WEEK #28, 4-10FEB, WEEK ON THE BEACH

LEAVING COCOA AREA

      Saturday is windy with strong winds from the north when we get up in Cocoa. It feels cooler than NOAA temp reported due to the northerly winds. We have to do about 55 miles today, so we get moving early. We make good time initially as we are in open waters of Indian River. We meet the tug "Little Bully" again, pushing a chemical/fuel barge south.

TUG "LITTLE BULLY"

We passed him the first time just south of Jupiter Inlet, where he was pushing a crane on a barge.

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER BUILDINGS FROM THE WATERWAY

We get to the Haulover canal connecting the Indian River to Mosquito Lagoon. It is full of little boats fishing as it is too rough in the two bodies of water on either side of the canal.

FISHERMEN IN HAULOVER CANAL

ONE OF SEVERAL MANATEES SEEN IN HAULOVER CANAL

We also see several manatees in the canal. The waterway runs straight north in Mosquito Lagoon, by a National Wildlife and Bird refuge area. We are careful to stay in the channel as it is shallow on both sides.

WEST SIDE OF ICW  THROUGH MOSQUITO LAGOON

EAST SIDE OF ICW THROUGH MOSQUITO LAGOON

We make good time until we get to Edgewater, then the dreaded "No Wake, Manatee" zones. Our arrival time for New Smyrna Beach Marina goes from 3pm to 4:30pm. Lots of houses on the one bank of the waterway, but not like around the Beaches south of Jupiter Inlet. And the east side of the waterway is mangroves. I think the manatees are hiding in there, as I never see them where the slow zones are. About 2 miles before New Smyrna Beach bridge, and after about 10 miles of slow, we get an open area. We are able to add some speed and clean the engine from all the slow idling. We get to New Smyrna Beach City Marina about 4:30, and the dockmaster, Rick, helps us to get in against the strong winds. A very nice marina, with floating concrete docks. Not a big complex, but very nice. And we are near downtown. Rick tells us about restaurants, and some about the art walk that happens on "First Saturdays". We hike only 3 small city blocks to find a good restaurant to eat at. I order shrimp and grits again, and this offering is different from all past ones. Barbara gets a shrimp and crab au gratin dish. Great salads, and a good desert. As the art galleries are closed when we get out of Jason's, we walk back to SummerTime and turn in for the evening.
       On Sunday we get up and get ready for church. This is the closest a marina has been to a church our whole trip.  There are 5 churches less than a half mile from us. It is two blocks to First Baptist which is where we choose to go this Sunday. The church is in a very modern building, just across the street from the original First Baptist. The people are very welcoming, and the pastor delivered a good sermon. After church we go back to the boat to wait on our youngest daughter flying in from Ohio to Orlando, and driving to NSB. While waiting we meet other Loopers and travelers who drop by the boat. Our daughter arrives about 1:30, and we go back into town to eat. We eat at "Yellow Dog Eats Kitchen and Bar". We all have different BBQ sandwiches as that is their specialty. And they serve a very good Carrot Cake. After lunch we go back to SummerTime and pack to live away for a week. Later in the afternoon, we leave the marina and SummerTime and go over to the condo we have reserved on the beach. We are going to spend a week on shore with our daughters and son-in-law.

PONCE INLET LIGHTHOUSE FROM LAND

       On Tuesday, we leave the beach long enough to come back by SummerTime. We bring parts and spares that were ordered by me and delivered by the young married couple. We put their boxes on SummerTime and leave for another day at the beach. We return on Friday after the one daughter flew out on Thursday. We are going to use the son-in-law to help diagnose why the upstairs stereo does not play. It powered on when we tried to use it, but did not make any sound: with a CD or via a tuned radio station. There is an amplifier in the system mounted in a downstairs cabinet. After wire chasing, the ground to the amplifier turns out not to be connected. After that we have sound. We were going to take a wildlife exploration ride, but the air temp is only in the 60s, and the north wind makes it feel cooler than that. So we wave the wildlife exploration. We leave the boat knowing we will not be back until Sunday when we check out of the condo.
    

KITE FLYING, FISHERMAN, & CARS ON NEW SMYRNA BEACH