Day 10 April 11 Trip 32.6 Total miles 298

The Banana River where we anchored is an offshoot of the Indian River forming Merritt Island in between them.

We left the Banana River and returned to the Indian River/Intracoastal Waterway traveling north toward Titusville, FL.

The river remains wide and the shore is populated with homes on Merritt Island and homes, condos and businesses on the mainland side.

We passed by the city of Cocoa and just north of the northern bridge is the Canaveral Barge Canal that was designed for barges to deliver rocket components which are then assembled at Cape Canaveral. Going north, Merritt Island transforms to marshland and small bays and then to the Canaveral Space complex.

We could see the Vehicle Assembly Complex at the Kennedy Space/Canaveral Center from the Intracoastal. This was once the largest structure in the world when it was built in 1965. I tried to get a shot. Well, I said I tried!

Through the binoculars we could see a rocket at one of the launchpads. The next launch is April 21- too early for us to experience the launch.

Continuing north we cruised to the town of Titusville. A town of many who work for NASA or the support industries for the space center. Originally the town was the junction of the railroad and steamship lines. Steamships would bring citrus, pineapples and seafood to the town dock so it could be packed and loaded on the railroad trunk line to points north.

We anchored just north of the Titusville Mooring Field and had lunch, did chores and planned our next week. Yes, there are chores on the boat. It does need a cleaning and reprovisioning at times!

June 4-5. Day 63-64. On to Cape May New Jersey. 53.4nm. Total 1534 miles.

Left Delaware City at 5:35am to be able to take advantage of the strong currents going with us while traversing Delaware River and Delaware Bay. The Delaware River goes south about 15 miles and flows into the Delaware Bay. As we travel south, New Jersey is to the east and Delaware is to our west. We are traveling just outside the shipping channel and are really moving at 10.9 knots. That is three knots faster than we normally travel, as the outgoing tides are pushing us along. Nice to have Mother Nature helps us save on fuel. The Delaware River is about 8 miles wide so there is plenty of room for the freighters and the pleasure boats. So far, we have not encountered any commercial traffic, but there is a large freighter behind us that will eventually pass us as they travel at 14 knots. The Delaware Bay proper varies from 23-29 miles wide and 26 miles long. There are five lighthouses on the Delaware marking the shipping channel. We went by Ship J...

Reflections on the Bahamas

Reflections on the Bahamas Over the past 10 weeks, we have traveled through Abaco, Eleuthera and Exuma Islands and enjoyed the hospitality of the Bahamian people. We have learned all about the islands, its unique geography - limestone, caves, blue holes and chalk cliffs; and colorful history-pirates and rum running, salt ponds and cotton plantations, boat building and wrecking/salvage. Traveling over 1300 miles through narrow cuts and wide bays to vast depths of ocean, we negotiated the islands and found safe harbors, calm coves for anchoring, bays filled with moorings and marinas large and small. This trip required us to pay close attention to the weather, the tides and currents as we traveled between and through the islands. The Bahamian people are warm and friendly, willing to give us rides, advice and directions, as well as some secret recipes!! We enjoyed hiking trails, walking the beaches, snorkeling the coral rocks and reefs, discovering ruins and ol...

Day 64-65. May 25-26. On to Peck Lake, Jupiter, FL and then on to Indiantown/ Okeechobee Waterway. Miles 63.5/ 29.1 Total Miles 1122.1/1142.0

Day 64 We started early to get ahead of the holiday boat traffic. Weighing anchor at Lake Sylvia in Fort Lauderdale, we traveled on the Intracoastal Waterway past the iconic Pier 66 Tower and Bahia Mar Marina. We then turned north and passed the older sections of the city - Las Olas( older homes), Galt Ocean Mile (one mile of condominiums on the beach), and the famous miles of beaches on the Atlantic. I used to live here in the early 70's and the biggest change I see is the older smaller homes on the water are being replaced with larger versions and a few more condo towers have been built. As we go further north towards Commercial Blvd, North Fort Lauderdale, and Pompano Beach and its Lighthouse at the cut, there is less reconstruction. The next town we traveled through was Boca Raton with its Spanish architecture, Camino Real and its landmark tower. The sand bar at the cut was just beginning to fill up with Memorial Day revelers as we went by. Next were t...

Crustacean Travels

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