March 13 Cocoa Village to New Smyrna Beach

March 13

Here it is Friday the 13^th and so far – knock on wood – no unpleasant surprises.   It’s been a busy few days.   One of the reasons we wanted to spend extra time in Cocoa Village, aside from it being a very cute town, was its proximity to the Kennedy Space Center (KSC).  We’ve been wanting to visit it for several years after being exposed to some space race history while in Huntsville Alabama at the U.S Space and Rocket Center. I’ve got to say, the KSC did not disappoint.  Extremely well done.  

Apollo capsule with re-entry scars and all

  The bus tour out and around the launch pads, past the enormous Vehicle Assembly Building and out to the Saturn 5 rocket display area let you grasp the overall scale of this facility and the machinery involved.  I found the display of Atlantis, the last shuttle to perform a mission, personally very moving.  Looking at the actual machine that had made multiple trips to space and then carried it’s crews back safely and being reminded of the tragedy of the Challenger and  Columbia  accidents  filled me with pride  for the accomplishments but saddened my heart for those we lost.   The technological challenges that were faced and overcome at a time with such limited computing power still amazes me.  It seems a shame that somewhere along the way during those 135 shuttle missions we became almost complacent in our interest in space travel to the point that shuttle launches barely even got a mention on the nightly news.  It was interesting to hear about all the new things going on with the next generation of space travel, our explorations into deeper space, and the partnerships with outside vendors like SpaceX, Boeing and Blue Origin.  

Martha at the rocket garden

Shuttle boosters were huge 

Shuttle Atlantis on display with cargo bay open

After such a long and busy day, we mostly took it easy on Thursday hanging around the marina, doing laundry, reprovisioning and waiting for Jamie and Trish on “About Time” to catch up to us from their trip in the Keys. They had hoped to get over to the Bahama’s, but winds were simply too strong with no end in sight for a decent crossing.  They decided to just head up the coast and make their way to St. Augustine and cross their wake to complete their journey.  With Russ and Jax also in the marina on “InQuest”, what better thing to do but go check out the local breweries. There are two breweries in Cocoa Village and Russ and I had already visited Bugnutty Brewery so our group headed into town for flights at Old Oar Brewery.  Needless to say, we had a good time.  Finished off the evening back at Bugnutty for a final sampling and a few hands of the card game Never Have I Ever.  Now that’s got some weird stuff in it!!

Lining up for our beer tasting at The Old Oar Brewery

The aftermath

Sunset at Cocoa Village

Today’s trip wasn’t particularly long but because we would be going through several NO WAKE Manatee Zones and were trying to time our arrival to coincide with minimal current, we needed to get an early start.  So once again we were off the docks before the sun had fully risen. At least today the scenery changed a bit on us. Things went from the fairly wide-open expanses of the Indian River to a narrow tree lined and manatee filled passage called the Haulover Canal.  That lead us into the shallow waters of Mosquito Lagoon with its many islands and the conclusion  of our day at New Smyrna Beach.  Plenty of wildlife viewing today  with multiple dolphin sightings along the way, the aforementioned Manatees, plenty of pelicans, wood storks and for the first time we finally saw an island with a colony of Pink Roseate Spoonbills.   

Sunrise as we leave  for New Smyrna Beach

Flat calm start of the day on the  Indian River

Dolphin playing at the bow

Entering Haulover Canal 

Yes, that unidentifiable shape  IS a manatee!!

Mosquito Lagoon scenery

Journey for March 13

March 10 Ft Pierce to Cocoa Village

March 10


The winds finally settled down enough for us to leave Ft. Pierce.   It’s been a good stop but as often happens now that we’re back in travel mode - after a few days we’re ready to get going again.  Our original plan was to stop in the Melbourne area yesterday – Eau Gallie River to be exact.  But we decided to do a longer day today and stay on our original schedule that put us in Cocoa Village today.  We have reservations here at the marina for 3 nights and will use it as our base for traveling over to explore the Kennedy Space Center about 15 miles away.

Leaving Ft. Pierce - the sunrise city

We left a little before sunrise and finally docked about 4PM so a long day on the water.  Very pleasant with a light breeze, mixed sun and clouds, mild chop on the water and nice upper 70 degree temps.  It’s been a long time since we’ve done a long day on the water like this and honestly it was a bit monotonous.  The Indian River is relatively wide and shallow so staying in the channel is paramount but that meant anything of interest is too far away for easy viewing.  So, just a lot of looking ahead  for the next channel marker and verifying headings on the chartplotter.

Rare bit of scenery - spoil island with seagulls

Martha and I took turns doing 2 hour stints driving to break things up but I sure was glad to see that sign on the bridge going to Cocoa Beach announcing our arrival.   Even better after that long day was catching up to our friends on “InQuest” and checking out Bugnutty Brewery and Ryan’s Pizza.

