2024 April: Dinosaur Museum Cocoa Beach Florida

 19 April 2024

Depart: Banana River Anchorage 7:45

Re-anchored twice today

Arrive: Indian River / Eau Gallie East anchorage 5:45

We planned to meet our friends, Sandy and Bill, some time between 9:00 and 10:00 this morning. Before we could lower the dinghy to go visit them, we had to reposition Sunset Delight to be closer to the dock we planned to use while visiting Satellite Beach.

After pulling up our anchor about 7:45, we dropped it again about an hour later having traveled about 5 nautical miles south to do so. We had to pick our spot carefully regarding both depth numbers and crab traps.

Luckily, we know someone who lives in a house on Satellite Beach with a dock behind his house. He said we could tie up there for the day. This was wonderful news because we could leave the dinghy for an enjoyable day and not worry about it while we were gone.

Clark on dinghy heading for the dock

We traveled the canal system to get to our friends dock.

We wondered what's down here

Kayak Trail

Houses here are very nice. 

Some very lucky child / children live here

New construction underway

Sandy and Bill are our very close friends that we have known for years from Marathon, Florida. They come up with great ways to show us new sights wherever we get together. For this trip to Satellite Beach, they offered us the option to visit the Dinosaur Museum. What a fun outing that turned out to be and so unexpected to find it in Cocoa Beach.

Brochure

Mural on building near museum

The downstairs of the museum / store is free and sells rare stones and artifacts. The upstairs has an admission charge and consists of two floors. The second level of the building is dinosaur focused. The third floor targets ancient cultures. A small sample of what we saw is included below.

Dinosaur skeletons

Stones of all kinds and colors

Dinosaur Displays

Ancient Cultures

Taxidermy displays

King Tut Collection

After touring the museum, we ate lunch at Pier 62 Oceanfront Restaurant on the Cocoa Beach Pier followed by Ice Cream elsewhere.

We did not find any places listed that 
jumped out as special to us.

We had a good view of the beach.
Many of the umbrellas were not rented.

Pier 62 Restaurant Outdoor Dining

We could see the surfers from our table.

I had whispered to Sandy that I would appreciate a quick stop at Publix before we parted ways, so she added that to the agenda. When I mentioned how much I liked the carrots I found in the Bahamas, she added a stop at the health-food store, The Jungle, after Publix.

Afterwards, we still had some time before we needed to get back to the boat, so we went to Sandy and Bill's condo for an hour or so to relax and chat. 

View of ocean from Sandy's condo

We left Sandy and Bill at 4:15 and arrived back at Sunset Delight with time to reposition the boat. By getting through the Mathers swing bridge on the Banana River this evening and dropping anchor on the ICW tonight, we could get a jump-start on tomorrow’s travel.

This morning, before we went in to see Sandy and Bill, we saw numerous (like a dozen or more) kayaks doing races on the river. As we prepared to pull up the anchor in the late afternoon, we got quite a show from the crew teams practicing in the river. Crews consisted of either four rowers or eight rowers with a coxswain. 

Man in following motor boat has a 
megaphone yelling advice to the rowers.

All women row team with female coaches

Mathers swing bridge

As we approached the open swing bridge, we had a rowing team going through the bridge ahead of  us. No worries, however, because the rowers were moving faster than we were. As we exited the bridge, I saw them head down a canal.

We finally dropped anchor around 5:45 on the Indian River near the Eau Gallie Bridge. Having had lunch and ice cream while out, I scrounged up some leftovers for a quick dinner and called it a night.

 

20 April 2024
Depart: Indian River / Eau Gallie East anchorage 8:45
Arrive: Daytona Beach, Shady Place anchorage 5:50
Distance: ~ 72 nm
Conditions: Sunny with breeze, ICW travel only

Boat traffic today reflected the fact that we traveled on a Saturday in Florida. The small boats, not beached on sandy shoals, buzzed by us in erratic and reckless fashion. 

Tiny island appears at low tide

This one reminded Clark of the island he liked
in the Bahamas with the single palm tree.

More boats beached for fun in the sun

Travel today took us through Haulover Canal.

Fishermen

Marina at Haulover Canal

Kayaks on the Canal

After almost nine hours of ICW with some crazy boaters, we finally arrived at Clark's chosen anchorage in Daytona Beach.  Weather predictions are not good for ocean travel for the next few days, so we will be on the ICW through Florida.

"Flagship Towing" looking for customers
in Daytona Beach

Sunset in Daytona Beach, Florida

2024 April: Vero Beach Florida

15 April 2024
Depart: Pompano Beach Private Dock on ICW 8:25
Arrive: Vero Beach Private Dock – Bethel Creek 7:00
Distance: ~94  nm
Conditions: NE winds; 3 – 4 foot waves in the ocean

Sunrise at Pompano Beach

We had a bit of a delayed start leaving our friend Steve’s dock as Clark spent 30 minutes on the phone with Amazon Customer Service. Fortunately, our time of departure meant we snagged the 8:30 opening of the Hillsboro Inlet Bridge and were quickly headed north on the ocean.

