Daytona, Titusville, and Thanksgiving on Merritt Island

Sunday, November 20, 2016

We left St. Augustine early, with overcast skies, and a cold northerly wind at our backs.  I was back in layers of warm clothes under a foul weather jacket.  Other than a couple of shoal spots just south of St. Augustine, the trip was pretty uneventful.  By early in the afternoon, the sun finally came out, and things got much more pleasant.  We  anchored just south of Daytona, just west of the narrow ICW channel in the wide river.  Total travel for the day was 47 NM.

Monday, November 21, 2016

We continued on to our next anchorage, just outside of Titusville.  Along the way, several dolphins came and played around the stern of the boat, often going back and forth from one side to the other.

Dolphin Playing Alongside

Along the way, we had to stop at New Symrna Beach Marina for a pumpout.  While we were tied up at the dock, the dockhand casually announced " There's a good-sized Manatee off your stern."  We looked, and sure enough, there was a large Manatee surfacing!  And out from under her came a pup!  Of course, neither of us had our cameras handy.  Joan tried to rush down into the cabin to get hers, but slipped on a step and fell to the cabin floor.  Fortunately, it was a pretty "slow motion" fall, and she didn't injure herself beyond a few bruises.  And of course, by that time, the Manatees had submerged again, so no photos. :(  The dockhand said they're difficult to photograph.

Later, while going through the Haulover Canal, I saw another one submerge, kicking up its distinctive round tail fin.

As the sun got low in the sky, we anchored just south of a railroad causway, in towards shore. Two other boats joind us just before sunset.  It was nicely sheltered from the light NW breeze, and was still as a millpond at night. 

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Today, we were headed for a marina in Cocoa, FL. Joan has a cousin who lives near there, and we planned on stopping for a visit.
This area is known as the Space Coast, and is quite close to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space center.  Soon, I spied a famaliar outline on the horizon: The massive bulk of the NASA Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).  This is where they used to assemble the shuttles upright, on top of a huge tracked transporter, and then move them several miles to the lanuch pad.  The Apollo Saturn V moon rockets were also assembled and launched here.

NASA Vehicle Assembly Building

Launch Complex 39B

For an old space geek like me, this was like a pilgrimage to Mecca! ;)

Once we arrived in Cocoa and contacted Joan's cousin, he invited us to stay over an extra day for Thanksgiving, so that's what we did.  Wednesday, we got a quick driving tour of the area, and Thursday we ate turkey!

Thanksgiving Turkey with All the Trimmings