My friend Drew flew out for Alaska Thursday from Miami after I rented a car from Indian Harbour Beach and drove him down there. My friend Jeff wanted to come spend the weekend on the Pura Vida so he drove down Friday AM which worked out perfect, and I met him 65 miles north at New Smyrna Yacht Club where we left his car. We drove back south to Indian Harbour Beach where Pura Vida was docked. We returned the rental F150 and had a nice evening at the EAU Gallie Yacht Club where we enjoyed a good dinner and went to bed early for our long 65 mile run in the morning. I was anticipating some rain this day but we were happily surprised the front that was moving west across the state blew past us overnight and we had a beautiful day of ICW cruising all the way to New Smyrna.
Pictures from EAU Gallie
We saw lots of dolphins manatees and cool birds the whole ride, leaving Indian Harbour Beach we took the ICW north up Indian River in-between Merritt Island and Titusville. The ICW took us through Haulover Canal which is a narrow canal through Merritt Island that takes you from the Indian River to Mosquito Lagoon, once you are in Mosquito Lagoon it is only 21 miles to Smyrna Beach. This day of travel took us 8 hours and it was beautiful going through the small towns and seeing all the wildlife. Merritt Island is a National Wildlife Refuge so it was really cool seeing all the Flora and Fauna and not so many buildings. Going past the Canaveral Peninsula we could see the NASA buildings and all their land. I wonder what its like on the property now a days, according to google there are about 700 facilities grouped across the center’s 144,000 acres. Among the unique facilities at KSC is the 525 ft tall Vehicle Assembly Building for stacking NASA’s largest rockets, Operations and Checkout Building which houses the astronaut crew quarters, and 3-mile-long Shuttle Landing Facility. There is also a Visitor Complex open to the public on site.
a nice storm came through the day before we left for New Smyrna
Hallover Canal west entrance
We arrived at New Smyrna Yacht Club about 4:45 close to slack tide. Felt good to get docked and washed down, Established by 36 charter families in 1928, New Smyrna Yacht Club is nestled on the Indian River Estuary, a part of the Intracoastal Waterway, just a short distance from the Atlantic Ocean via the Ponce de Leon Inlet. Over a century ago, around 1884, wealthy sportsmen whose leisure time was spent hunting, fishing and cruising on luxurious yachts, decided to form a yacht club. In New Smyrna Beach they found the ideal location for cruising and holding regattas. The great industrialists and Europeans with titles traveled and sailed for weeks to spend their leisure time in this wonderful cruising area. In the thirties an architect noted for his Spanish Renaissance designs was chosen to build a clubhouse. SYC soon became a landmark along the Indian River. The Spanish Renaissance styling is preserved and admired by members of other clubs in the Florida Council. This is a great Yacht Club to visit, all the employees are like a big family and care a lot about the club and its members. Food is great and Sunday brunch is casual and good as ever!
Pura Vida Loop 