New Smyrna Beach to Melbourne, Fl

Anchor up at 7:55 am to another foggy and overcast day, but warmer! We'll take the small wins where we can find them. I've beginning to forget what that round yellow thing in the sky actually looks like.

The weather finally cooperated enough for Skeet to be able to drive from upstairs, and that's exactly what he did, for almost the entire day. He's pretty self-sufficient when it comes to manning the helm of KORKZcrew, but is always mindful of running any questions past Ron without making assumptions. I hope one day he'll be inspired to get his captain's license — he's incredibly trustworthy, enjoys the responsibility, and is really good at keeping his cool when things get hairy. It's not as if they get "hairy" that often, but he manages the few stressful situations we've had with a steady hand and calm demeanor. (Read that again without the mom-bias filter and I swear the words would be the very same.❤️) While Skeet was at the helm, our marina neighbor from Jekyll Island passed us (like every boat on earth eventually does 😂), and very kindly texted us a picture of KORKZcrew underway. So thoughtful, and also pretty special — as you can imagine, it's rare to have a picture of us cruising along the waterway, unless I'm flying my drone. At the moment, I'm still hesitant to do that after what happened in 2021 while traveling through Georgia — at the time, I managed to save some great drone footage of KORKZcrew to the app on my phone, and it's a good thing, because that drone is still at the bottom of the ICW after my controller ran into some interference and lost ....control. To this day I read about what could cause that level of interference, and still get a range of explanations, including the ones that say there isn't any interference. Not sure who's right or wrong, but I'm also not in a big hurry to sacrifice another drone in order to find out.
Another tranquil part of the ICW (and there are MANY!!) is the Haulover Canal, located just north of Merrit Island, FL, that connects Mosquito Lagoon with the Indian River. I remember this area well from when we passed through droneless (😜) in 2021, primarily because of its abundance of wildlife including no wake signs that alert you to manatees in the area.

The Haulover Canal has a pretty cool back story. From Wikipedia:
According to the state historical marker near the site:
Native Americans, explorers and settlers hauled or carried canoes and small boats over this narrow strip of land between Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River. Eventually it became known as the "haulover." Connecting both bodies of water had long challenged early settlers of this area. . . By 1887, the Florida Coast Line Canal and Transportation Company dug a new and deeper canal which you see now, a short distance from the original. The Intracoastal Waterway incorporated the Haulover Canal as a federal project in 1927 to be maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since then the channel has been dug wider and deeper, and a basin added for launching boats.[2]
Steve searched high and low for manatees throughout this scenic area and came up short, but made the acquaintance of a lone dolphin which suited him just fine.

Loved seeing this funky little island with a single palm tree.
Please notice the BLUE SKY that decided to emerge after evading us for weeks. What a welcome sight as a long day of cruising drew to a close.
KORKZcrew anchored south of Melbourne at just after 5:00 pm.
Night night KORKZcrew!
9.25 hours underway; approx. 63 nautical miles traveled
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