Hillsboro Inlet / Pompano Beach Lighthouse

We headed out beyond the 3-mile line with expectations of picking up the Gulf Stream for an extra push north. It worked! Even with the throttle down below our normal RPM, we were flying up the coast at between 10 and 11 knots. 

Although we had some wave action on the ocean, we had an easy, but long ride. Initially, Clark planned on stopping well before the Fort Pierce inlet. Seeing how fast we were traveling we recalculated and decided we could make Fort Pierce before sunset. When we arrived at Fort Pierce around 5:30, we called our friend Don who said, "Why stop now when there's a dock right here waiting for you?"

So, we kept going until we got to Vero Beach and our friend's dock!

Vero Beach sailing class

When we arrived at our friend’s dock in Vero Beach, we learned that his wife, Anna, had departed recently for a trip abroad. Our other friends that we normally see in Vero were away in South America. It was just Don and us for the length of our stay. Because of our late time of arrival, we said hello as we tied up but then parted ways as Clark and I still needed to cook and eat dinner. Our second night there we shared a pizza, and our third and last night, we went out to eat at Bonefish Grill.

17 April 2024

The only exercise I got yesterday was taking the dirty laundry up to Don's house and bringing it back clean. I asked Clark to go on a bike ride with me today. He asked, "Where?" and I replied, "The Park".

We rode down Live Oak Road past the Vero Beach City Marina to Riverside Park and back to the house via Mockingbird Drive. In total a little less than 5 miles or so.

Mangroves near dinghy dock at VB City Marina

Dinghy Dock at VB Marina

After exploring the various nooks and crannies of the city marina, we continued on our way to Riverside Park stopping to take in the sights along the way.

While we stood and observed two men were struggling to get their boat on a trailer at the boat ramp. In the first attempt, the boat was lined up perfectly with the trailer but we heard a crunch as the boat hit the ramp instead of the trailer. The boat driver told the truck driver to back up more, and he tried again. 

Truck with trailer waiting for boat 

Boater circling around
to line up with the trailer 
yet again

On his next several passes at lining up with the trailer, he was not so successful as the first time. As he pulled towards the trailer, the current would sweep him to an angle and he would hit one of the poles that are used to align the boat with the trailer.  I winced every time he missed as I heard the boat collide with one thing or another - most frequently the poles. Fortunately, the poles he hit appeared to be PVC pipe stuck in the water.

We left after a while of watching. Finally, looking back, we saw that he had finally figured out to get further over so the current did not take him beyond his goal. 

As I was watching the boat and trailer, the iguana shown below was giving me the evil eye!

A little further on, we saw this bird watching a fisherman with a net. I am certain the bird was expecting a treat once a fish came in with the net. He was very patiently watching and waiting for dinner.

As we biked along, we came to an old bridge turned into a fishing pier. Of course we rode down to take a look.

Infinity Bridge View

Looking at Mooring Field from Fishing Pier

From there, we continued on to Riverside Park.

While I sat on a park bench and watched the bikes, Clark walked in to look at the Veterans Memorial.

Looking north

Looking Southeast

While Clark explored the Veterans Memorial, I looked around near the bench where I briefly rested.

Clark coming back from his peak at the Memorial

Having reached our destination, it was time to head back to the boat.

Clark enjoyed taking pictures of tree canopies today. He took several. He liked the one below because it showed water at the end of the "tunnel".

He stopped and backtracked to take a picture of the height-clearance sign. 

Normally these clearance signs are for trucks to avoid hitting bridges - not this one. Some folks must have not seen, or ignored, the sign as evidenced by the dings in the thick branch hanging over the road.

Here's what happens when the sign is ignored!

We had a lovely two-night stay in Vero Beach, but we had places to be and people to see, so it was time to move on.

Sunset from Don's house

 

18 April 2024
Depart: Vero Beach Private Dock 9:30
Arrive: Banana River anchorage 3:25
Distance: ~ 40 nm
Conditions: Calm on the Indian River / ICW

After leaving Vero Beach, we made a quick stop at the Vero Beach City Marina to take on Rec 90 gasoline for our dinghy. The stop took no more than 15 minutes including tying lines and dropping lines.

Boats on Mooring Balls at VBCM

Clark likes the looking down the bridge pictures

Clark managed to snag some pictures of the dolphins that came to play in our wake. 

Hey! Wait for us!

Low tide made for some interesting pictures as we traveled north on the ICW. The pictures below were taken near Sebastian, Florida / Pelican Island National Wildlife Reserve.

High and Dry forever? 
Or just until the tide comes up?

Sand bar out to island clearly visible

We chose an anchorage in the Banana River to be close to Satellite Beach to see our friends, Sandy and Bill, that are living in a condo there. Because we heard that there would be a rocket launch tonight, we dropped anchor where we thought we would have the clearest view of the action. The rocket was launched at 6:40, so we still had daylight. I personally have only ever seen launches that took place in the dark, so all I see is something that looks like a light passing across the sky. Seeing a launch in daylight was quite extraordinary.

Sunset on the Banana River