2020: Daytona Beach to Cocoa FL

11 December 2020

Depart: Bethune Park Anchorage, Daytona Beach, FL 9:15

Arrive: Cocoa Free Dock 4:45

Distance: 56 nm

Conditions: Fluctuating from cold to hot depending on wind and sun direction

Last night was our first night on anchor for a while. I definitely felt the lack of heat as we no longer had access to shore power. Our stateroom showed a whopping great 59 degrees when it came time to climb out of bed. I found it very hard to get motivated and climb out from under the electric blanket.

Around 9:00 Clark went forward to start working the anchor. Before leaving, he wanted to remove the bird poop that was encrusted on the anchor pulpit from our stay at the St. Augustine marina. Our railing must have been used as a roost a lot because the dried dung was caked on and would not come off. After using the saltwater washdown to no avail, he came in the boat to retrieve a scraper to remove it. With that out of the way, we had our anchor up and were on our way a few minutes later.

Morning view of the bridge near last night's anchorage

View of anchorage from ICW

Having traveled the ICW multiple times now, we found the views much the same as on past trips through here. We did have the pleasure of dolphins joining us for a portion of today's journey.

Last night we enjoyed seeing the launch of a spy satellite. Today, we anticipated the launch of a SiriusXM satellite scheduled around lunchtime. I understood the launch to be set for 11:20 a.m. Somewhere Clark had seen the time as 11:00. Therefore, at 11:00 he was already chomping at the bit to watch and get photos of the launch. I checked on Google and confirmed the time as 11:20. 

He settled down to wait for 11:20 to arrive. When it got close, he got all anxious again about catching the action. While he got his phone and camera ready to take pictures, I checked the website and found the launch delayed until 12:55. We continued navigating south and ate lunch.

Clark was piloting and I was reading news on my phone. In preparation for the launch, he took pre-photos on both his phone and the camera.

At 12:50 he reminded me about the launch (as if I could forget with his antics) and handed me the camera. "You take pictures on the camera while I take pictures on my phone!" I continued to read. At 12:53 he was posed with his phone in a ready-to-take-picture position waiting, no-so-patiently, for 12:55 to arrive. He demonstrated concern that I was not in a similar anticipatory pose. 

No way did I plan to hold my arms up in front of my face for 2 minutes. Instead I decided to verify the launch time. The website still showed the launch scheduled for 12:55 p.m. Well 12:55 came and 12:55 went with no rocket in sight.  At 12:58 Clark finally put his arms down and turned of his phone saying he was concerned about using up his battery. Meanwhile I found a different website that said that the launch was on hold due to too many cumulus clouds in the sky. (The picture above does not due the heavy cloud cover justice.) 

Clark was clearly disappointed that the launch did not happen today. An hour later he was still looking at the sky and pointing out the fact that, by then, the clouds had mostly dissipated. The launch window closed at 1:30. It no longer mattered if there were clouds or not.

Given we were close to Cape Canaveral, it came as no surprise, but was still cool, to see the NASA Railroad Bridge and the NASA Causeway Bridge.

Looking down the tracks leading to the 
NASA Railroad Bridge

Looking back at the NASA Railroad Bridge

Coming up on the 
NASA Causeway Bridge

"US Government Property - 
No Trespassing!"

One thing we did see today that neither of us expected ... another Krogen Express! We saw a boat coming towards us, and Clark said, "Is that a Krogen Express?! It sure looks like one." Sure enough it was. After it passed we looked at the stern to see which one it was and found it to be "Blue Moon". "Blue Moon", up until a few days ago, belonged to our friend Steve in the Fort Lauderdale area. Clark immediately ran back to grab a photo.

Shortly, we heard on the radio, "Southbound Krogen Express this is the northbound Krogen Express, over". Clark ran back and  responded, and they exchanged contact information. We KE owners need to stick together since there are so few of us. It is always a thrill to see another KE on the water. (As I type this Blog entry, Clark is on the phone comparing KE notes with the new owners of "Blue Moon".  Anyone who knows Clark knows to expect that conversation to be a long one!)

By the time we got to Cocoa, our destination for the night, I was more than ready for today's travel to be done. 

View of Bridge at Cocoa, FL

Bridge at Cocoa, FL

We had heard from various sources that a free dock in Cocoa had become available. I felt very lazy and thought dropping the hook would be easier than pulling out lines and fenders, but Clark was curious and wanted to at least take a look. We decided to check it out and decide on dock or anchor after we saw it.

When we got to the free dock, in expectation of a "yes" decision, I already had lines and fenders either in place or soon-to-be in place. We found a long dock with only one other boat. It looked good to both of us, so we tied up for the night. 

We finished docking and shutting down at 4:45. I checked Google and found that sunset tonight occurred at 5:28. With that, we grabbed our jackets and went for a walk to stretch our legs and scope out the area.

The free dock is at a park in Cocoa called Lee Wenner Park. A sidewalk led us from the boat to a path under the bridge and then into town.

Views of the same bridge (above) from a pathway along shore of river ...

Our stroll into town took us past 

a paddlewheel boat,

a view of the river,

and a "Welcome to Cocoa" sign!

It has been a few years since we visited Cocoa. When we stayed here at a marina, we still had "Sea Moss" and visited a local business to buy materials to repair the screen door on the boat.

I remember this cool place.
This is where we bought the screen-repair materials.

This hardware / general store is so famous, it has a commemorative marker giving its history.

Nearby, we found an Artists Co-Op clearly trying to coax folks inside.

 

Carolyn Seilar & Friends
A Unique Artists Co-Op

Even the chairs are painted and welcoming

Two women busy painting a mural on
the outside of the Artists Co-Op building.

When we visited Cocoa in the past, we got together with Looper friends and ate dinner at Ryan's. As we walked by the smell of pizza almost pulled us in. With daylight running out and leftovers in the fridge, we opted to eat on the boat and kept walking. 

Before heading back to the boat, we crossed the street to check out "Taylor Park". Some folks there worked on adding decorations to the park. Others set up a stage while Christmas music played. We heard "O Holy Night" as strolled around. Clearly a Christmas event is planned for here in the near future. On Sunday, a parade will take place here to celebrate Chanukah. 

Entrance to Taylor Park

Covered benches at edge of park

Walk along the river

Pavilion with Christmas Carols playing
and folks busy checking out the acoustics. 

Splash pad / fountain
for the hotter days of the year.

Work of some of the co-op artists??

Christmas Tree in need of lights

Our walk basically took us around the block, albeit a rather large block. Clark led the way and said he wanted to make the walk into a loop. Even so I was surprised after we passed Ryan's Pizza to find we had already arrived back at Lee Wenner Park. Last time we were at Ryan's we never walked far enough to explore the parks right next door!

Sailboats must love the easy access to shore
from their boats here.

Besides the long dock where we tied up, the marina has several smaller slips and a wide area providing use of 4 boat ramps simultaneously.

Docks at Lee Wenner Park
(our boat is the one with the dark blue hull
docked along the long dock in
the upper left corner of the picture)

By the time we got back to the boat, having had my appetite whetted by the smell of pizza at Ryan's, I immediately set to making dinner! After dinner, I set up my laptop to work on the Blog, and Clark got on the phone with his new KE buddy. Talk, talk, talk!