Tuesday, April 23, 2013 – Cocoa (Mile 897) to Daytona (Mile 837):

            Last night we had drinks aboard Starlight Express with Samba also, then bid our friends farewell and safe travels and went back to our boat and had a salad for dinner and retired for the evening.  We slept pretty well up until 3:00 a.m. when I awoke to the sound of helicopters overhead who seemed to be doing some kind of exercise because they never stopped whirring around, and then the cat decided to hack up a hair ball, and the trains tried to compete with the helicopters, and that was pretty much it for the night.  I was hoping that the wind would have died down, but that was not forecast to happen and it didn’t.  We did get up to a brilliant blue sky and sunshine, but the wind was still blowing like crazy.  We left anyway! 

Yessir!  We are outta here!  We left our slip at 8:30 a.m. and waved a fond farewell to Cocoa.   It was a great place to stay and leave the boat on our visits back home, but it was definitely time to head north. 

As I was reading our journal backwards, the weather is only marginally better as we head north than it was on our way down here.  Apparently on our way down, it was cold and rainy.  It was still chilly due to the wind, but at least we had sunshine.  I was still wearing a jacket.

As we left Cocoa we had to pass under the Addison Point Bridge again which has a clearance of  27’.  We really only need about 25’ to get under without an opening.  My notes from our previous trip said we got under with no problem, but I still bit my nails as I saw the bridge get closer and closer, but we made it fine.  The next encounter was a huge barge, which seemed to be stationary in the channel, but we couldn’t see an anchor or a bow wake, so we weren’t sure what it was doing.  There was a sailboat ahead of us who radioed the barge and asked if he could pass on the starboard side, and the captain came back on and said that would be ok.  So I’m thinking that’s what we will do, except the barge starts to move and head right for us.  I finally realized we will pass ok in the channel, but I radioed the captain to make sure we would be ok to pass port to port this time, but he never answered me.  We passed each other with no problems though, but I have no idea why he didn’t answer my call.

As we passed by Titusville, you have to follow a narrow channel to the Haulover Canal, which I described in the journal on our way down here.  It hasn’t changed much.  There are still islands dotting the waterway, and as we were traveling at low tide, you could see sandbar after sandbar and shoals everywhere.

One of many islands out in the middle of the river

I also wrote in a previous journal that when we were in Cocoa on or about December 10 we rented a car and drove to a manatee viewing spot by the Haulover Canal, but we never saw any manatees.  Well, as we were going under the bridge, into the cut that takes you back into Mosquito Lagoon there is a park off to the right with a little basin that small boats could get into, and there were several manatees in there swimming around and performing all kinds of crazy maneuvers.  As we passed by this area, I also noticed an observation center on the left hand side, and it suddenly dawned on me that this is where we came in December to see the manatees.  However, as we discovered today, the manatees weren’t in the cut, they were in the basin area!  It was interesting to realize that we had come through here by boat on our way down, did not realize it when we came to see the manatees, and were now heading back through here by boat.  There were people fishing all over the place in the cut, and we also saw a small flock of pink flamingoes flying overhead.  Now that was really something!

There are pink flamingoes flying in this picture, but it is hard to see them!

Manatees in Haulover Canal

The wind was still howling, and we were getting covered with salt spray.  Fortunately, once we got to Mile 860 the channel was more protected as we were in the lee of all the islands that dot the area between the waterway and the ocean.  There were a few boats traveling with us but not many.  We did manage to have an encounter with a sport fisherman who flew by us leaving us pitching in his wake, and yes, things were a mess down below from all the rocking before we could turn into his wake, but nothing got broken this time. 

Kitty cat is, however, not used to being underway again.  She hid under the covers, and when I went down to make lunch, meowed plaintively asking what on earth was going on.  I guess she’ll get used to traveling again.

Once we passed through New Smyrna Beach, we had to wait around for the George Munson Beach Bridge to open, but as it opens every 20 minutes, we didn’t have to wait too long.  Just past this area is the Ponce de Leon Inlet, and the water gets a little thin in here, and you really have to pay attention to the marks and exactly where the waterway goes so you don’t accidently head out to sea (er…the ocean).  We saw 6 ½ feet on the depth sounder in places, and once a fish swam under the boat, and the depth sounder panicked and started beeping, but all was well.  It was so narrow in places that at one time the chart plotter showed us we were driving over land, but as we seemed to be floating, we didn’t believe it.

Finally we arrived at the Adventure Yacht Harbor in Daytona, where we will spend the night before moving on tomorrow to St. Augustine.   We are really tired as we didn’t sleep all that well last night and this was a long day.  The boat is completely covered with salt, and Bob is hosing it off as I write this.  I guess Kitty cat adjusted better than I thought she had, because as soon as we turned off the engines, and opened the door, she scampered outside as quick as she could and found a sunny spot to survey her new surroundings.  We will have salad with poached chicken tonight, and then crash.

Well, at least we are a little closer to home now!