We didn’t leave Daytona as early as we typically do because
I wanted to get a good walk in with Sasha with my new glasses. I was concerned about them after wearing them
for a bit the day I got them, because my vision was somewhat distorted at
times, causing that slightly nauseated feeling you get when your brain is
trying to make sense of what your eyes are seeing. I googled “adjusting to new glasses” and found
that my symptoms – fish bowl effect, distorted peripheral vision, and strong
prescription sensation – were typical with new glasses, especially since I now
have hi-index lenses and a stronger reader portion. I had made the cardinal mistake of switching
back to my old glasses the evening before when I should have just persisted in
wearing the new glasses. By the time we
were done with our walk, my eyes were already adjusting better, and now I know
that I should give it a good 2 weeks before I get too concerned.
I called Rob on the way back to tell him that he had been
right that I just needed a longer adjustment period and that he could begin
preparations to leave. We ended up
getting underway by 8:45 and were soon cruising comfortably south on the AICW. In no time at all, we passed under the North
Causeway bridge (George Musson Bridge) at New Smyrna Beach and past our beloved
Riverview Hotel Marina – pretty much destroyed by Hurricane Matthew -- which we
hope will be rebuilt.
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| North Causeway, New Smyrna Beach, FL |
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| Riverview Hotel dock after Hurricane Matthew |
The docks and other structures on the land side of the AICW
in this area had not gotten as much damage as those on the beach side, and many
of those with minor damage had already been repaired. We also saw a few beached boats that had not
been recovered or hauled off yet.
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| Beached sailboats |
There is quite a stretch of No Wake zone south of New Smyrna
Beach due to the narrow channel and manatee habitat in this area. We saw quite a few manatees, as well as
dolpins, as we cruised through.
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| Most of the time these circles in the water are all you see of manatees |
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| Typical manatee sighting with only the nose holes above water |
As we got closer to Merritt Island and NASA, we even saw a
large alligator in Haulout Canal near the bridge.
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| Do you think they planned this 123 grouping? - monohull, catamaran, trimaran |
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| Large alligator in Haulout Canal |
We got in and anchored for the night at Cocoa, FL, south of
the Merritt Island Twin Bridges, at about 5 pm.
According to Active Captain, you can anchor either north or south of the
power lines, but most reviews said that the south anchorage has more room and
depth. We wanted to be closer to the
public dock and boat ramp since the wind was making for choppy water
conditions, so we turned in a little ways past the power lines – and crab pot
buoy – where we saw a wide space between two boats. There was 10-14 ft depth the whole way. We noticed that there were 3-4 buoys between
the boats as we got closer, so we turned around and dropped anchor in about 10
ft of water closer to the channel so that we could put out 100 ft of rode – approximately
7:1 scope due to the windy, choppy conditions.
We had room to swing although we might be relatively close to the AICW
channel if the wind were to change to be out of the west , but since the
forecasted wind was likely to keep us facing SE, we felt comfortable with our
position. Additionally, there were a
number of derelict boats anchored about, so we felt better about being out away
from the main field anyways.
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| Cocoa, FL sunset |
We took Sasha to shore after about half an hour to make sure
the anchor was set. Conditions at the
dinghy docks were still pretty choppy, so Rob waited in the dinghy to hold it
off of the docks while I took Sasha for her potty break and short play
session. We got a little wet with spray
going back and forth, but that’s just part of the small price of the joy of
having a dog on board.
Although the wind made the water choppy, it also provided a
nice cool breeze for grilling burgers and cooking corn on the cob on the aft
deck.
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| We put foil across the vent holes so that the grill stays lit in windy conditions |
The wind had calmed somewhat by the next morning (Wednesday,
May 17), so when we took Sasha to shore for her morning walk, we were able to
leave the dinghy at the dock. One of the
resident boaters was also at the dock and advised us not to leave the dinghy
unattended if we weren’t going to secure it with a cable lock. It was only a short walk to a nice grassy
area for all of Sasha’s morning activities, so Rob was able to keep an eye on
both the dinghy and us until we were done.
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| Lorelei IV at anchor in the morning light |
We had a very short day of 22 miles planned for today, because
we wanted to stop and visit with our good friends, Leroy and Lodi Baker, who
live in Palm Bay. We arrived at
Melbourne Harbor Marina around 9:50 am.
The dockmaster said to favor the north side of the approach channel if
we were at all concerned about depth, and we had 6-9 ft all the way in. It was a bit windy out in the AICW but once
we were in the marina basin, it was very well protected. We only had to reset ourselves once in order
to get into the fairly narrow slip that we were assigned.
We called Leroy and Lodi to let them know that we had
arrived, and they said they would come pick us up in 30-40 minutes. Rob took a quick shower while I took Sasha
for a short walk. There is a nice grassy
area right across from the condos where the marina office is located, so we
were also able to get a little Frisbee in too!
We would be going out to lunch before going over to their house, so we
left Sasha on the boat. We gave our boat
card to our dock neighbors, Kevin and Barbara, so that they could call us if
she barked too much and became a nuisance – not that she had done so in the
past to our knowledge but you never know.
We ate lunch at Smokey Bones BBQ, and it was very good with
good portions and reasonable prices. I
think all of us took some of our food home.
Then we went to Leroy and Lodi’s house to continue our visit as we had
not seen them in a while. Leroy and Rob
had worked together both at the fire station and building houses, so they
reminisced about those times in between us all getting caught up with each
other’s lives. It was a good visit but
before we knew it, it was time to go back to our boat to get ready for another
early morning departure.
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| Lodi planted the top of a pineapple that she bought at the grocery store and this is the result! |
Sasha, of course, was happy to see us, and our neighbors
reported that she had been very good. Of
course, she got an immediate treat reward and then, later, a couple of walks
and Frisbee sessions during the rest of the evening.
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