Life on Zingara

We started our day at Castillo de San Marcos. The outer drawbridge; as most of the soldiers lived in the surrounding town, NOT in the fort, this drawbridge was used on a daily basis.   One of the many cannons at the fort.  Each cannon & mortar had unique castings, for identification, and embellishment. After visiting the fort, we wandered through the quaint town, checking out the cute shops.  While nibbling a triple-berry scone at an outdoor-table of a coffee shop, we realized that one of the places I wanted to check out was .... right behind us; we were actually sitting on its "front porch".     The Treasury is the old town bank; it's main floor has been converted into a banquet hall, Here's the entrance, here's the actual banking area, less it's tables and counters. and now the vault is the bar! Then, we walked over to the Flagler College, a private four-year liberal arts college, housed in the f...

Alright!   After a fun-filled weekend, it was time to leave New Smyrna Beach.  Monday -->  As it was "Bike Week" (a huge motorcycle gathering/celebration) AND the beginning a Spring Break, we anchored out north of Daytona Beach, and never even went a shore. Instead, we relaxed on Zingara, and planned our exploration of St. Augustine! Tuesday --> The weather had not improved much since the weekend.  It was still rainy, windy, and cool, when we got up.  We stayed in the main cabin and at the lower helm (and enjoyed our coffee), during our 5-hour travel up the coast to St. Augustine.  And it was still rainy & windy when we arrived at the harbor.  We had reserved  mooring ball, which we picked up without incident.  Due to the rough weather, the marina's Water Taxi was not running, so we just kicked back, relaxed, and continued making our plans for the following day.   Surprisingly, a (tour-boat--- no! ...

Saint Patrick's Day & a Michigan/Michigan State basketball Game in New Smyrna Beach, Florida. It was a cool, rainy, and windy Sunday ... ...a great day to spend inside at the New Smyrna Beach Brewing Co..... ...with new "friends" of all ages! Go GREEN!

We left  our Titusville anchorage, and headed north, planning to spend the night at New Smyrna Beach. However, to go north, we had to go east through the cut at Allenhurst.   Above ,  Zingara is the little blue dot, heading towards the cut.  Below, what the cut looked like to us (and, yes, there is a bridge there.  Luckily, we could go under it (barely) without a lift). It was a very busy canal, with lots of fishermen, both in boats and along the shores.  But most importantly to me --- we saw manatee at 5 different locations .  Once, we saw two large ones, with a small one in between.  I was amazed at their size, especially because we were so close to them. So majestic! Once out of the cut, we headed north  into the Mosquito lagoon. .   Fortunately , we didn't find any mosquitos:  however, along the way, we frightened a whole flock of PINK Spoonbills! They formed a pink cloud of  feathers as they ros...

And it was another fabulous day in paradise!  We left busy Vero Beach City marina - sunny & 72 degrees, and continued up the Indian River. And just when we thought that the day couldn't get any better, .... it did! We had dolphins frolicking in our wake before AND after lunch.  They swim effortlessly, dive, jump, splash!      Such magical creatures!        They  seem to have as much fun entertaining us, as we do watching them!  And they entertained us for hours!  We passed by Cocoa Beach, and continued up towards Titusville. We had smooth sailing all way up to our anchorage, just north of the NASA Causeway bridge,  and anchored nearby another trawler by 3:30 pm. That's a building at Cape Canaveral in on the horizon . WE had just dropped the hook  when our son, Alex, called --- he calls every Friday on his way home from work, to check up on us, and to remind ...