Wildlife Wild life

March 9, 2016

St. Augustine, Florida

Mile Marker 777 ICW

We have stayed at Banana River mile marker 913, Cocoa mile marker 898, Titusville mile marker 885, Titusville Marina mooring mile marker 878, Daytona Beach mile marker 822, and now St. Augustine mile marker 777, all on the ICW. The stops have all been on the hook except for the one mooring at the Titusville Marine. I have changed the format in how I tell you where we are and where we have been.  I was not having fun trying to give specifics details and this is suppose to be fun.  

I have been in some remarkable places, seen some remarkable things since I last wrote and I want to tell you about them. 

One of my favorite anchorages on the way south was Banana River.  We found this little piece of paradise and safety when we were looking for a port in a storm.  You enter Banana River anchorage around Dragon Point.  I didn’t know the origin of the name until one of our cruising buddies told us. Sure enough we could see the remains of a dragon the size of a small plane that had been slain by the years of harsh weather and seas.  I probably told you about this anchorage on the way down, because I was so excited to be safe and watching the dolphins and pelicans play. This time there were a lot of crew shell teams practicing. It is hard to find a place to go ashore, one place is less than pleasant to tie your dinghy and the other place is a beautiful park where the athletes launch their water craft. Rob dropped me off there to do food shopping.  We were not sure we were allowed to tie up.

Cocoa Village was fun to explore.  There is a day dock where we tied up the trawler, so we could come and go without having to take a dinghy ride to shore. But at the end of the day we had to move to an anchorage.  

We shopped for no-see-um screen.  If you had been anchored near mangroves you would be very excited about buying the screen.  We had to spend an extra day in Cocoa waiting for the screen to come by UPS to a local store.  It has not been installed yet and I have been bitten by a few bugs but nothing like it was.  Rob is not bothered at all by these little “buggers”.  My father had terrible reactions to bug bites and I think that gene has been past on to me.

Next stop, Titusville!

SpaceX launch

I will post pictures but most of you have probably seen the launch in some news format. The talk of the “town” was about one of SpaceX’s attempts at a launch,a delay because of a tug boat in the safety zone.  Poor Captain, I would have been very upset with myself and embarrassed to have delayed a take off.  

What a glorious experience.  

We stayed on a mooring at the Titusville Marina only 7 miles north of our last anchorage. We stayed on the mooring for the weekend so we could visit the Kennedy Space Center and Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge.  The first time I started hearing the name Merritt Island was when Rob told me he was signing us up to win the HGTV 2016 home, on the island.  I don’t think we won.

We rented a car for a few days, the first time since we have been on this adventure. It was very exciting to grocery shop knowing that we didn’t have to carry it in our backpacks and walk a few of miles.

The first day we visited the wildlife refuge.  Rather than stumble through a description I will let you read it as written in the literature we received.

Merritt Island Nation Wildlife Refuge is an overlay of NASA’s John F. Kennedy Space Center where the world’s most advanced technology launched man to the moon, and today, contiues space exploratioin.  However, there is another kind of “space” here, one that is set aside for over 500 different species of wildlife and 1000 species of plants.

Contained within this 35-mile long barrier island is a rich abundance of plants and animals from both the subtropical and temperate climate zones.  The Refuge is strategically located on the Atlantic Flyway, a major bird migratioin corridor, and it is a key resting stop for many migrating bird species.  Merritt Island NWR’s habitats support one of the highest numbers of endangered and threatened species found within the refuges of the National Wildlife Refuge System.  The unique relationship the Refuge shares with NASA bears testimony that nature and technology can coexist.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Part of the visit is a 7 mile loop through many of habitats.  We saw tricolored heron, snowy egret, reddish egret, white ibis, great blue heron, roseate spoonbill, long billed dowitcher, so many I had to stop trying to identify them and just enjoy their beauty.  I thought about several of you I know would have enjoyed being there. I would not miss the opportunity to visit all of the Kennedy Space Center and Merritt Island.  On day two of the car rental we visited the Space Center, a very unique experience to see the site of the SpaceX launch we saw on Friday. 

Yesterday we traveled to St. Augustine working our way north and today we head to Jacksonville to have dinner with people we met on our trip south. It is all very exciting.

Prepare to see the glow of the lift off

Lift off

Map of Merritt Island showing the wear of enjoyment

I love this picture, the purpose is for you to see the large alligator the is on the other side

The tiny alligator, also hard to see

The treasure hunt walk to find more wildlife

We saw three shy manatees

It really bothers me to see the scares on the backs of the manatees from boaters 

Bird of the post

Pelicans in formation

 Armadillo

More wild life

Fascinating to talk to the robot, when I told him to have a nice day he gave me a thumbs up

Atlantis

A very helpful chart to understand the size of the crafts

Made of Legos

For my nephews

Leaving the Center

One good tern deserves another

Other tern

Another Tourist!

Dinner after a long day

Parting Shot

No privacy when trying to keep the sun off my face while taking a snooze.

...and there are my exciting adventures.

