"2000, December 11-12 A Refuge for the Exhausted" Top 5 Page for this destination New Smyrna Beach by grandmaR

In 2000, after we left Port Orange, where we had a hair raising experience with the current in a marina, I started calling Smyrna marinas. All of them were full except the yacht club which only took other yacht club members and the town marina, and that was a co-op. There is no dockmaster, and they don't monitor the radio. They had 2 transient slips. If we got there and they were open, we could stay there. If someone else got there first, we couldn't stay there. Then we would have to anchor behind Chicken Island, and I was chicken to do that. I found where the marina was on the chart, so that I could direct Bob there. We were behind another sailboat at the Coronado Beach Bridge just before New Smyrna Beach (named by Greek immigrants), and I was afraid they would go into the Smyrna Marina, but they didn't. So we tied up by noon after a very traumatic start and 11 miles at 5.4 mph for a total of 844 nm. We walked up to the office and registered (filled out a form envelope - put money into it and stuck it through a slot).

Begger Great Egret

Then we walked over to the seafood restaurant and I had shrimp salad sandwich. (see Restaurant Tips)

There was a sign warning against feeding the birds. It said:

"To insure your dining pleasure while eating on the deck, Please DON'T FEED THE BIRDS!. After considerable thinking on our part we have come up with 7 good reasons why you shouldn't feed the birds. We could not think of 3 more to make 10 so 7 will just have to do.

#7 It's not good for humans to feed wild critters.
#6 They are really not that cute and cuddly.
#5 They don't pay taxes so why feed them.
#4 Don't you hate to sit down for dinner and have rude obnoxious guests show up.
#3 It's tough to carry on a conversation while being bombarded.
#2 Bird poop tasts really lousy on our fish. We provide Tarter sauce for that.
#1 They can mess up a really good hair day!

If you feel that you must feed the birds please go to the far end of the dock away from all the other guests."

We ate out on the pier and the birds (gulls and grackles mainly) waited around to be fed. One of the grackles only had one leg.

I waylaid the postman and gave him post cards for our grandsons on the way back to the boat, and used the pay phone to get pocketmail. Bob as usual was too restless to just rest, so he walked over to a marine supply store and around Old Fort Park which was right by the marina. Then he cleaned the bimini curtains.

About 5 we walked back to the same place and got dinner there as neither of us felt like walking any more than that. I got chicken and Bob got a seafood dinner.

This time, there was a great egret and a bunch of plovers begging for food. The egret actually walked right up to the table. On the way home, we saw the big orange full moon rise but my pictures of it didn't come out..

I saw a green heron on a dock line, and that night I saw a yellow crowned night heron walking around on the dock next to the boat. It also rained quite a bit.

Marina from ICW

Bob was up at 7, took up the trash and used the bathroom and I used the pay phone. Cast off at 8:15 without incident (high tide). Was a trifle foggy. Oops - Bob and I both forgot to put on our life jackets.

At the time we were there, the marina didn't allow you to stay at the transient dock more than a couple of days. I don't know if they even have transient spaces available anymore.

We motored under the fixed bridge just south of the marina (the place to go under isn't in the middle but way over on the end). .

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• Pros:Friendly town with an interesting history