Titusville, FL

Cocoa Village Marina to Titusville, FL – July 9-10, 2016

Miles Today:  17.5 NM        

Total Miles:  102.3 NM

As we leave Cocoa Village Marina, we glide along what is known as the Florida Space Coast – the home of NASA's Kennedy Space Center (KSC) and Cape Canaveral Air Force Center.  All NASA manned spacecraft from 1961 to 2011 were launched from either Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral.

There in the distance, on our starboard (right) side (toward the Atlantic Ocean) is a huge building –Kennedy Space Center's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB).   It is where most of the large space vehicles are assembled, including the massive Saturn V (launched 13 times from KSC) and the Space Shuttle (135 missions from 1981 to 2011). 

As we cruise up to Titusville, the building grows larger on the horizon.  It reminds us how exciting it was to watch, in black and white, a man walk upon the moon, to see the first flight of the Space Shuttle, to marvel at man’s ability to launch satellites and the Hubble Space Telescope hundreds of miles above the Earth, so we can explore deeper and deeper into space.   We both experience a feeling of pride in our country and what we have and will accomplish as a nation.

NASA's Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) as seen from
the ICW/Indian River

A better view of the VAB
(from KSC website)

We arrived at the Titusville Municipal Marina and the first order of business is laundry.  The laundry room is small but blessedly air conditioned.  An added bonus was spending time with an amazing woman who had sailed in her 32-foot sailboat up and down the East Coast of the US, as well as down to South America – alone, with only her dog.  Fascinating and gutsy.  When she heard we were headed north, she shared her harrowing experience crossing Saint Andrew Sound, just over the Florida border into Georgia.  It seems, to avoid very shallow water, the recommended route goes out to the mouth of the sound into the Atlantic Ocean before turning north and back to the ICW.  Unfortunately, where water rushes out and the Atlantic rushes in there’s a good chance of large swells.  And as you cross heading north, the waves will be hitting the broadside of the boat.  This is what happened to Angie.  She had watched the weather carefully, checked with locals, timed her crossing with the best tide, but still got slammed.  The mast cracked, several windows were knocked out, and she saw her life passing before her eyes.  She laughed when she realized I was listening and not breathing.  “There’s a happy ending.  Avoid Saint Andrew Sound and take Floyd’s Cut instead.”  We will be researching this alternate route for sure!

The next evening, we set out for a 1-mile walk to Crackerjack’s Seafood Restaurant, situated right under the Max Brewer Memorial Bridge which we had sailed under the day before.  What were we thinking?!  We keep forgetting how hot and humid summer evenings are in Florida!  We did enjoy the air conditioning, the view and the shrimp dinner once we got there.  It was slightly cooler when we emerged from the restaurant, so we didn't call Uber and hoofed it back to the marina.