Day 88 - The Kristin Says is Now a Sailboat (or at Least not a Power Boat)

We walked into the Aquamarina office at 8 am.  The staff was very friendly and helpful.  Kevin, who is in charge of service, told us we could bring the boat right over to be hauled out.  We did so and the boat was out of the water by 8:45 am, the props removed by 9:00 am, and we were back in the water by 9:15 am.  Once the boat was floating again, they pulled the boat around the corner to a slip so that we could stay on the boat with full power and water (and not “on the hard”). 

After we were back in the water, the props were picked up by the “prop guy” and the Caterpillar service man came by to talk to us about what engine service we wanted.  We felt much better having this done and felt like we were in good hands.  We won’t make it to Amelia Island this trip as originally planned, but we can have our service done in Daytona Beach and the boat will be ready to go when we come back in late April.  We are only about 100 miles from our scheduled stopping place and we can rent a car to get us to our flight in Jacksonville on March 30^th.

We cooked breakfast on the boat and were about to take a cab to the airport in Daytona Beach to pick up a rental car, when one of the new marina owners offered to drive us.  He had introduced himself to us earlier when the boat was first hauled out.  Luckily the airport is close to the marina and we were soon in the rental car on our way to the “World Famous” Daytona Beach.  We stopped at West Marine to see if they had the right fresh water pump, but they did not so Captain Randy will order that once we are back in Chicago.

The weather was sunny and warm but there was a stiff breeze on the beach.  We walked on the boardwalk and beach, both of which were filled with people.  The beach is very wide and the sand is amazingly hard – we didn’t even leave footprints!  They started driving cars on the beach in 1902 and soon were racing here too.  That lasted into the 1950’s when they built a stadium for racing.  The Daytona International Speedway is home to the famous Daytona 500, which is run every February.  If you want, you can pay a fee and drive your own car on the beach (slowly) in certain areas.  We decided to take a pass on that.  We bought homemade saltwater taffy at Zeno’s.  They sell fudge, candy and ice cream, reminiscent of Kilwins.

 

We drove north to Ormond Beach and saw their new beach house and park.  From there we headed back to Daytona Beach to the Jackie Robinson Ball Park, home of the Daytona Cubs.  A local university also plays here.  Jackie Robinson was the first African American baseball player to play with a white team in spring training in Daytona Beach.

 

 

We wanted to see the lighthouse at the Ponce de Leon Inlet, so we drove there next, going through Halifax Estates and Wilbur by the Sea.  Both are very nice neighborhoods and quite a contrast to the large hotels just a few miles up the coast.  On our way back we drove through downtown Daytona Beach, a few blocks of older, restored buildings and finally back to the marina.