Cocoa Bridge - the day is almost done

Finally docked for the day

Journey for March 10

March 6 Stuart to Ft. Pierce

March 6


Left Stuart with a stiff breeze already blowing.  We were side tied to pilings with the wind blowing against our beam so thought we might have issues getting away but it all worked out after a little extra preplanning a hard push off the pilings and some judicious use of the bow thruster.  Out the last of the St. Lucie River and to the AICW proper where we made a hard turn to port and started our trek northward into the Indian River. At the crossroads of the St. Lucie River, St. Lucie Inlet and the AICW we crossed paths with our friends Russ and Jax on “InQuest” who were heading north from Jupiter.  We’ll catch up with them in Ft. Pierce for the weekend where we’ll hunker down the next several days as another cold front and strong winds pass through.

Passing under the triple bridges at Stuart

  

We’ve been fairly busy here.  Another town which has done a nice job of preserving several blocks of buildings around the waterfront.  Good restaurants, an awesome bakery, Sailfish Brewery, museums, theatres, and other shops.  Not as big or busy as Ft. Myers but a nice waterfront area.  The municipal marina is good sized compared to some we’ve stayed. More big boats here which is working to our advantage. We’re tucked in and protected with 50+ foot boats surrounding us on all sides which is minimizing those gusty winds.  Martha compared us to an old school Florida home tucked in amongst all the new Florida McMansions.

Avenue A looking from marina to town

Spent several hours on Friday visiting the A.E.Backus museum.  He was a Ft. Pierce native and artist   who became very well known for his landscapes of the natural beauty in the area.  During the Jim Crow era he was instrumental in teaching a number of local African-Americans how to paint Florida landscapes.  This group of 28 artists became known as “The Highwaymen” as they traveled up and down the Florida coast selling paintings out of their car trunks.  Friday night we enjoyed some music and vendors for their “First Fest” at the waterfront park.  SpaceX shot off another Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral.  Martha got up at midnight and was able to see it in the distance.

A typical A.E.Backus Florida landscape 

Ft. Pierce is well known for their Saturday farmers market and despite it still not being into prime growing season there was a nice selection of fruit, vegetables, seafood, meats, baked goods, crafts, etc.  Bought some very sweet and juicy Honeybell oranges, red grapefruits and just picked Plant City strawberries.  We had gotten a rental car for a few days and headed down to West Palm Beach to visit with my godmother Aunt Joan.  On the way we hit a sudden traffic snarl coming to a standstill on I-95 at the WPB airport exit as the presidential motorcade headed over to Mar-a-Largo.  After a half hour delay we finally arrived and spent an enjoyable afternoon visiting, going out for a late lunch, catching up on family and reminiscing about some old family history. Ninety years young and still going strong with a sharp mind and quick wit.   I’m kicking myself for somehow managing to leave without taking a single picture.  What was I thinking???

Spacex Falcon 9 rocket

Sunset and moonrise over Indian River 

 Sure looks like Backus caught the colors right in his paintings

We continue to be stuck in Ft. Pierce with steady 20+ winds and 30+ gusts. So we used the rental car to drive up A1A and explore the coast. Wound up in Cocoa Village which is one of our upcoming marina stops and just happened to catch it when they had their quarterly street arts festival. Very nice, but I swear we saw some of the same vendors from the First Friday Fest in Ft. Pierce!!

Checking surf conditions during our drive up A1A

Journey for March 5

March 4 St. Lucie Lock to Stuart

March 4


The docks at the St.Lucie Lock  were a pleasant stop in a very quiet natural setting.   They have 8 slips and only 3-4 were ever in use.  Plenty of RV parking that was seeing more use, but they kept to themselves. We dropped the dingy and took a ride around but came back disappointed in the lack of wildlife so didn’t even bother dropping the kayaks.  Pretty warm day up to the mid 80's so took it easy chilling on the back deck finishing up another book and watching an unusual collection of boats pass on by.

"As You Wish" tied up in the park at St. Lucie Lock Dock

Interesting thing with the locks on the Ockechobee waterway.  On the western side (Caloosahatchee River side) we went up through 3 of them all with very small lifts – 2’, 8’, and another 2’ to take us up to the current Lake O level of 12’.  On the eastern side (St. Lucie River side) there are only 2 locks.  The first one at Port Mayaca was simply open as that part of the canal was at the same level.  That left the St. Lucie lock doing all the work and dropping us the final 12’ to east coast sea level. We’re now completely done with locks having gone through 100+ of them.

Entering St. Lucie Lock - our final one of the trip

And leaving that final lock

Today was a really short run to Stuart. Late start and still docked by noon so plenty of time to explore.  Stuart is known as the “Sailfish Capital of the World”. Lots of people will dispute that title but there is an inlet that puts you just a short run out to the gulf stream and some very good fishing.

Statue and fountain  in the center of town 

Fun fact about Stuart – the original industry here was pineapples!  Lasted about a decade before it was wiped out by a combination of a deadly freeze and cheaper imported pineapples from the Caribbean.  After that it was more about seafood, boat building, sportfishing and tourists.   Things that still hold true today.  

Mural showing the early pineapple industry

Nice little revitalized downtown area with a pleasant scenic riverwalk.  Also had a much-needed barber shop.  Off to Ft. Pierce tomorrow for several days to beat another cool front and stronger winds pass through.

Historic feed and general store - now the Heritage Museum

The historic "Owl House"  

Way past due for a trim after 3 months

We even got a little sunset action tonight!

Journey for March 4

March 2 Clewiston to St Lucie Lock Dock

March 2


Crazy early start for us getting off the dock at Clewiston at 6:30 and first light.  Haven't done that in awhile!!   We wanted an early start as the forecast for crossing Lake Okeechobee called for very light winds until 10 AM.  Then it would build quickly to 15+ which would start chopping things up with a beam sea in this shallow waterway with a very narrow channel.  The current lake level had the shallowest areas we would traverse at just 6.5’ so not much room for error if we got off course with our 5’ draft..  Thankfully we made it just as the winds started building so no issues for us. 

Passing through the Clewiston lock 

Sunrise over Lake Okeechobee

Seagull following our wake

 Even the Port Mayaca lock was a non-issue as the lake and canal were at the same level and we just passed right through with open gates at both ends.  On the other side of the lake is the St. Lucie Canal so just more of the same long straight canals heading eastward.

Easy passage through Port Mayaca Lock

Most interesting wildlife we saw  - some cows along the canal

 Made it to the St. Lucie Lock where there is a COE park/campground/boat slips.   We have reservations for the next 2 nights here which feels a bit like a natural secluded area but in actuality has neighborhoods on the outskirts of Palm City and Stuart just behind the tree lines.  It will give us a chance to launch the dingy and kayaks and maybe even do a bit of fishing,.

Sunset from our slip at St Lucie Lock Dock

Journey for March 2

March 1 Labelle to Clewiston

March 1


Day number 2 of our trek across mid-Florida.   Honestly, not a particularly interesting day.  Many miles of canals with not too much in the way of scenery. 

Monotonous view to the front

Monotonous view to the rear

  Passed through 2 locks. Ortona Lock  was the “big” lift taking us up 8’.  Moore Haven lock was an easy 2’ rise.  Looked a bit more intense as the front gates are also “Hurricane Gates”. They stand much taller to hold back water in case the lake floods. We’re now up to Lake O level.  On the other side we’ll start going back down to sealevel again.

Moore Haven lock and the Hurricane Gates

We finally started seeing some wildlife in the last half hour or so as we approached the lake.  Lots more waterfowl along the banks.  Even saw a couple of big gators.  First two were just laying in the water and we almost thought they might be logs but then we saw a pair of big ones laying on the bank. 

Blue heron

Two big gators taking in the sun. 

  

We got a decent start this morning at 8AM.  That put us into Clewiston and the Roland Martin Marina at 2:00.  The marina is on a narrow  canal  with barely enough room to spin the boat for a side tie and quick exit in the morning. We had an audience watching but all went fine  today as we docked like the seasoned pro’s  we’re becoming.  

As You Wish spun and tied to the face dock at Roland Martin Marina

Seems like we timed our arrival perfectly as right after we got tied up bass boats started arriving to do their weigh-ins for a tournament.  Watched as over 80 boats came and went. Most had caught the limit of 5 fish. Big fish of the day was over 6.5 lbs. We did not see “The Great American Fisherman” himself but that’s not surprising as his wife got the marina as part of their divorce settlement. 

Bass Boats line the dock as fish are brought to the weigh-in station

This 6.2 lb. fish was contending for big fish. Winner came in at 6.5 lbs.

 Listened to some live music coming from the tiki hut and grill next to us. Finally went up for dinner about 5.  Ordered the  blackened mahi-mahi taco’s based on the recommendation of friends who passed through here a few days ago - very good indeed!! Tried the gator tail appetizer – about like I remembered them – tastes like chicken but a bit chewy.

Not enough time to go explore Clewiston proper.  It's called  the “sweetest little town in Florida” - so named because it’s the center for the sugar cane industry.  We could see some growing as we entered the area.  Lots of industry vs politics vs environmentalist regarding that industry over the years.  They’re the ones who dug a myriad of canals to drain the Everglades to turn it into farmland. Now also accused of generating all the polluted runoff that is causing the green/blue/red tides on both sides of Florida as water from Lake O flows out to both the east coast and gulf waters.

Fields of sugar cane as we enter Clewiston area

Journey for March 1