the marina at 7.25am, an early start on our way to Daytona  beach. A sunny morning with a light breeze set the scene for our first day sailing on Moorglade. There were several attempts to raise the jib during the morning but to Kay’s frustration the wind was too light to make it feasible, so we motored along for some time.  Soon after leaving a phone call for the helmsman distracted attention from the rather fierce current which was trying to take us other than the narrow channel prescribed, despite the wide expanse of water over which we were travelling. Is this really a river?  On the far side we could see the elegant bulk of the Vehicle Assembly Building  reminding us of our riveting day at the Space Visitor Centre.

The first bridge reached was the NASA railroad bridge carrying the trains to Merrit Island and only closed when trains come, a further eight miles and we reached the narrow Haulover Canal needing to call on the Allenhurst bridge to let us through.  Today was the first time we had navigated the ICW with a group of other boats, which was very sociable as chat inevitably followed overtaking manouevres. Then followed a sharp turn left and we were into a long stretch of canal bordered by islands with some mangrove, some swamp, allowing sight of plentiful bird life including ospreys, pelicans, large and small herons and egrets, cormorants, spoonbills, vultures,terns. We were also delighted with occasional appearances of dolphins, the manatees featured heavily on warning notices relating to keeping speed down but were too shy to put in an appearance. Parts of the way were lined with splendid riverside properties all with their own landingstage and attendant power boat.

Along the way we overtook Another Adventure who called, intrigued by our ensign, in the subsequent conversation it seemed that John and Travis had mutual friends in Jenny and Robbie from Maymio and an invitation was made to join them on their boat for drinks once we were all settled for the night on the  anchorage at Halifax Harbour. The early afternoon wind proved favourable for the jib to be used and this was to continue until a period of heavy rain just before reaching the anchorage. Once there it was necessary to change the anchor from the Delta to the Fortress as the former was more suitable for the firm sand previously encountered  rather than the soft mud here.

Once tidied up we took the dinghy to join John and Travis  for drinks and nibbles  after which they joined us for a supper of spaghetti bolognese

Sorting out the route                                                                                                 Safely through despite the distractions

Approaching the Allenhurst bridge behind Another Adventure                             Looking back down the Haulover Canal past S/V Heart of Texas

Plenty of bird life along the way

So this is what they mean by a trailer park - hope the water level doesn't ever rise!    The other end of the real estate spectrum.

     Kath keeps the log up to date as we progress through the bridges

After enjoying spag bol everyone waiting eagerly for the chef to finish the flambeed bananas