Cocoa to Port Orange

We got an early start from Cocoa - 60 miles to cover for Port Orange.  The good news was calm water and no bridges that would delay us.  This sunrise is not quite as magnificent as some of the others we have posted, but still mighty nice, each and every one.

There was not a ripple in the water as far as we could see.  

Except of course the ones we created.  We had these calm waters for about half the trip.

There was one bridge that could possibly have gotten us but the odds were against it.  It is a railroad bridge out to NASA at Cape Kennedy.  Not much activity out there these days with the Shuttle program discontinued.

Rhonda liked this small island.

I liked this catamaran and the 2 pelicans.  The red buoy is a marker for one of many crab traps throughout the area.  At this marker we made a sharp turn to the right to head over to Haulover Canal.

A close-up of the 2 pelicans.

Between the marker with the pelicans above and the Haulover Canal, we had two dolphins join us right under the bow pulpit.  It's fascinating to watch them swim up close like that. Dolphins played around the boat most of the morning. We also had a few manatees. The cruising guides were finally right about the wildlife.

And here's Haulover Canal which transitions you from the inland (Titusville) side of the bay to the outside which will take us to New Smyrna Beach. 

Fishermen in small fishing boats did not seem to have a problem blocking the bridge area and canal as we eased around them.

There was a dense population of RVs and campgrounds in the next area.  You may have noticed that we have a little wind on this side of the bay - the water is no longer smooth.

Approaching New Smyrna Beach.

Another rookery as we made our first turn toward Ponce de Leon Inlet to/from the Atlantic.  

We actually took another route to avoid the frequent shoaling changes at the inlet.  Rhonda got a nice shot of the lighthouse in the distance at the inlet.

Here's the lighthouse from the more protected inland route we took.

Approaching Port Orange but still a few miles out.

We got docked at our slip at Adventure Yacht Harbor and then headed to dinner with one of Rhonda's first cousins, Paul Minshew, that she hasn't seen in over 20 years.  We had dinner at the Inlet Harbor Restaurant.  Paul's wife, Dianne, is the second lady in the pic on the right.

There's some serious fishing in this area.

Since we were out of milk and bread, we decided we could handle a 6-mile bike ride to get some groceries at Publix.  The signs say that this is actually Daytona Beach Shores on the beach side.  I guess Port Orange is on the inland side.  Sorry about the light - the banners say "Daytona Beach Shores, Life Is Better Here."  It must be  true - everybody here seems to be about 100 years old!  40 years to go.

This was interesting - a drive-in church.  Not sure exactly how that works.

We enjoyed a nice walk on the beach, only 3 blocks from the marina.

The beaches here are great for walking/bike riding, and they allow cars to drive on them as well.  But no pets are allowed!

There is a pretty tall sand dune at the edge which was a little different from what we are accustomed to over the years.  

Nice little sunset to close the day.

And I decided to post another bird picture, but not a pelican this time.  How about a sea gull.

Tomorrow is a relatively easy run - 35 miles to Palm Coast and then we'll be in Jacksonville on Thursday.

Fort Pierce to Cocoa

We decided to leave Fort Pierce and anchor out one night.  It was a nice, easy 22-mile run, so we took our time leaving Ft. Pierce and arrived at the Wabasso anchorage in the late afternoon.  On the way we passed an island rookery. It looked like mostly pelicans in this closeup of a small portion of the island.

A nice display of our flag at a state park.

There were lots of nice homes in this stretch between Vero Beach and Melbourne.  We liked these much better than those further south since the lots (estates is probably a better word) were much bigger and didn't feel so crowded.

As in the last few days, lots of traffic was heading southbound.  Today was definitely catamaran day.

But also lots of powerboats as well.

Since we did not put the dinghy in the water, I did not get a good shot of the anchorage, but it was easy in, easy out, in 9-10 feet of water at the foot of the Wabasso bridge.

The beauty of the anchorage was the next morning at sunrise - been a while since we have had one of these to post.  Look closely and you will see a small fishing boat heading our way from a distance.

Then we were back in open water for most of the day again, with lots of small islands along the way.

Got a nice shot of an ultralight which was about a half-mile away.

We had several schools of dolphins join us.  I counted three in this group and managed to time one of the pics with one of them out of the water.

This was interesting - a sailboat with sails out, but they were also using 2 dinghies, one on each side, with outboards running to help power the boat forward.  

Welcome to Cocoa, FL.  I've always heard of Cocoa "Beach" - it's about 8 miles east of here, with Merritt Island between the two.

Downtown Cocoa's riverfront.

Here's the same area from the riverbank after we got docked and checked out the town by bike.

Cocoa probably has the prettiest area of riverfront homes and scenery we've seen on the trip.

This is one of the crossing streets.  Look closely at the end of the street and you can see a small patch of blue at the riverfront.

The tourist attraction for Cocoa is a lot of shops in a downtown area called Cocoa Village.  It's nicely done if you like that kind of thing.  We're just not shoppers.

They have a large city park right on the waterfront.

And parked right at the entrance to the park was a real nice antique Mustang.

We had a nice dinner at Murdock's.

And, attended church at First Baptist this morning, about a half-mile away.

I took the rest of Sunday off to watch football and rest up.  Rhonda took some more strolls around town  and returned with some really good key lime pie and cinnamon rolls.  In the meantime, Help Me Rhonda has been resting up at the dock - long run tomorrow.  It's 60 miles to a small town called Port Orange, between New Smyrna Beach and Daytona Beach.  While there, we are going to visit one of Rhonda's first cousins that she has not seen in over 20 years.  

But before we call it a day, here's another good pelican shot, this one solid white in some pretty nice water.  Still enjoying the new camera.

See you in Port Orange.