Saturday, January 2, 2016

12/2/15 – 12/3/15 - Cocoa, Banana River, and on to Vero Beach

We left Titusville early in the morning. We were having trouble starting the engine, which we assumed to be related to the batteries. So our latest trick was to turn off everything (via the inverter draw switch, which controls which of the house batteries are drawn for lights, water pump, refrigerator and anything else that we want to run). This reduces the load on the batteries and the engine starts. We have a separate starter battery that we just replaced in the spring, so I don’t know why this works, but it does.
Titusville FL in the early morning
The morning was calm and warm, no jackets. From the water, we saw Mike’s house, where we had had dinner a few nights earlier. We saw dolphins. We went through a bridge with another cruising boat named “Maple Sugar.” From Canada, of course. Saw our friends on s/v Hafvalla.
Hafvalla, racing past us, mid morning
We called and arranged to meet Sharon Bell, our friend from SSC (Shoreline Sailing Club) and BYC (Baldwin Yacht Club), who sailed with us a little last year. We had some things to return to her, and wanted to visit and catch up. We met her in Cocoa, where she is spending part of the winter.

We had lunch at Ossorio Café and walked around the town. There are tons of cute shops and restaurants, and Sharon loves the theater there.
Chuck, Sharon, Sandy
Cafe in Cocoa
Outdoor amphitheater in Cocoa
Cocoa has a nice courtesy (free) dock, for daytime use. Our friends from Hafvalla, Alex and Kate, also tied up at the courtesy dock, and there was a third boat as well, Seaquel, a powerboat. Jack and Pat on Seaquel recommended a place to eat sweets, and in the course of conversation we learned that they left late this year because their son was married on October 10, 2015. WE also left late this year because OUR son was married on October 10, 2015!
Summer Wind, Hafvalla, Seaquel on the Cocoa courtesy dock
View of the courtesy dock from the park
We left Cocoa after lunch and made it to the Banana River anchorage (STM 914), where we had spent a few days last year. We love this rest stop before Vero. It’s on the other side of a swing bridge, so there is very little traffic. It’s in a residential area, and there are always kayakers or rowers practicing. There are also plenty of dolphins, and they are so fun to watch.
Remains of Dragon Sculpture, at entrance to Banana River
Inside the Banana River
We were also having trouble with our generator. We had adjusted the cylinder gaps in Titusville, and when we tested it we thought it might be leaking a little diesel fuel. So we won’t use it until we get the new part that Chuck ordered. Meanwhile we’ve been charging the (weak) batteries with the engine. People who don’t have a generator do this all the time. The good thing about this method is that we automatically get hot water, the bad thing is that it’s bad for the engine, to run it with no load.

The next morning we left early, in fog. Made our way past a “pirate” ship, more dolphins, birds catching fish and a lot of very fancy houses. By noon we were back in Vero Beach. Feels like “home”.