Titusville - last day

One last view of Atlantis - much bigger than I thought

Sarah's blog:

This morning me and Nana went on a walk it was  longer then are last one but it was very nice too. For  breakfast I had a half a bagel, bowl of cereal, half a grape fruit, and a blueberry filled donut too, yum! After that I some work for about a hour and when Grandpa was washing the boat I was on the look out for manatees. Sadly no Fat Joe, Key West, Barney, or James came to visit. I thought for sure that they would come because it was warm out for the first time. After that me and Nana went to the dog park with Hoolie and when we arrived it was just Hoolie in the big side but there were small dogs on the other side though if that counts. So me and Hoolie were playing with the tennis ball, he is getting better every time. We came home early because we felt rain drops and saw a barge with a crane too. When we got back to the boat it started pouring down water, were lucky we came home early or we would be soaked. Its still raining hard  but were going to have chicken broccoli Divan yum! Well bye off to a taste adventure.

Being a graduate of Ohio State I'm rather focussed on the game tonight for the national championship. We'll see if Ohio State can win with their 3rd string quarterback. Meanwhile it was making final preparations for our move south on Tuesday to Vero Beach. Nothing too exciting but necessary for ICW'ers (groceries, laundry, washing the boat, topping off water, etc.) We plan on getting up at first light and taking off. We have 65 miles to cover to Vero Beach, a big day for us at only 7.3 kts. 

Once underway, we'll see if that antifreeze leak reappears, ugh. There are showers predicted in the afternoon that may also slow us down so we'll have to look out for that too. We will only spend the night at Vero before moving on to Stuart. Vero has a policy of sharing moorings if they are full. Up to three boats may be assigned to one mooring - which I thought was fine with us since it would only make sense to therefore split the mooring three ways. - but oh no, that's now how they figure the cost. Each boat pays a full mooring fee, no sharing costs! Doesn't seem fair but that's the policy.So far we've never had to share but our luck may run out Tuesday. 

Titusville - we visit the Space Center

The Saturn V rocket is beyond huge - nothing prepares you for the size of this thing!

Sarah had some great adventures today!

Today we went to the Kennedy Space Center it was awesome! So we got are tickets and headed to the movie theater but we were two minutes late so we went on a bus tour instead. We saw the place were they shot the rockets to outer space. There was also a cool machine called the crawler that carries all the space ships to were they take off and go into the sky. We went to another building and saw a short film where it was about the space ship that went to the moon and got its first samples of the moon. They said that in front of us was the same control center they used when they got the space ship in space. I thought that was pretty cool, it showed a bunch a people around the world and country. 

The F5 engines for the Saturn V rocket had a zero percent failure rate!

Then we moved  into a room that had the space ship that went to the moon for the first time. also we went to watch another movie about them landing on the moon and found out they had trouble doing it. It had screens and had a moon stage that had the then land and a person on the moon with a flag too. At the other building we saw real moon rocks they say is 3.o million years old, also models of space suits. The first one was not very good, but the second one  look like one in a alien movie I thought was pretty cool but not for a person to wear on the moon. We went into a simulator shuttle, it felt like I was in a real one and going off into space, if I could do it again I would! I think I wouldn't want to go up into space because I worried about every thing way too much about alarms. There was this thing where you run up four high wall thing you go into a hall you take off your shoes and slide down this really steep slide, so I went down it and it was awesome I do that a thousand times. Before that I went in this fake satellite we were on the second floor so it hang other the first floor witch I was really nervous  about but I did it. We had lunch at the orbit cafe and I got a cheese burger and fries. Then we went to the gift shop and I got a T-shirt and a stuffed animal too. We came home and I played piano. Were eating dinner know mean I did this long so bye see you on the next adventure.

Note the outward, leaning fence

Well, quite a day for Sarah. We saw just about everything including the new Atlantis exhibit and the simulated shuttle blastoff. As a bit of trivia, we learned that NASA had to redesign the fences around the launch site to keep the alligators out. They originally had 7 foot vertical fences but the alligators would climb those! They had to put an outward curve in the fences to prevent the alligators from getting in. 

One is on Mars just like it

We did see a copy of the latest Martian lander. It was bigger than I expected, like a small truck! We will be here one more day then we'll leave Tuesday for  Vero Beach, finally. 

