We awoke early and finished the three-ish hour hour drive to Daytona Beach. We then started the daunting task of getting the boat ready to splash at Halifax Harbor Marina. If you remember from our last journey, this is where we concluded our trip and took the boat out of the water. I can’t say enough good things about this marina! It’s a great facility, we knew what to expect at the boat ramp and knew it was a great option.
Even though we had loaded the boat with food, clothes and everything else we could think of ahead of time, it still took an hour or two of prep to get the boat in the water. With putting up the eisenglass enclosure, strapping the generator down, the coolers and various other things, the list becomes almost endless. I always ask Philip the same question before splashing, “Is the drain plug in?” He always rolls his eyes and says, “Nope”. Call me a nag but I feel it’s important to make sure 🙂
We headed to the fuel dock to “fill ‘er up” and then made the easy trip over to our slip for the evening. (Docking here ended up being one of the few easy docking experiences of the trip.) The rest of the night was spent enjoying the warm weather, organizing the boat, tying everything down appropriately and offloading ANYTHING we decided we didn’t need. The boat is only 27ft so any extra room to move is essential for my sanity.
We made our dinghy legal with its stenciled registration and then sat down for a cozy dinner on the boat. Tomorrow we plan to head to Melbourne, FL, a town I’m really looking forward to seeing!