February 22, 2007

As Kevin would say, “I departed my Velcro dock which means that it is just very hard to leave a place that you like.” I said goodbye to Richard and Mary Jones not knowing when or whether I will see them again. At there age time is a precious commodity. Once I left I knew one of the first things I must do is fill up with fuel because I plan to anchor out for a few days. The place I got fuel did not have a waste pumpout so now I need to do that the first chance I get. I made it as far as Titusville today which was a good day. The Indian river widens out after Wabasso and so there is not a great deal to see because at some times it is better than a couple of miles wide. With all that open water today I upped my speed and gained a little on time. Tomorrow I will be in a more restricted channel with more to see. With the wind out of the northwest and pretty strong Shorty has a new coat of salt. The water was very choppy and at times we quartered the waves making the spray come over the boat. We ran for about eight hours and are anchored out in the bay on the waterway at Titusville.

There seemed to be more dolphins in the channel today than prior. I do not know why or what inlets they came in from the ocean. Today also had deeper water most of the way and tonight I am anchored in eight feet of water and hopefully won’t drag my anchor as there are quite a few other boats and sailboats anchored near me.

I am across from Merrit Island and Cape Canaveral tonight. You can see the big preparation building from my anchorage and today I think I could see the Shuttle on the launch pad but it was kind of hazy so maybe it was not. Merritt Island also is a huge wildlife refuge and I saw flights of pelicans all day and they were sitting on the bridge abutments when I went under the bridges. I did not get any photos but tomorrow could be different when the waterway narrows again. They had an announcement on the radio today on CH 16 that you monitor underway that the ship the Sunsation was requesting that everyone be aware that she was leaving port and going to sea. There was not a great deal to report on today as everything was too far away and one had to pay attention to the chartplotter so you did not take off the wrong way. However you would have been pleased today as I did not scratch the boat going in for fuel in a very difficult marina. I sure know how to pick the places to get fuel, but when you need it you got to do it. Sitting here watching the sunset and writing this is making me very sleepy. The fishermen seem to go all night long. You can hear their engines whining in the distance and I am pretty close to a group of crab pots that someone has put out so I imagine in the morning they will be by to get their catch.