Titusville - We see a SpaceX launch

Sarah is taking her blog assignment to heart!

The view of the SpaceX launch at 4:47 am from Titusville Marina off the back of Fleetwing

This morning we saw a rocket launch at 4:47 am and we could see it right on the back of  the boat. It was amazing to see because you see it in the sky right in front your eyes! Grandpa had a count down going so we could here go up and let the rockets and " your clear to burn". It starts when you see a big light but you couldn't see the rocket part. Then when its in the middle of the sky you hear the ROAR! It's so loud, if you don't know it's a rocket it sounds like a hurricane that lasts for about a minute then fades away. Then we kind of saw it turn so it look like a meteor right in the sky but really bright and cool at the same time. For breakfast I made my self a egg sandwich, and grape fruit very sweet but very good. So I got a hamburger bun with sesame seeds it had one egg, American cheese, and bacon too, yum. Today I started my other bracelet kit with beads and charms too. One had a blue theme to it so I put blue beads and charm, another one was more peach then a green one too. Then after lunch we went to the dog park again and there were a lot more dogs. There was one with really thick fur and curly tail and a great Dan, a huskie, a puppy lab and a lot more too. Hoolie is getting really good at catching and dropping the ball too.  He ran his little heart out today, he was pull hard on the leash on the way there, the way home he was walking behind us. Now were going to have cheese burgers tonight and tomorrow more excitement.  

After the early morning excitement we all went back to bed and I discovered I had a very bad head cold. You're not supposed to get sick while cruising the ICW, maybe I didn't pay my ICW tax or something. 

So today was just for resting and for me trying to shake the cold. We're hoping that we'll feel good enough to visit the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday. Hopefully no one else will come down with what I have. We still plan on leaving Tuesday for Vero Beach if we're all healthy. 

Titusville - All Kinds of Boats

How would you like to go out on the bow of this boat in a heavy sea?

Sarah's adventures:

Today I had two bagels, bowl of cereal, and a half of grapefruit fresh from  Harvey's yum! I started my paper bracelet kit where you make your own beads. I made some beads then but glue on then and then let it dry. After that I made my first bracelet out of paper. Then I worked on some work and read Anne Frank, very interesting in my point of view. After lunch we went to the dog park, I have never went to a dog park but I loved it! I got to play with other dogs and we went to the big dog area. On the way out we saw just a pretty gentle giant, real big, but super cute. I didn't know that there was different side for small dogs and also big dogs. I almost forgot that me and Nana went on a walk this morning with Hoolie too and saw a train which I counted 112 cars. On then was a lot of graffiti  every car. I was really nervous because the train was going really fast and had to make a turn close to all the docks [walking distance]. Tonight were having a yummy dinner, bye another adventure awaits.

This boat is next to us, looks like it could take a lot of weather

A lot of boats winter over here and you can see all kinds of styles. Fleetwing is rather mundane compared to the samples along the dock. However, we like our type and especially the enclosure, great for cooler weather. Today was more of getting ready for southing. I started the engine to see if any more coolant came out (it didn't) and then it was on to the binnacle to reinstall the radar that failed due to a screen driver chip ($800) and then on to the genset to replace the zinc. That's more an exercise in contortionist moves but I got the job done eventually. With all that we are now officially ready to continue along the ICW. 

Saturday and Sunday will be exploring days for Sarah with a trip to the Kennedy Space Center and perhaps some of the local wildlife areas. The big event tonight is the expected launch of a Space X cargo ship to the International Space Station. The only problem is that the launch is scheduled for 4:47 am! Nevertheless, we'll drag ourselves out to the cockpit to see the launch. A nighttime launch is supposed to be spectacular. Then it's back to bed for a more decent hour. 

Titusville Marina - Getting ready to move south

Step one - swab the decks for a new hand

The trip north to northern climes was a shock to a system used to southern weather! We had a great time visiting our kids and grandkids but it was time to move south again and let the younger generation deal with the cold weather and snow and ice, I don't mind them taking over in those departments.

By the side of the road in the Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge

Just like Matthew several years ago, we once again have a home schooler on board. This time it's Sarah. She's in the 7th grade and 12 years old. She will be with us until we meet her parents in Key West in February. I've invited her to start the blog off each night (in italics). It's part of her writing assignment and we'll get a 12 year old's perspective on traveling down the ICW on a boat.

