Wednesday, November 21 – Cocoa (Cocoa Village Marina) Mile 897:

            We finally made it!  But it wasn’t without a couple of little struggles though!  We woke up to another beautiful day, sunny, warmish but a bit of a wind.  Oh well, we were going to leave anyway.  It was early, and we were pretty confident that the wind would only get worse.  We had no trouble leaving the slip and exiting the marina in Titusville, and once we got going, happily, we were starting to take off layers of clothes instead of putting on hats and coats.

            Back out into the Indian River and Cocoa was only 17 miles away!  We had a great view of the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, and we may try and take a side trip to see it if we have time.  It really must have been something to actually see a launch.  My personal opinion is that it’s a shame we cut the space program.  We were given a brochure when we got into the marina here with the 2013 Launch Schedule, and to quote the brochure, it says, “If you want to see launches, go to Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, and learn to say “We’re number one” in Russian.”  It was meant to be funny, but I think it’s sad.  Actually, I think Space X is planning a launch in March.

            Anyway, the first nailbiting experience I had was at The Addison Point, NASA Parkway Bridge which is a bascule bridge with a clearance of 27 feet.  Well, we usually clear 25 feet with no problem, but I called the bridge tender just to make sure of the clearance, and he “politely” told me to look at the depth gauge and add 4 feet.  Ok, so the depth gauge at the bridge said 22 feet plus 4 equals 26 feet.  That’s not a lot of clearance.  Bob was sure we’d be fine, so I just closed my eyes and hoped that I hadn’t recently angered the Sea Gods.  Everything was ok as we slipped under the bridge and came out the other side unscathed!

            Now the waves are getting a lot choppier, and the wind is picking up, and Bob remarks that it is getting really rough out here.  We don’t have too much farther to go (as a matter of fact I can see the bridge that the marina is alongside of), so I decide not to be too concerned.  Bob is now thinking that he should call the marina on the phone and let them know we are getting close.  Now, Bob never does this.  I usually am the one who wants to call the marina on the radio early (well, after all, I’m in charge of lines and fenders, and like to have enough time to get ready when I find out how we are going to be tying up).  Bob usually wants me to call at the last minute.  So I can hear some of the conversation, and I hear some concern about the wind in their voices.  I’m still not terribly worried.  So, we finally get into the channel to the marina, and I call them on the radio, and we get to our working channel, and the dock master starts giving us blow by blow directions.  “Start turning to port,” “Now slow down”, “Now turn sharp to starboard and keep coming”, etc., etc., etc.   And now I realize why I should immediately bite off all my fingernails at once.  The approach into where our slip will be is NARROW, and you have to make two very sharp dogleg turns around the other slips, and the wind is blowing at least (and I am seriously not exaggerating) 20 knots and it’s a crosswind, which they keep emphasizing on the radio.  I consider throwing up, but realize I don’t have time.  I have to get the lines and fenders ready pronto!  Fortunately, there are three dock hands, and between all of us, the boat gets in the slip and tied up in short order without any hitches.  I don’t know why because I have never seen weather this bad in trying to get into a slip.  Remember, the slip that I said Bob had to get into that was only six inches long (well, that was a joke after all, but it was still pretty tight) – well, this was much worse.  After we got tied up, we realized that everyone who happened to be on their boat was watching us with great interest, and I knew that they were either expecting us to pass the test or we would be great fodder for the next boat-docking story.  I think we passed the test!

            So we’re here!!   And this is a great marina.  It’s actually part of the condo complex, but it looks brand new and beautiful – even the laundry room looks brand new, and the showers are gorgeous!  The town is right here just across the street with lots of shops and restaurants.  We did a little exploring this afternoon, had a really nice lunch at a place called Ossorio, and checked out some shops.  We tried to find a restaurant that would be open for Thanksgiving tomorrow, but, unfortunately, the few that are open are booked.  So it looks like Thanksgiving dinner for us will be baked (hopefully, as all I have is a microwave) chicken and mashed potatoes and peas.  It’ll work – it’s all good!

            But we have reached our first destination, and it has been a great trip!

            Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!