February 23, 2013 Day 288

Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa, FL

Total miles to date: 4856.5

As planned, today was a mix of running errands and doing boat chores.  It is Saturday after all!  Joyce picked up the rental car from Enterprise this morning and then after lunch took Joy (Proud Lady) shopping. They went to TJ Maxx and to Publix (just had to take advantage of having a car!)

Bill worked on chart plotting for our destinations next week and also replaced a part in the hold and treat system.  Add a few loads of laundry and that took up most of the day.

We had a light dinner onboard and relaxed this evening.

Tomorrow’s plan is to go to Disney World (Epcot) in spite of the stormy weather forecast! 

February 22, 2013 Day 287

Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa, FL
Total miles to date: 4856.5


We said goodbye to Anne and Larry on Great Laker this afternoon and we said hello to Joy and Bill on Proud Lady.  We last saw Bill and Joy in Stuart and are happy they decided to head this way sooner than originally planned!

Great Laker departing Cocoa Village Marina

Joy and Bill joined us on Carried Away for dinner and we had a fun evening visiting with them.

Earlier in the day, Joyce polished all the stainless steel railings on the bow and sides of the boat. The salt water can take a toll on surfaces and we need to keep after it! 



We have reserved a rental car for the weekend and we have decided to go to Disney World on Sunday.  Tomorrow will likely be spent running errands and doing more boat chores!

February 21, 2013 Day 286

Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa, FL
Total miles to date: 4856.5

This was a fun day. We went with our son Bill to Cocoa Beach for a fabulous breakfast of stuffed French toast. Then we drove to the Kennedy Space Center but realized we did not have enough time to complete a tour. We drove by the Astronaut Hall of Fame, but they were not open until noon.  We enjoyed the drive around the area at any rate.  Bill had to leave at 12:30 to catch his flight in Orlando, so we had to return to the boat.  We said good bye and then Joyce went to a hair appointment at 1:00 in Cocoa Village.  She is happy again!

Our son Bill

Later this afternoon, Anne and Larry arrived on Great Laker and we went to dinner with them at a fabulous Thai restaurant.  It was great to catch up with them and discuss our experiences on the Loop.

We will be here at Cocoa Village Marina until Monday. We may go to Disney world this weekend.  Stay tuned.

February 20, 2013 Day 285

Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa, FL

Total miles to date: 4856.5

Our son, Bill, arrived this afternoon for an overnight visit. It was so good to see him again. We spent a couple of hours just relaxing and visiting.  Then he took us to the grocery store for some major provisioning. We came back, had a late docktail and then cooked steaks on the grill. Add red wine, asparagus, roasted potatoes, salad, homemade pound cake and ice cream, and we had a good meal.  After dinner we did some face time with our 1½ yr. old grandson, Will. He is all motion and we loved seeing him in action!

We had an unexpected visitor to the boat this morning – a manatee!  We see manatee caution signs all the time but have only seen them once in Tarpon Springs.

A vist from a manatee

We will drive to the beach tomorrow with Bill before he has to return to Orlando and catch his flight back to Denver. 

February 19, 2013 Day 284

Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa, FL
Total miles to date: 4856.5

Just a short blog tonight – we spent the day cleaning the inside and outside of the boat!  Salt water requires frequent cleaning and we have a guest arriving tomorrow!  Our son, Bill, is on a business trip in Orlando and is extending his trip an extra day to visit us on Carried Away.

We also met Bob and Helen on Allez.  They will begin their loop in March from Cocoa Village Marina. We invited them over for docktails and had a very nice time discussing our boating experiences!

 

 

 

February 18, 2013  Day 283

Cocoa Village Marina
Cocoa, FL
Total miles to date: 4856.5

We had a very nice ride from our anchorage at Melbourne to the Cocoa Village Marina.  The sun was shining and it was warmer today. We even took turns at the helm.  Our typical arrangement for anchoring is for Bill to be at the helm while Joyce sets the anchor; when we leave Bill pulls up and cleans the anchor and Joyce is at the helm. Today Joyce just stayed at the helm longer which is good practice!

Ryan's Village Pizza

Bill changed the oil in the starboard engine after we arrived and Joyce worked on cleaning the interior.  We decided to have pizza at Ryan’s, a popular place here in in Cocoa Village. It was one of the best pizzas we have had in a long time.  Before dinner we walked around the village shops and restaurants, and now we need to go back!  Most of the shops were closed when we arrived, but by looking at the window displays, a return visit is in order!  Cocoa Village is lovely, with tree lined streets, quaint shops, restaurants, the Historic Playhouse, and a riverfront park – and it is a very short walk from the marina.



A typical street scene in Cocoa Village

We plan to stay here in Cocoa for a week (and possibly longer).  

 

 

February 17, 2013  Day 282

At anchor near Palm Shores Bridge
Melbourne, FL
Total miles to date: 4835.1



One of many large homes on the ICW

As expected, the cold front came through and we woke to a very strong wind in Vero Beach. We called the marina office to confirm that another boat was scheduled to arrive in our space on the T-Dock. (They had no other place to put the 96 foot yacht.)  Those plans had not changed so we did have to leave.  We left shortly before 11:00 and headed north on the Indian River and ICW. We had the wind on our bow the entire way which made it much more tolerable.  At least the sun was shining brightly! We practically had the water to ourselves as there were few Sunday boaters braving the cold wind today.

We saw lots of dolphins and pelicans today. The ICW was lined in many places with large beautiful homes, so we had much to admire along the way.

A great day for sailing near Melbourne

We chose our anchorage at Melbourne, just south of the Palm Shores Bridge. There is a small park nearby and we were protected from the wind.  It was much easier to anchor than to dock in this wind. Besides, we like to anchor!

We had a nice glass of wine before dinner on board and started talking more about our boating plans once we complete the Loop.  Tomorrow we will go to the Cocoa Village Marina where we will stay for a week. 



Sun setting over Melbourne