Guided Discovery: Passagemaker connection - Days 196 to 197

Friday morning we traveled from Cocoa to Daytona Beach. The forecast called for 20% chance of showers which gave us what has turned out thus far to be a rare opportunity to monitor conditions on satellite weather. The route took us north along the Indian River to the Haulover Cut (shown in the photo below) and then after a sharp left turn, north along the Mosquito Lagoon to the Halifax River.

The route, isolated storms to the southwest and the water depth (shallow as usual)

The Indian River is wide and straight which results in moderate chop when there's wind. In this case from the south and thus a following sea, which is good, and a neutral wind when heading north, which is a bit less comfortable. One nice surprise was a 15 foot bridge that had been replaced by a new one with plenty of headroom and thus eliminating a bridge stop.

Remnants of the old bridge that have yet to be removed

Our original plan called for a stop at New Smyrna Beach but given the smooth trip we decided to add 16 miles and push on to Daytona Beach. This turned out to be a wonderful decision.

After 65 miles and close to seven hours underway, at trawler speed, we arrived at the Halifax Harbor Marina. Halifax Harbor is Daytona Beach's municipal marina and it was spectacular; large, well organized, well run (by Skipper Buds - a division of the company from whom we bought Guided Discovery) and best of all it had floating (easy on easy off) docks, which we had not seen since Delray Beach over a month ago.

Halifax Harbor Marina

Now to the wonderful decision. We reconnected with two very special old friends, Bill and Laurene Parlatore, the founders of PassageMaker Magazine (we have every issue dating back to the first edition circa 1996). PassageMaker is a magazine that focuses on powerboat cruising and contains unusually thoughtful and detailed articles on eery aspect (boats, equipment, safety, destinations, etc.)

On Saturday night, a 41 foot powercat pulled in next to us. We barely took note of Spitfire with a hailing port of Block Island, RI. Early Sunday evening, we were walking with the Furry Kid and she noticed a golden retriever ahead and wanted to visit. Of course we accommodated and as always our canine ambassador got us talking with new people. We quickly learned they were the couple on Spitfire. As we walked along, Diana talking with the woman, Kodi playing with the golden and I chatting with the man, the conversation turned to the power cat. As we talked, the man mentioned his last boat, named Growler (after their last dog), and the name connected me to Bill Parlatore.

I asked, "are you Bill Parlatore?" and he replied "yes." I then introduced myself with a story. Turns out I had med Bill and Laurene at a PassageMaker TrawlerPort in (a trawler show within a boat show) circa 1999 when Diana and I were seriously considering early retirement and cruising the world. Later, I wrote Bill and asked which vessel he would recommend for us; a Nordhavn 50, a Krogen 48 Whaleback or a Cape Horn 55. I also said that we would start with a few years of coastal cruising (i.e., The Great Loop). Bill replied that any one of these vessels would be like taking a Humvee to the grocery store or, stated another way, overkill for what we planned to do.

I reminded him of the story and he immediately connected. I then informed Diana, several steps behind, that we had met "celebrities" (at least from our viewpoint) and we all had a bit of a laugh. What luck, they were only there for one night - wow.

We invited them for a drink on Guided Discovery, shared a bottle of 2007 Mount Veder Cabernet Savignon, had a great chat about cruising, Passagemaker (which they sold in 2004), boats that we have been considering (the Fleming 55 and the Outer reef 63) and their decision to buy the PDQ 41 powercat, which they were now bringing north.

Another serendipitous meeting that is part of the magic of our journey.

We spent two lovely days in Daytona Beach highlights of which included: dinner at the Chart House, one of our favorite restaurants, a farmer's market and an 8 mile walk that took over the ICW to the beach itself. Below are a few photos: