February 15, 2023
According to Travel Lens, New Smyrna Beach is the most dangerous beach in America. Since 2010, there have been 32 shark attacks and 10 surf fatalities. It’s also a hot zone for hurricanes. So we had to visit it!
But before I introduce you to New Smyrna, you have to hear about our final morning in Titusville.
We woke up bright and early to run a few errands and return the rental car. Boris drops me back off at the marina while he returns the car. I still need to fill our water tank and rinse down the boat (always take advantage of having access to fresh water).
Since I was doing laundry for the last couple of days, we had the water hose connected directly to the boat. This hose is necessary in filling the water tank. It’s my first time unscrewing the hose from the boat; it should be simple, right? Well, not for me.
I unscrewed the hose from the boat, the pressure regulator valve breaks and comes with the hose, detaching from the boat. I’m holding a hose, looking at this newly acquired white part that is now attached to the hose, and see hot water shooting everywhere!
Thinking quickly, the only solution I can think of is to screw the hose and the newly dislodged part back onto the boat and hope it sticks back on the boat (sounds reasonable right?). It doesn’t really work, but the spewing water is now a smaller stream (like a leaking hose from the faucet). This gives me the chance to run inside, turn off all water pumps, and have Michael get Matt to come rescue me (Boris isn’t back yet). Matt helps disconnect the hose and determine what broke so we can let Boris know what to buy to make the repair.
I finish my morning tasks: The water tank is full and the boat is rinsed off. We leave for a 5 hour trip to New Smyrna. Now that the boat is rinsed, it could use a good polishing and detailing, which involves leaning over the side while underway. I’m prone to accidents (see prior paragraphs on breaking the water pressure valve) and put on my inflatable life vest, informing Boris to keep an ear out for a splash in case I fall in.
Thankfully, I never fell in, but I did the next best thing: I accidentally inflated my life vest. The Pull tab was pulled while I was leaning over the transom.
I’m sure you’re curious what it’s like inflating one of these. You first hear a hissing sound followed by the sound of plastic quickly un-crinkling (like inflating a folded up air mattress or pool float). As you’re looking around for the source of the sound, you notice, it getting tighter and tighter around your body and neck. When you finally realize what happened, the vest is fully inflated and you’re sporting the bright yellow lining that’s makes you visible to rescuers. It was slower than what I originally expected, I expected it to be like a car airbag. Luckily I had an extra CO2 canister so Boris helped me fold the life vest back up and replace the canister. My vest and I are now ready for more seaworthy adventures.
The rest of our 5 hour journey was peaceful. We saw manatees and dolphins and found anchorage near the The Grille at Riverview, just to the side of the green and red stick thingies (channel markers).
New let me introduce you to New Smyrna. It’s a little beach town that is well known for its soft, sandy white beaches…and shark attacks.
We strolled the brick lined streets, admired the quaint shops, bought a scoop of ice cream, and took a short stroll on the beach. The sand is really soft and felt nice squishing between the toes. The water wasn’t too cold, but we only went in ankle deep as it was getting dark and chilly.
Returning to the boat, it was dark and I kept hearing a sound. Turns out a couple of dolphins were sleeping next to us and would resurface every few moments to breathe.
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