The Space Coast

 TRAVEL DAY 12 - Melbourne to Cocoa Village

March 1, 2023

2.2 Hours/16.7 Miles

    It's March. We have been living on the boat for 1 month and traveling for 2 weeks! We improve our anchor dropping & retrieval skills as well as docking but admittedly the winds have been mild, but we have a much better practiced routine. 

Cocoa Village

    Today we left our 2 day anchorage in Melbourne and traveled a short distance to Cocoa Village. Beth located the free city docks. Notes said the slips where destroyed by a storm a few years ago and not repaired. When we got there the "T" dock was fine but indeed the other slips were in shambles. There was only 1 other boat at the dock. We easily snugged up to the floating dock and tied. There were power and water pedestals but they were turned off so we had to depend on our batteries and onboard water. 

Scooter Time!

Have seen a lot of these

    We walked down the dock to see the other boat which happened to be a Gold Looper. He was on board and we chatted. A nice fellow named Jacque from Canada with a strong French accent. Afterwards we hoped on the scooters to explore. 

Cocoa Village Art

    Cocoa Village is a fantastic downtown with tons of shops and restaurants. We rode around some until we decided on a café to get a bite for lunch. After that it was a little sightseeing and shop browsing.

    An English Pub was just the place to continue the "Dart Wars". Sadly my winning streak ended with Beth's bullseye. Oh well, there's always Guinness & more stickers for the fridge! 

George & Dragon Tavern

Dart Wars Continue

    As the sunset the winds clocked around from the west to the south southeast. With the large fetch from the east shore and the ICW south, the waves were short and hard and slapped against our stern as we were bow west. It may have been a little more comfortable if our bow was facing the waves but we would have still been battered on the starboard side and rocked against the dock. It would have been too difficult to move the boat as the waves and wind had us pinned against the free dock. So there we sat with the "whack, whack, whack" of short fat waves. The weather called for the wind to change back to westerly but not until 11 pm or so. Sleep came slowly but soundly.

    Sometime after midnight I awoke to a huge rumble. "The rocket launch!" I scurried out on deck in the still midnight air with virtually no breeze. Sound travels slower than light so even though the rocket blast was shaking the air sounding as it had just lifted off, I could just see the very last light from the engines as it disappeared to the sound of cheering onlookers at the adjacent boat ramp parking lot. Gosh darn it, I missed another one!

Melbourne to Cocoa Village


TRAVEL DAY 13 - Cocoa Village to Titusville

March 2, 2023

2.3 Hours/20.2 Miles

Cocoa Sunrise

    The sunrise never gets old and we are spoiled by some of the best weather ever! I think it will give the crew some more confidence and hopefully insure against a mutiny in the event the weather batters them some and softens their resolve. We had a little wind pushing us to the dock which made for a little tricky departure but me and my crew pulled it off and we swung the troll around and back to the ICW to head further north.

Downtown Titusville

    Our next stop, Titusville. Located along the Indian River, west of Merritt Island and the Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral. We have some time to kill before we hit St. Augustine where we planned some meet ups with our family and kids so we got a slip for a week. Longer stays mean a better rate and we will also use the time to catch up on boat chores, haircuts, laundry, shopping and the like. All the stuff we do at home but on the boat creativity and flexibility is key. 

Titusville Municipal Martina

    Titusville Municipal Marina is easy to get into and the staff seem very friendly. The docks are a little rough and when we pulled up to the pump out station we were not allowed to step off the boat because of dock damage from the hurricanes (and age no doubt). We headed down the fairway to C dock and I backed the Troll stern in, with a portside tie. Mild wind made for an easy dock. 

Spaceview Park
                                    
                                  

                                      

    Scooters out and on to some lunch at Pier 220 under the A Max Brewer Memorial Parkway Bridge. Afterwards we scootered to Spaceview Park. The park honors the astronauts and the men and women who helped build the space program. There are several monuments with the handprints of the Mercury astronauts. 

Maybe I'll learn something

    Another day of exploring Titusville. The downtown is interesting and a short bike or scooter ride to some neat things. We stopped at the Sunrise Bread Company and stocked up on some Gluten Free muffins and banana nut bread! A great IPA at the Playalinda Brewing Company. They have a running club so we will be back on Tuesday to do a 5K and sample some of their other beers!

Downtown Titusville

Sunrise Bread Company

Playalinda Brewing Company
     
We were able to make contact through NEBO with Stillwaters II. We met Dave and Claudia at Paris Landing TN at the 2022 Fall AGLCA Rendezvous. We met up in the afternoon then went out to a legendary Titusville restaurant Dixie Crossroads, the Rockshrimp is awesome, they are like tiny lobster tails. We got to hear all about our new friend's story and got to tell them ours. We have really started to value the AGLCA friendships and the valuable information and help they are giving us. 

Dixie Crossroads
                                             
Pau Hana with the Crew of Stillwaters II


Cocoa Village to Titusville

Comments

  1. Rachel EnsingMarch 5, 2023 at 10:00 AM

    Loved this update! It answered many questions I had, and brought up more questions for me!! I was thinking- wow how are they taking care of regular everyday things like haircuts 😅, and then you answered! Was also wondering- how will you manage doctor visits if you need a doctor? Do you have flexible insurance? Lmao sorry such an adult question, but curious minds want to know!! But really my first thought reading this was that you’ll have so many awesome suggestions for places to visit after this. I think Cocoa Village will have to be on my must visit list 😍.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pau HanaMarch 5, 2023 at 8:55 PM

      Hopefully we won't need medical attention, but basically the same if we were on vacation.

      Delete
  2. Wendy C.March 7, 2023 at 4:39 PM

    I've had the rock shrimp at Dixie Crossroads! Went on a bioluminescent kayak trip over there.

    ReplyDelete

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