Day 145: Really Cool (Literally)

Merritt Island to Titusville City Marina, Titusville, FL (docked)

June 9, 2022

In the Bahamas we usually anchored near an island. Exiting the anchorage meant that I had to steer a little while John hauled the anchor. Leaving a dock is totally different – there are currents, winds, and objects like boats and docks that are part of the equation. John is really great at thinking through all of the physics of departing (including the order of untying lines). Powerboats don’t really have to think about a lot of this stuff because their engines are powerful and they are more maneuverable. It’s kind of like parallel parking a manual transmission bus on a hill in the snow or something.

We had a tight spot in the marina last night and John absolutely nailed the exit, as usual.

We had an uneventful trip of about 16.5 nautical miles to Titusville today. Uneventful days are the best kinds of days when we are traveling!

We are in a marina in which John stayed when he brought Lailia home from Fort Pierce a few years ago. It’s in a very protected spot…but as has been the tradition, it’s near a train track. I don’t think we’ll be hearing the trains, though.

Because it’s Florida, the clouds built up the afternoon just as we got back from Ubering to Home Depot. It really looked like we were going to have a torrential downpour but we just had drizzle. This gave John time to work on a very special project.

When we left Charleston in January, it was really cold. We even had ice on the deck a few times. The Bahamas were really, really breezy and the temps were rarely above 80 during the day. Florida in the summer is a whole different story!

Adding to the overall heat is that we close all of the hatches and portlights when we leave the boat, in case it rains. Running the motor also adds a lot of heat.

Today we bought an air conditioner and John fashioned a way to mount it on the hatch above our bed. He also built a housing around it to keep the rain out (and to give it a cleaner look from the outside). This is life-changing for me! I am looking forward to not waking up with my hair sweat-glued to my neck.

The marina is in easy walking distance to a microbrewery. John loves craft beer and I love the atmosphere of breweries so we are always happy when we can visit a brewery. Playalinda Brewery is in a converted hardware store and still has some really cool original shelving.

Tomorrow we will continue our northerly journey, hopefully as far as New Smyrna Beach. Although we were hoping to see John’s brother and sister-in-law there, they are out of town.

We will be going through one of my favorite cuts on the ICW, the Haulover Canal, where our friends saw some manatees today. I am definitely hoping we get to see these critters!