Dragon Point, Intercoastal Waterway, Florida, USA

We are both dozing about 6am but struggling due to buzzing near our ears. We switch on the light to find little thunderfly- type insects all over the cabin ceiling. Yuck, even worse these little black flies bite with such a sharp bite you can feel it straightaway. We both jump out of bed. We can only imagine that they have come in through the flyscreens that we have fitted. We knew being so close to a mangrove which was literally buzzing with insects was not going to be a good thing and had been tormented out of the cockpit very early on the night before.

          Leaving Vero Beach

We decide as we have paid up already to make use of the early start and get straight out before it gets too hot. It is a little overcast and with a light breeze so we even manage to motorsail. I decide to make a start with my spring clean before Alex and Sean arrive in a weeks time with a clean of the saloon cushions whilst we are motoring as these jobs are unbearable when the sun is out. Kevin sets to as well on polishing the guard wires.

Pelicans relaxing on the convenient resting posts provided

Pelicans relaxing on the convenient resting posts provided

Little islets in the ICW provide a nature haven

It is another lovely cruise in the ICW, it is so relaxing and it is like being in a wildlife park. We have our first confirmed manatee sightings, it is difficult to spot them as the water is quite murky with the sediment all you see if the oval of their back and then a fin as they disappear, but I am thrilled anyway, I have always wanted to see one. The only disturbance of the ICW is those people on large speedboats who pass within yards at full speed leaving us with a full short beam on swell causing us to roll. One comes by just after I pass Kevin his morning expresso, he is too busy trying to turn us into it to steady the cup and it all goes flying everywhere as I try to grab things in the saloon. I have to confess I called the boat up on the VHF to berate him afterwards, but got no response. It wasn’t even a bunch of young lads like you might expect but 2 older couples, perhaps they thought it was like overtaking on a road?!

Dolphins regularly pass us in the ICW

We have now passed under several fixed span bridges, the average height is 65ft and they have a helpful gauge on the supports giving the actual clearance plus / minus tide. The first couple of times are nerve wracking but after that we become quite blaze.

US courtesy flag now proudly flying on Invincible

We anchored up in a small subchannel near a place called Dragon Point though the fibreglass dragon is now no more than green marks on the rocks. We see a stingray fully clear the water just behind the boat, the second we have seen jump like that, followed shortly by a manatee. It is a lovely spot, again surrounded by luxury houses.

Dragon Point Anchorage

You can just make out the manatee, Dragon Point Anchorage

I decide to go ashore to get the milk we forgot from the mall I can see just ashore and head into the marina. I visit the Ship’s Store out of courtesy for using their dingy dock and find that they have engine spares. They have Volvo, but again not the ones we need. The owner warns me that I am not allowed to leave my dingy on the dock as they have had a lawsuit after a trip and fall incident as he calls it. Obviously I don’t know the details but if he can really be sued someone for tripping on the free courtesy dingy dock it seems like litigation gone mad. He informs me that the only place I can get ashore now is to pull it up a grassy bank along the shore. There is one dingy already there, but it is a steep overgrown bank and a Private Property sign is just the other side of the bush from this spot, so it is the bottom of someone’s garden. I decide it doesn’t look too inviting in shorts and flip flops and there are big black clouds forming, I wonder if the person suing thought about that…

 

Not long after I return, the huge squall hits, visibility drops so we can hardly see the shore and waves form across the whole ICW as strong winds gust around the boat. You can hardly imagine that the sun was shining 5 minutes before. We settle down for a film in the evening ready to get another early start, with any luck to get us all the way to Titusville.

Dragon Point anchorage during the squall

Dragon Point anchorage during the squall