Posted by Monty
Tonight finds us in Titusville, Florida, with Sea Bird swinging on a mooring ball. We are across the bay from the launch complex at Cape Kennedy. Unfortunately, there is no Space Shuttle on the launch pad. (Oh, wait. The United States can no longer put a man in space. We are paying the Russians taxi fare.) Sorry I missed EVERY ONE of the shuttle launches. There always seemed to be more time.
Lesson learned.
That's part of the reason I am here, on this boat, doing this thing. As Jack Bauer says, "There's no time." By the way, the only reason you are alive right now is that Jack Bauer does not want to carry you.
So we spent the last three nights in a marina in Port Orange. Carol was a little under the weather (nothing serious) and why travel when you are not feeling your best? And it's raining (again)? And you don't have to because there are no deadlines? Why not explore? So we did.
We walked up to the Publix for groceries, about a mile. Also, it was the Grand Reopening, as they had torn the building down and rebuilt it over the past nine months. It was a little crowded. But we got our stuff back to the boat, past the drive-in church. No kidding, with speakers on poles and everything. No screen, though. Sort of like listening on your computer, except you have to get in your car and actually GO there. Maybe that's the draw. I don't have a car, so I couldn't go.
We found this great little seafood place at the end of the pier where the fishing boats tie up (they call that a clue) and had lunch. Then we bought grouper fillet to take back to the boat and cook for dinner. It was excellent as well.
Also, we kind of broke the dock. We were on the boat when a huge boat passed on the ICW, that runs parallel. We started rocking pretty violently, and came up on the fenders that were shielding us from the dock. Carol inquired as to our status as I was going up to check. When I got on deck, I realized the piling we were tied to (bow line) had sheared off and was floating free. A quick trip to the marina to inform them of the problem, and soon we were tied off to a different piling and the dock was blocked with caution tape, as it was basically falling into the water. Glad that was not my problem to solve ($$$).
We left Port Orange this morning about 7:15 and arrived here about 2:30. I had planned an anchorage next to the bridge, but there appears to be a channel there now leading to a hotel or condo complex they are building. We need to spend a couple of nights waiting out weather (again) so we decided to pick up a mooring ball (kind of like a permanent anchor you rent) and wait out weather.
Speaking of weather, it was pretty nice today. High in the mid 80s and low not too bad tonight. I steered in shorts and a hoodie. On average, I was fine. It's supposed to be mid 40s Wednesday night, but warm back up after that. We may try to make Melbourne on Wednesday and possibly Vero Beach on Thursday. We'll see.
I looked longingly at my flops today. Almost put them on. Soon...
Lesson learned.
That's part of the reason I am here, on this boat, doing this thing. As Jack Bauer says, "There's no time." By the way, the only reason you are alive right now is that Jack Bauer does not want to carry you.
So we spent the last three nights in a marina in Port Orange. Carol was a little under the weather (nothing serious) and why travel when you are not feeling your best? And it's raining (again)? And you don't have to because there are no deadlines? Why not explore? So we did.
We walked up to the Publix for groceries, about a mile. Also, it was the Grand Reopening, as they had torn the building down and rebuilt it over the past nine months. It was a little crowded. But we got our stuff back to the boat, past the drive-in church. No kidding, with speakers on poles and everything. No screen, though. Sort of like listening on your computer, except you have to get in your car and actually GO there. Maybe that's the draw. I don't have a car, so I couldn't go.
We found this great little seafood place at the end of the pier where the fishing boats tie up (they call that a clue) and had lunch. Then we bought grouper fillet to take back to the boat and cook for dinner. It was excellent as well.
Also, we kind of broke the dock. We were on the boat when a huge boat passed on the ICW, that runs parallel. We started rocking pretty violently, and came up on the fenders that were shielding us from the dock. Carol inquired as to our status as I was going up to check. When I got on deck, I realized the piling we were tied to (bow line) had sheared off and was floating free. A quick trip to the marina to inform them of the problem, and soon we were tied off to a different piling and the dock was blocked with caution tape, as it was basically falling into the water. Glad that was not my problem to solve ($$$).
We left Port Orange this morning about 7:15 and arrived here about 2:30. I had planned an anchorage next to the bridge, but there appears to be a channel there now leading to a hotel or condo complex they are building. We need to spend a couple of nights waiting out weather (again) so we decided to pick up a mooring ball (kind of like a permanent anchor you rent) and wait out weather.
Speaking of weather, it was pretty nice today. High in the mid 80s and low not too bad tonight. I steered in shorts and a hoodie. On average, I was fine. It's supposed to be mid 40s Wednesday night, but warm back up after that. We may try to make Melbourne on Wednesday and possibly Vero Beach on Thursday. We'll see.
I looked longingly at my flops today. Almost put them on. Soon...