Titusville - Full for the season

As I said, there's no room at the inn

Ann and I were born a little ahead of the baby boomers so when we first came down the ICW, we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Titusville was no problem then in getting a dock, it was half empty. The same went for Key West, plenty of space. Even at Vero Beach you could always get a mooring ball by yourself. I think those days are long gone. I saw just one empty dock here at Titusville and I heard that people looking for a dock at Key West are out of luck. Vero always has double and triple on a mooring now. Marathon used to have empty moorings during January when we were on our way to Key West, not anymore! Not only are there no moorings, you have to sign up on a waiting list and that list can be up to 35 to 50 boats deep.

So we take advantage of our past dockage to get first dibs on renewing our dock for the next year. Although we missed out on Key West this year, we already have our dock there reserved for 2020, likewise for Titusville for the fall of 2019. If you want a long term dock, you have to plan ahead now, unlike in years past.

Well, that's just the new reality of cruising now. You can always just anchor out, that's still an option but the room to do that at a place like Marathon is very limited. If you stay in the main harbor, you're always looking over your shoulder at the next guy and trying to figure wind shifts during the night. Bumping during the night is common there.

Titusville is "sunset challenged" but still there's a little color

Regardless, it's still a lot of fun and I would want everyone that can come on down and enjoy the ride. It's a unique experience with just the right mix of skill required, some tension, and beautiful sunsets. You ought to try it sometime.