Today it was very windy, so windy that the boat was  going back and forth. I  felt like I was going to throw my cookies. So me and Nana went into the laundry room and I built my Lego lion. After that I worked on some work and then we went to Merritt island and had lunch there. 

Sarah meets Pip

Then we went to Merritt island National Wildlife and we were walking on the trail and I saw an Armadillo! It was so cool we got some pictures and it was so close I could pet it. I named the armadillo Pip for short. I then we went on black point trail were you go on a road in your car and see wild animals. 

One of these things do not belong!

We saw the Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Reddish Egret, and the Lesser Scaup. Also the first thing we saw was a alligator they were really cool too I named him Brody. Yesterday I was washing the boat and four manatees came up to say hi. They were so big I called them Fat Joe, Barney, key west, and James. One had barnacles on its back I thought that was neat. Before that I saw a dolphin going in and out the water right on the back of the boat. I named her grace because she moved so gracefully in the waters. Well dinner is going to be yummy pulled pork and tomorrow will another great adventure. 

The birds are used to visitors, they pose well

We awoke to 25 to 30 kt winds out of the northeast which blows directly into the marina. We had whitecaps in the harbor. Sarah was okay until she went down below to her cabin for some books, not a good move. Ann and Sarah retired to land to do lessons and later we toured Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge. In November we went to the Refuge but thought the birds were scarce but what a difference today! January is in the middle of the migration with many species wintering over right here. Birds were everywhere, many more than we ever saw before. Sarah took many photos and believes that every animal in her photo needs a name, never thought about that before. 

Meanwhile, I encountered two months' worth of being in a marina with lots of birds. Sarah did the first pass on the boat but some concentrated effort is still needed. The boat seems otherwise okay but I did notice some antifreeze in the bilge. I couldn't find the source but it seemed to localize to under the hot water heater which has an antifreeze feed from the engine for warming the hot water circuit. I'll start the engine Friday and see if anything is apparent. 

I figure it'll take us until Monday to get everything ready while still allowing a visit to the Kennedy Space Center for Sarah so our departure date now is hopefully Tuesday, heading for Vero Beach.  

Titusville - Last Post until January 8, 2015

All alone for two months

It has turned cold down here! The afternoon high was only 52 with a 15 kt north wind! To those of us used to warmer weather, that's cold. In the dark ages when I was up north, the 50's was time for rejoicing as a break from really cold weather! However, those times are so forgotten, we've gone soft. I was going to do so much outside on the boat today, not!

So we had the A/C going in reverse mode for heat and our 1500 watt header doing all it can with another 200 watt unit up front, so it was enough for comfort but taking Hoolie outside was a chore. I'll pick up the car on Wednesday and we'll pack it that night so we can leave first thing Thursday morning for our two day trip to Carrie's house in Pennsylvania.

So we'll see you again January 8 when I'll restart the blog, have a good Thanksgiving and Christmas - see you then.

Titusville - storms arrive

Not too pretty but this is all we saw today

We've been hearing all week about the incursion of Arctic air, a redo of the "Polar Vortex" of last year, at least that's the story. So we watched the front approach on weather radar, took Hoolie out before it arrived and buttoned down the hatches for the onslaught. As it turned out, there were severe thunderstorm warnings to the north of us, severe warning to the south of us but we never got them. We got plenty of rain but not the severe wind and hail. Still, there was not much to do but wait for it to come.

On Tuesday the high here is only predicted to be 57, very cold for this time of the year in Florida. We'll do our last day of boat work to get ready for the trip north and then pick up the car on Wednesday at 10:00 am. we saw on our video cams at home in Lagrangeville that we had snow on the ground, the first of the year, kinda of early I think, not looking forward to that! 

Meanwhile, I'm waiting for news on the repair status on my radar display. It's been a week since they've received the unit and when I finally got a call back today, they said it would be another two weeks at least before I got an estimate. That's not very good service, I expected better of Raymarine. The display is 10 years old and I may just get an entirely new unit instead of paying for a repair if it's too much.

It's time to start closing up the boat for a two month hiatus, lots of details to take care of, most important - do not turn off the refrigerator - like last time! ( by mistake)