Rockhouse Creek, last night’s anchorage, was scenic, calm and relatively unpopulated. One of our few neighbors was a smartly turned-out Nordic Tug.  The Captain, Mike, dinghied over to say hello and compare travel plans, as he and his wife Judy are also Bahama-bound.

We ate a dinner of steak, corn, and broccoli in the cockpit.  Around us herons hunted on the shoreline then flew away squawking. We were lucky to have delicious date bread for dessert, courtesy of Marie-Paule, our friend and marina-mate who is also a French Chef! We had a clear night with lots of stars and only a few noseeums.

Today got off to a rocky start. Just over a mile after leaving our anchorage was a drawbridge with a restricted opening schedule (every 20 minutes). We knew this from the cruising guide and hoped to be there for the 8:00 opening. It was low tide and it had just turned, so we were fighting an incoming current and missed the 8:00 opening. Then we found out from the bridge tender that their schedule had recently changed, and it wasn’t opening again until 8:30. That meant doing several big slow circles in front of the bridge while we waited the half hour. We finally got through and started to make our way to a fixed bridge only ½ mile distant. Approaching the fixed bridge at low tide is preferred so we have plenty of mast clearance. The downside of that, of course, is that any shallow spots on the ICW are really shallow at low tide. We stayed right in the middle of the ICW channel as marked on all our various charts but came to a spot where the depth shallowed out quickly, followed by that sadly-familiar sound and feeling of a soft mud grounding. There we were, smack in the middle of the channel sitting still in only 4.5 feet of water. Luckily, there was no boat traffic in the area and the tide was rising, so we just sat there a while waiting for a few inches of water to fill in to the channel. Once we had a little more depth, we unrolled the main sail in the mild breeze to lean us over. That lessened our draft and enabled us to back out with the motor. We then took a longer alternate route to avoid having to go through that shallow spot. Normally all the ICW trouble spots are identified in the cruising guides and on the charts, but not this one.

Everything was fine at this point except for the fact that we now were delayed by about an hour in our planning for the day. Then the wind kicked up. It was forecast to be 10-15 mph and ended up being 20-25 mph with regular 30 mph gusts. Since the wind was out of the south, we were heading directly into it. That slowed us down a lot. It was partly sunny and warm though, and there were dolphins around us all day long so it was still enjoyable.

The rest of our travel route was without unexpected events, unless you count folks lined up on the shores of the narrow Haulover canal, waving and watching the boats (including us) going under the lifted arms of the Allenhurst bascule bridge.

We picked up a mooring ball in the Titusville Moorings. The winds have calmed, and there is a Ferris Wheel on shore visible from the mooring field. The dinner plan is garlic shrimp with rice and green beans, and sourdough bread, again courtesy of Marie-Paule. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we will head to Melbourne.