After anchoring out overnight just north of the entrance to the Titusville City Marina, we got underway on Wednesday, March 11th, about 9:00 a.m. Our goal was to get fuel, get anchored and prepare for the Discovery shuttle launch that evening. Our route from Titusville took us south on the Intracoastal to the Coco, FL area where we turned east and went through the Port Canaveral Barge Canal. We stopped at Harbortown Marina, located just off the Barge Canal, to take on 225 gallons of fuel, pump out the holding tanks, fill the water tanks, and get some much needed ice for the Admiral. We were pleasantly surprised to find that fuel had dropped in price to $1.84 (including tax) per gallon. It is important to note that this is the cheapest fuel we have purchased since moving aboard "Life's2Short" almost three years ago, yes it's been almost three years!
The dolphins come alongside "L2S" for some "wake-surfing."
Leaving the marina we only had a two-mile jaunt to get to our anchorage and the scene of the BIG event. We had been told by some fellow cruisers that the anchorage on the Banana River, just north of the Barge Canal, was the best area to view the launch. The anchorage is also one mile west of the Port Canaveral cruise ship docks, which happened to be empty when we arrived. For shuttle launches the Coast Guard sets up a ten-mile security barrier and won't allow boats any closer. Our anchorage was right at this ten-mile border.
After getting the hook dropped I got out the binoculars and sure enough there sat Discovery on her launch pad all ready to go...I WAS excited to witness this bit of history! Well, about 4:30 NASA found a fuel leak and scrubbed the launch, as they are prone to do, rescheduling the launch for the next evening. No big deal, we would just sit tight for another day, what was twenty-four more hours to wait to witness history. By 6:00 p.m. NASA found the leak to be worse than they originally thought so they moved the launch date to "Sunday at the earliest." The decision was made that we weren't going to wait around that long, knowing they might even postpone it again. We spent a quiet night on the Banana River under a gorgeous full moon so all was not a bust.
What we think it would have looked like, this shot borrowed from the Internet.
Sunset on the Banana River.
We awoke on Thursday to find three cruise ships had come in to port overnight, no shuttle launch the night before but some big ole ships in the port the next morning! The Captain spent the morning doing some B.M., (that's Boat Maintenance to those of you who were thinking other things!) changing the oil & filters in the gen-set and replacing the zincs in both engines and gen-set.
Sunrise over the cruise ships sitting in Port Canaveral.
We left the Banana River with Discovery still on her launch pad about 11:00 a.m. for points south, our goal being 37 miles to an anchorage called Rock Point, which is located around some "spoils" just off the Intracoastal at mile 925. These spoils, think of small islands, are a by-product of when they dredged the Intracoastal Waterway way back when. With the dredging the Army Corps of Engineers actually made these islands and later planted trees on them. Most spoils are too shallow to anchor near, but Rock Point has seven feet of water around it, which made for a perfect anchorage. The spoils are also wonderful for the many types of birds that use them for nesting, and they are very popular with the locals who enjoy them for beaching & partying.
Shortly after getting anchored we put down the dinghy, filled a cooler, lathered up with sunscreen, grabbed our books and headed to the island to enjoy happy hour...getting back into the swing of things and getting practiced up for the Bahamas! It was a very enjoyable afternoon, one we enjoyed so much we decided to spend another day hanging out at our "spoil" and doing it all over again on Friday. Friday night the Admiral cooked up a heavenly meal of pecan-stuffed honey mustard chicken and fresh steamed broccoli. Needless to say we stuffed ourselves!
Our afternoon company on the spoil.
Ahhhhhh, back on the beach again!
After a breezy evening on the hook we got underway around 9:00 a.m. for a four-hour cruise to Vero Beach, our destination for the day. The Vero Beach City Marina has mooring balls you can pick up for $12.00 per night, the only catch is that you will most likely be rafting to, or getting rafted to by, other boats. But it is a very popular stop along the ICW, and a beautiful area where the marina is located.
Upon arriving we were given our mooring ball assignment and sure enough we were going to raft to another trawler called "Merlion." As long as the wind isn't blowing or the current isn't too strong it's really no big deal rafting, you just put out your fenders and tie to the other boat...kind of like two floating townhouses attached to each other.
