Approaching Jacksonville on the St. John River
.   Back to Sno' Dog Log - Cover Page
.   Back to the start of our northbound trip:
.   FL-to-NH Spring 2009 Log - Page 1
.   Back to Fall 2009 - Page 1
.   The start of our Southbound Trip
.
Our winter home base, Nettles Island Marina.  Across the Indian River from Jensen Beach on Hutchinson Island.
.   Back to our previous southbound trip -
.   NH-to-FL Fall 2008 - Page 1
.   See a list of ALL our exploits on the
.   Table of Contents/Site Map
Heading south on the ICW on Pablo Creek just south of Jacksonville
Beach.   That's Hot Diggity between the trawlers.
Counter
Portsmouth, NH to Jensen Beach, FL - Fall 2009 - Page 3
_____________________________________
My mother (with a little help from her friend Shirley), having read
our blog about "no free OJ at the FL state line" decided to have Free
Orange Juice ready for us as we passed her dock at Nettles Island!  
We were impressed!  (Click on the photo to see full size.)
Nancy knitting - and smiling.  Finally, weather
good enough for her & Madison to come topside!
Heading back through the Ortega River Bridge
into the St. John River.  The Jacksonville city
skyline appears in the background.
This guy appeared to be rowing down the ICW!
The name of his boat was "Not For Sail"
Twin Towers - Daytona Beach style.  Guess they
liked the first so much that they built another!
This bridge, the NASA RR Bridge near Titusville,
caused many southbound boaters great consternation
as, due to repairs, it opens only a few times per day.  
We lucked out and sailed right through.  With only
8-ft clearance, it pretty much blocks the waterway.
This is the scene that greets you as you cross the St. Mary's River and enter Florida on the ICW at Fernandina Beach.
No Visitor Center with free orange juice when you arrive in Florida by boat!  But it does get more scenic further on.
Welcome to Florida!
Click on small photos to view larger.
Monday
11/09/09 - 10:00 AM - Dep Jekyll I. - P Cldy 72°, wind E 15-20
           12:00 noon - Fernandina Beach, FLORIDA!             
           1:30 PM - Dep ICW, heading west on St. John River
           3:30 PM - Arr Jacksonville, FL - Lamb's Yacht Ctr
        Hurricane Ida dissipating, but FL residents are nervous!
                        Today: 62.6 n mi. -  5.6 eng hrs  
Tuesday
11/10/09 - Stayed in Jacksonville - Ortega, actually...
          Our first lay-over day since leaving Portsmouth
          19 days ago.  Warm & muggy, 78° - wind S 15-20
Wednesday
11/11/09 - Decided to pass up the cruise South on the St. John
          River due to strong southerly winds from the remnants
          of Tropical Storm Ida.  (Hot Diggity still in pursuit.)
       10:15 AM - Dep Lamb's Yacht Ctr, Ortega, FL
       10:40 AM - passing downtown Jacksonville - drizzle, 75°
       11:45 AM - Re-Join ICW near Mayport, wind SW 15-20
         2:45 PM - Arr: St. Augustine, FL - Municipal Marina
                         Today: 50.4 n mi  -  4.7 eng hrs
Continuation of the Southbound Log of Sno' Dog from Page 2
.   Back to Fall 2009 - Page 2
.   Southbound Trip - Norfolk to Florida
                                                                 Thursday
11/12/09 - 10:30 AM - Dep St. Augustine - Cldy 54°, wind N 15-20
           12:00 noon - Marine Land, FL - wind NNW 20-25!     
           2:15 PM - stopped in Daytona Beach for fuel
            Filled fuel tanks, 103 gal - 323 mi since fill-up in SC
            4:00 PM - Arr: New Smyrna Beach, FL - Muni Marina
                         Today: 55.3 n mi. -  5.1 eng hrs  
Friday the 13th
11/13/09 - 9:50 AM - Dep New Smyrna Beach - fair 58°, wind N 15
          11:45 AM - Haulover Canal, into the Indian River
          12:25 PM - passing Titusville, wind N 20
            2:45 PM - Arr: Eau Gallie - no space at the Yacht Basin
            3:30 PM - Arr: Melbourne, FL - Melbourne Hrbr Marina
                         Today: 60.9 n mi.  -  5.7 eng hrs
            We're here just in time for an evening Street Festival!
       Excellent Dinner at Island Pasta Co, best food of the trip!
Saturday
11/14/09 - 10:00 AM -Dep Melbourne - sunny 72°, wind NNW 15
           12:10 PM - passing Vero Beach, 1:10 passing Ft. Pierce
             2:15 PM - Arr: Nettles Island, Jensen Beach, FL
                            Today: 49.5 n mi  -  4.4 eng hrs
Click to view larger.
We're now back to our winter home base!
Click on this photo to see the full panorama.
Trip summary & commentary below...
Another excellent trip south!  Once again, Sno' Dog performed
flawlessly, she never missed a beat - no mechanical problems
whatsoever.  She certainly is the perfect boat for this trip, with
her shoal draft (and dual depth sounders), running down the ICW
is child's play!  It's great to have the speed when you need it.  As
you can see, many of our departures were rather leisurely in the
morning, yet we were always in port early - usually well ahead of
the trawlers and sailboats who left at the crack of dawn.
Our total mileage from Great Bay Marina in New Hampshire to
Nettles Island Marina in Florida was 1438 nautical miles (1654
statute mi) - a bit longer this year because of the detour to
Jacksonville.  We filled our diesel tanks five times consuming a
total 520 gallons. To Daytona Beach (our last fill-up), we
travelled 1314 n mi (1511 st mi).  Total engine hours were 120.1.  
This yields an average fuel consumption of 4.32gal/hr, average
speed of 11.0 knots (12.6 mph) and average mileage of 2.9 mpg.
Once again, I'm not aware of any boat with the comfort of the
PDQ that can rival these statistics. We do like our Sno' Dog!
After the holidays, we are planning to
head to the Bahamas for 4-6 weeks.  But
not before attending the PDQ Rendezvous
in Stuart, FL on January 23-24.  Perhaps
we'll see you there?
Now well into our fourth year of
ownership, we have logged almost
14,000 nautical miles on Sno Dog
and we have almost 1500 hours on
the engines.  To date, we have not
had a single mechanical problem or
breakdown while underway. (The
small problems we have had were
with various accessories such as the
water pump, inverter and electronics.)

Unlike some of the folks we've met
along the waterway who were
struggling with mechanical difficulties
or waiting for parts to arrive, we have
- so far - never experienced any of
those problems.  This is certainly a
great testament to the quality of the
PDQ.  I hope that the RI Pearson
Composites group will be able to put
this excellent boat back into
production soon.
BTW, Hot Diggity made it successfully to their destination.  The
boat is now resting comfortably at the 4-Fish Marina here in
Jensen Beach.  Dave & Debbie plan to reurn in January to enjoy
some winter cruising in this area. (Click link for photo.)
 Continue to Nettles Island Christmas 2009