05 Apr Ft Pierce to Ponce Inlet

Leaving Fort Pierce on April Fool’s Day,

The plan was to make it to Fernandina Beach to meet up with our daughter and her “future maybe someday” boyfriend in a little under two weeks.  

North of Vero Beach we ran through some heavy rains.

We had picked a nice anchorage @ Melbourne Beach and set the hook in abut 9′ of water.

There was a public dock at Melbourne Beach and we went in to see the town and walk to the beach.

When we got there we realized the rains were not done yet, we better get going. As luck would have it we found a fun little grocery store on the way  back to the boat, and since we can’t pass up a fun little grocery store, we were delayed and ended up getting soaked to the skin on the dinghy ride back to Nauti.

Once dried out, we had a nice dinner and sunset.

Then a quiet night at anchor once the storms moved off.

The next morning we woke to flat calm conditions and set out for Cape Canaveral.

Another perfect morning travelling on the AICW.

We had booked a slip at a Marina close to Cape Canaveral because there was supposed to be a launch coming up. But when we got there we squeezed Nauti into a slip where we couldn’t get off the boat without sliding under the rails. That was not going to work, so while I was busy finding another spot Janet enjoyed the Dolphins putting on a show in the Marina.

We ended up at Port of Canaveral Yacht Club where the Neighbours have been for a few days. 

We were so close to the Disney Cruise Lines dock that you could hear all the announcements and departure music going on. It was fun watching the comings and goings of a busy harbour.  The neighbours had a rental car so we spent a day shopping and going out to lunch with them in Cocoa Village. It was a fun day.

The launch was delayed again and we decided it was more important to meet our daughter than to catch a Rocket Launch so we set off North again.

You could see the rocket on the launch pad ready to go. 

It would have been a good place to watch them light that candle, next time…

As a matter of fact you could see the rocket on the pad for the rest of our cruising day.

We anchored in Mosquito Lagoon and you could see it all lit up at night. I tried to photograph it because it looked neat but it was impossible to capture it from a rolling deck.

The next morning we were on our way again heading for Ponce Inlet.

The 175′ Ponce De Leon Lighthouse is the largest in Florida.

It’s light can be seen 18 miles out to sea. It has been guiding sailors for over a century.  Of course once your are inside of the inlet you are on your own,

There was an incident here but you will have to buy me a drink to hear the story, I don’t like to talk about it…

The lighthouse is open to the public and you can climb the 207 steps to the light.

I was winded by the time I got to the top, but the breeze and the view made it worth the trip.

You can almost see the Nauti prints on that sandbar.

That evening while we were having dinner at the Restaurant by the docks a thunder storm came through and ripped the canvas roof off the patio bar.

It was an eventful day to be Nautoncall!

But then the storm cleared and Mother Nature sent us a sign that all was well with the world,

Carry on….