We had heard good things about Vero Beach from other cruisers so we were excited to get to shore and explore another new area. We caught the free shuttle bus that takes you to downtown Vero Beach about 2:00 p.m., knowing that this was the last bus for the day and that we would have to hike back to the marina. We were told from different folks that the marina was anywhere from a one- to a two-and-a-half-mile hike back, that was okay as we were looking forward to some "land-time."
After arriving in downtown we looked around and quickly determined that this was not our type of area, way too ritzy for us unemployed boat people. The streets were lined with high-end boutiques, salons, jewelry stores and expensive gift shops. We did walk up to the boardwalk, though, and enjoyed the view of a pretty, if somewhat narrow, stretch of beach while having a beverage at a local restaurant called Mulligan's.
Vero Beach waterfront shots.
An hour later we were back on "L2S" and wondering what to do next. (By the way, we figured it was about a one-mile walk back to the marina from downtown.) Our rafting neighbors suggested we dinghy over to the nearby Riverside Cafe and then go to the 58th Annual Fine Arts & Crafts Show in Riverside Park, just a short walk from the cafe. So, off we went. It was a pretty large art show, we figured there were at least 150 vendors showcasing their beautiful wares. We kicked around for an hour enjoying kettle korn and deep-fried artichoke hearts and the many booths set up for display. We then returned to the Riverside Cafe for a few beers before heading back over to "L2S" for a quiet evening aboard enjoying the Admiral's homemade ham & pineapple pizza...yummy!
Art in the park...
Looking north from Riverside Cafe at "L2S" on her mooring ball.
Sunday we untied from "Merlion" shortly after 9:00 a.m. and headed over to the fuel dock to pump out again (the pump-out machine at Harbortown apparently didn't work because we were full), top off the water, get more ice and empty trash. Getting underway around 10:00 a.m., we knew we were going to have another 37-mile day. Little did we know it was going to be such a trying day at the helm! This part of the Intracoastal is wide (up to two miles) and long (about 80 miles) and we were expecting headwinds of 20 to 25 miles per hour, which made for a bumpy ride. On top of that it was Sunday and it seemed everybody was out & about in their boats. Needless to say it was rough, both from the wind and the constant line of boats passing us and coming at us.
We finally pulled in to Port St. Lucie and our anchorage at Manatee Pocket around 3:00 p.m., tired & stressed out from all the rockin' & rollin'. Fortunately our anchorage was in a no-wake zone and pretty protected from the wind, so after a hard five hours it was nice to be in flat water again! What's that I hear, the Discovery is still on target to launch tonight? Could it be true? Will NASA scrub it again? Will I still be able to see it a 100 miles away? Launch time is set for 7:45 p.m. and YES it's going to happen!
We were watching the countdown on the computer and hurried out to the bow just in time to see Discovery headed skyward, and oh what a sight it was. Fantastic & beautiful all at the same time, what a thrill to see...even from 100 miles you have no problem witnessing it. The neighbors in the anchorage and folks on shore were cheering the launch, it was awesome! I can only imagine what it would have been like to see it from ten miles out, I bet you could have felt the heat. It was amazing watching the exhaust vapor trail just hang in the air. You could see the sun slowly darken the trail, leaving only one small area still lit up 30 min after the launch...did I say awesome?
Up, up and away!
This little "cloud" of exhaust was lit up for quite a while. It also looks like I need to clean my camera lens.
Today is Monday, March 16th, and the Captain was up early writing this blog installment. We left Manatee Pocket around 11:00 a.m. and spent the next four hours making our way to Lake Worth in the Palm Beach Gardens area. There were several "no wake" zones and the current was against us most of the time, so it was a long 26-mile trip.
A quaint little place on the ICW.
What the heck do they do with these during a hurricane?
Tomorrow we will travel the remaining 26 miles to anchor in Pelican Harbor and spend a couple of days with Tom & Jackie who live nearby in Delray Beach, FL. We met Tom & Jackie aboard "In Your Dreams" in the Exumas last year and hope to spend more time with them in the islands in the coming months. They just returned from a ski trip to Colorado where Jackie, unfortunately, broke her arm so their trip may be delayed by a few weeks.
We will dinghy to their home for dinner tomorrow evening and are looking forward to renewing our friendship. After we leave Tom & Jackie, we will continue south to Miami and the Keys where we plan to spend some time with Jack & Susan in Islamorada, also Exuma friends from last year, before looking for that all-important weather window to cross over to the Exumas sometime after the first of April. Say a prayer to Mother Nature for us!
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