We left Hammock Beach early. Our neighbors in the boat with the blue lights helped us get out of our slip. We headed down the waterway toward Ponce Inlet. First, I must mention that we tried our heat pump when we were on shore power, and everything seems to be working! So great.
The travel took us through more Florida canals with homes on each side, then through the bay of Daytona Beach where we started to see mangroves. The path through the Daytona bay was difficult as it is a narrow channel through a wide bay and there is boat traffic, bridges and chop. Most of the bridges are fixed at 65 feet but tide had them 64 and one had a light hanging down. The middle bridge was a draw. They finally answered the radio for us and opened. That was the Main Street Bridge, so funny.
We arrived at the Sea Love Boat Works. They do not monitor the radio either. There was a long outer dock so we just pulled up there and a worker came out to help us. We were able to just stay there which was great. It is more a boatyard than a marina but quaint and Ponce Inlet is a lovely quiet little town. A larger company has apparently bought the marina and plans an overhaul of the facilities.
After some route planning, we walked to the beach. There seemed to be three main roads, Front St., Beach St. and Peninsula. From the beach, we walked along a jetty pier that had been damaged in a hurricane and studied the inlet. There were several boats making their way in and it looked calm. The beach was beautiful. We walked to the lighthouse at sunset and then headed to the Down the Hatch restaurant. A special guest arrived during our meal.
