The Bump and Grind

August 22, 2013 -The Bump and Grind

The open ocean was beautiful!  Rolling waves, good wind off and on and, finally, an attainable heading of New Smyrna.  Dolphins visited us throughout the day but the highlight was the sea turtle everyone was able to spot, and Paige even saw a baby sea turtle.  It was a great day.  

New Smyrna - We had a bit of a storm brewing behind us as we headed into the inlet at New Smyrna so Andrew was a bit nervous.  The girls and I loved the rockin' & rollin" but the rocks were too close for his comfort.  We made it through, no problem, and had a beautiful sail up a bit of the Intracoastal to reach our marina at Inlet Harbor.  We opted for the longer route up the Intracoastal, opposed to the more direct route from the south that showed a history of shoaling.  We radioed in with our position and requested assistance docking and instruction on where to head.  They assumed we would be coming in from the south as most other boats and didn't hear of our northern approach and we had not experienced and under estimated the power of the current so we followed their instructions blidndlyo dock "at torth of the purple roof" blindly.   I promptly began griping at Andrew because he was approaching way too fast.  The current had us and Andrew couldn't fight it.  Luckily he had us positioned just right to side up to the dock as gently as possible but we gave the whole area quite a shake as our 22,000lbs vessel bumped in for a landing.  The dock crew were super understanding and helpful and even apologetic for the misunderstanding.  Andrew says the New Symerna inlet was the most anziety for his whole trip, the bumping/crashing of the dock was definitely mine!  I needed an adult beverage!  So 45 minutes later when the tide turned we moved the boat to the proper location.  Andrew took the girls fishing right on the dock while I watched from the restaurant patio, beverage in hand.  
 

Relaxing at the restaurant, Abby in the background.

Bumping aside, this stop ranks as my favorite of the trip.  We had a beautiful sunset, awesome food, friendly staff and hands, an amazing evening and great sleep with the AC :)  

 Our journey continues in "Are We There Yet".