Oysters, Horses and Stingray, Oh My

March 1, 2016

Vero Beach, Florida

Mile Marker 952 ICW

I am writing to you from Vero Beach. When we traveled south we stopped here and I didn’t find it particularly interesting.  At that time we were taking cover from bad weather and Vero Beach certainly provided that. 

This time we spent hours with friends and that has made a big difference to us. We had cocktail hour, dinners together and walks to town.  

Before Vero Beach, we visited the Florida Oceanographic Coastal Center on Hutchinson Island. Hutchinson Island is a barrier island on the coast of Martin and St. Lucie counties Florida. It is bounded on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by the St. Lucie Inlet, on the west by the Indian River, and on the north by the Fort Pierce Inlet. We paid twelve dollars to listen to a Stingray Feeding Program, Sea Turtle Program and the Game Fish Program. Fascinating!  We also walked the nature trail and learned about Oyster Reefs. 

I think the only way for you to see what it is all about is to show you pictures. Sorry, but there isn't any bird photo this post. 

The stingers have been removed, so I didn't worry about being stung. I had three pieces of fish to feed the stingray.  They are so soft to touch and when they take the food they are very gentle.

The oyster program

 Shore erosion prevention

In the main building there were many tanks with interesting fish.  The sea horse is about six or seven inches long.

Notice her tail wrapped around the plant

Monday morning

Bad hair day

"Don't come near me"  the pencil urchin.

Parting Shot

A lightbulb moment

February 19, 2016

February 15-17, 2016

Coordinates 26 39.02.5”N 81 52. 31.3”W

Fort Myers , Florida

Mile Marker 135 of the GICW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway)

While at Fort Myers we spent four hours touring the Edison and Ford winter estates.  I was pleasantly surprised that it was not all cars and inventions but much much more. I wish I could tell you about all that I learned but I can’t recall it.  I remember that Edison has been the only person to ever have a patent every year for 65 years, with a total of over 1000 patents.  Edison and Ford had adjacent property in Fort Myers, hearing about their lives was absolutely fascinating.

It was a wonderful stay at Fort Myers.  We connected with some nice people.  The couple is heading out in two weeks to do the Great Loop which includes the Great Lakes. The marina had a BBQ for everyone, so we socialized a bit.  We took the free trolley around town just to see where it went.  I had a couple of DVDs that I intended to leave at the marina, but gave them to the woman on the trolley instead.

We also spent a little time with Sue and Paul going over the route across the, OWW (Okeechobee Waterway) for the East coast of Florida.  I have enjoyed the West coast but I’m  looking forward to places that we have been before and places on the East coast we have not yet seen. The “cross” includes several locks and bridges. Sue and Paul were with us in previous locks, so taught us the “ropes”. Remember learning how to tie your shoes, it was a little bit like that, hard at first?  

The water on the Okeechobee Waterway can be “dicey, a word used to describe the personality of the water. Another word that is used to describe the seas is “chop”. I am beginning to think I am watching the “Food Network” a network. The network is okay but I would rather be watching it than on it.

Because the water can be “dicey” or choppy we will take the “rim route” instead of the “crossing” it, it is 10 miles longer, very narrow and has more shoaling in parts but a lot less like the Food Network.  We called and found out the depth of the water on the rim route and it seems that it is fine to travel, the route has nice scenery where the crossing route does not.

We started the route and went about 36 miles to Lollipop anchorage, a very short canal off the shoreline.  I immediately didn’t like it.  There were two sailboats rafted (joined together) in the middle of a very narrow canal, poor judgement I thought.  We continued passed them to an open place but the water was 32’ deep, so we could not stay.  We tried a more shallow place but the anchor didn’t hold.  Off we went to the River Forest Yachting Centers about 200 or 300 yards away, what a gem. The people are wonderful, the fees are the best yet, the facilities are top notch and the setting is beautiful. The town is 19 miles away but we don’t need anything. We will stay an extra day to wash windows and clean the outside of the boat.  It was great to have the sunshine to sit in when we had breaks.  We spent the evening with a couple from Alaska and exchanged information so we can stay in touch. Hope to see them again soon.

Another thing that we experienced while we were at this marina is black ashes on the boat.  When we asked the manager of the marina he told us that it was the burning of sugar cane. The farms burn the grass around the stock of the cane and then harvest the it.

All for now except for the pictures.

The Banyan Tree on the Edison and Ford Estate that covers about one acre

The other end of the Banyan Tree

The husband enjoying the Edison and Ford Estate

The Bamboo Tree, a source for the filament in the light bulb

Lots of trees on the estate that had other plants growing from the sides and limbs

Model TT

I would like to look this good when I have aged, oh yes the Model TT has had a facelift 

Here is the bird of this blog

The pelican was around for a long time curious about Rob bailing out the boat.

Parting Shot

The most beautiful marina

Unheard of, a paved winding road to the marina office

The working part of the marina

The cat on the far left belongs to our new friends

This is what the water looked like the day we left for the Okeechobee

Parting Shot

Hair salon house type boat at the marina in Fort Myers, genius.