What Happened to the Old Smyrna?

Titusville to New Smyrna – 28 nautical miles sailed, 2 miles in dinghy, 3 kilometres walked, many dolphins, 3 manatees 

My brother must have worn us out last night because I didn’t even open my eyes until 8am this morning, a nautical travesty. We left immediately after prepping the boat and were back on the ICW headed for the town of New Smyrna. It was a pleasant and uneventful ride, although I did spot three manatees and a large number of dolphins.

We dropped anchor south of the town then sat in the cockpit for a long while watching the dolphins surfacing on all sides of our boat, some close, some further away. I don’t know why there were so few dolphins in the Bahamas, but we really missed them and are thrilled to be back on the Daily Dolphin program.

The public dinghy docks in New Smyrna had been destroyed by the recent hurricane so the only one left was a private one at the River Deck restaurant. We tied up the dinghy there, told the hostess we’d be back for a beer and snacks later, then went walking. The town was nice. Many art shops and galleries. A dozen restaurants and bars. A couple of cute coffee shops. Some boutiques. But nothing really stood out for us. I didn’t even find anything interesting enough to photograph so I had Ana take a picture of me drinking a craft beer (Shark Attack, local brew, fabulous) at the bar. I intended to ask the server what happened to the Old Smyrna, but fortunately I spared her the embarrassment of having to respond to a Dad Joke she's probably already heard a hundred times.

In the evening, I attended the Newport Yacht Club tech team meeting (I’m a member, but have been wholly ineffective, predictably absent, and mostly useless during our ocean adventures…) and Ana joined in at the end to discuss some club stuff then we had a short, but great visit with our marina buddies.

It was not the most exciting day, nor was it the least.