Weather forecast for May 14, 2019:
Cocoa, Florida
Low 78 high 88
North winds, 10 to 12 kts
Captain’s Log: April 28, 2019 thru May 13, 2019
After an uneventful 15-mile cruise, we tied up to slip 16 at Cocoa Village Marina just before noon on Saturday, April 27th and, with extended family in the area, some required boat maintenance to complete and a trip north on our calendar, this marina will be home for the next month or two.
Cocoa Village Marina is a very nice place. The docks are in good shape and protected by a decent security system, the clubhouse is clean, spacious and well appointed, the bathrooms/showers are large and very clean (the staff cleans the showers several times per day) and the laundry facility is the best that we have seen. The picturesque downtown area of Cocoa is a short two blocks away from the marina, Cocoa Beach is 4 miles away and the Kennedy Space Center launch complex is 8 miles away. We like the feel of this place.
Shirley had not seen her cousins David and Deborah, who live in the Cocoa area, in over forty years; she was anxious for the reunion. Although no specific plans had been made, we were pleasantly surprised when David and his friend Derick showed up at the marina in the late afternoon. David informed us that Deborah was going to meet us at Norman's, a great oyster bar and grill, just down the road, later in the evening. So, after catching up on the past 40 years and relaxing on the boat for a few hours, we departed for Norman's. Shirley and David headed straight for the restaurant while Derick volunteered to take me to an address in Cocoa Beach where our SUV was waiting to be picked up.
Back at Norman's, and following introductions, we enjoy great conversation over six dozen raw oysters and plenty of cold beer.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was scheduled to lift off from launch complex 39 at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday, April 30, at 4:00am. Being so close to Kennedy, I was very anxious to watch this launch and I wanted to witness it from a really good vantage point. The next few days were spent familiarizing ourselves with the area and searching for the perfect spot to watch the launch.
Let us go back in time for a moment: In the autumn of 1981 I was working as a software engineer at General Electric Aircraft Engine Group (GEAEG) in Cincinnati. I worked with Barb, a software engineer whose husband Tom was a propulsion engineer at GEAEG. Tom was a pilot, as was his buddy and fellow propulsion engineer, John. Tom and John were looking for a third partner to share the cost of renting a Cessna 172 Skyhawk; they wanted to fly down to Titusville, Florida, to watch the second launch of the space shuttle Columbia. I was their man.
We departed Blue Ash Municipal Airport, just north of Cincinnati, at daybreak, with Tom in the pilot's seat and John next to him; I had the small rear bench seat to myself. We flew to Rome, Georgia, quickly refueled and then we were back in the air and heading for Titusville.
I don't remember much about the Titusville Airport. If my memory serves me at all, I believe that the airport had a single paved runway at that time, not much wider than a 2-lane road. Regardless, there were so many private aircraft flying into town for the launch that there was no place left to park the planes. We were instructed to pull our Cessna into the grass next to the runway; there were many other small aircraft parked in a similar fashion. There was no hotel room to be had in town, everything was booked, so we spent the night in the airplane. I had the bench seat, the roomiest, most comfortable spot.
The next morning, with no rental cars available, we had to walk the several miles into town. Bumper-to-bumper traffic clogged all of the roads leading into downtown Titusville and we actually made better time than those driving.
It was a real carnival atmosphere in town. People partying everywhere; American Flags, rock-n-roll music and beer; news helicopters flying up and down along the river bank; friendly police officers sitting in or standing by their cruisers talking to people and giving directions; dozens of pleasure boats anchored in the Indian River.
Shuttle launch complex 39 was directly across the Indian River from downtown. We found a great spot in what I recall to be a motel parking lot. Like everywhere else along the river, our lot was packed with people sitting in lawn chairs or reclining on blankets and/or beach towel. Almost everybody had binoculars, big movie cameras or telescopes. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the vibe was electric.
From our vantage point, about 8 miles away, the gantry looked like it was about 1/2 inch tall. Through binoculars the shuttle Columbia, its huge external fuel tank and boosters, could clearly be seen. The giant Vehicle Assembly Building stood to the far left of the gantry.
The excitement of the crowd grew exponentially as the countdown reached the 9-minute mark, and then everything stopped. At 9 minutes NASA had a built-in pause of an undetermined length to do final safety checks. I do not recall how long we waited but, when the big launch clock changed from 9 minutes, 0 seconds to 8 minutes, 59 seconds the crowd roared its approval.
With each passing second, the collective excitement of tens-of-thousands of space enthusiasts increased and, at 0 minutes, 15 seconds, we all started to chant in unison "14, 13, 12, 11, 10, ... at "5" we could see white vapor clouds billowing from the base of the shuttle. At "3" we could see flames erupting under the shuttle. "2, 1, 0, LIFTOFF", Columbia jumped off of the pad, in silence, and started to climb. About 15 seconds later the sound of the rocket engines finally reached our ears and the ground began to shake a bit; we could feel this shaking at a distance of 8 miles.
It was an incredible experience; fantastic; awesome; inspiring. I do not have the right words to describe it, but I will always remember the second launch of the space shuttle Columbia among my top bucket list experiences.
Now, back to the present: Although I had no expectation of an experience remotely similar to the Columbia launch, we were still very excited to have an opportunity to witness the Falcon 9 liftoff. When NASA postponed the launch by 24 hours for reasons unknown to us, we were very disappointed.
Our friend Doug arrived for a short visit on Tuesday afternoon and, with the postponement, he now had an opportunity to join us for the rescheduled launch. Unfortunately, 8 hours before the 3:38am launch on Wednesday morning, NASA again postponed the liftoff by 24 hours due to electrical problems on the International Space Station (the official name for this Falcon 9 launch is "CRS 17 Dragon"; it is a space station resupply mission). Doug left a bit disappointed after we enjoyed a great Mexican dinner, he was heading for Atlanta.
The next day our cruising friends Neala and Jeff stopped by for lunch; they were traveling from their condo in Delray Beach to their home in Erie, Pennsylvania. That evening, Beth and Dave, cruising friends who have their s/v Mystic docked in Titusville for a few weeks, also stopped by. Five visitors in two days!
Being determined to see the launch, Shirley and I were once again at our preferred viewing location at 12:30am on Thursday, May 2. At this late hour, and with several hours to go before the launch (now set for 3:00am), there was only one other person in sight; a guy standing at the open trunk of his car with fishing gear in hand.
Not long after our arrival, while we were still sitting in our SUV, a Mustang convertible pulled up close to us and two young gentlemen got out. They walked over to the guy with the fishing gear and began a conversation. I suggested to Shirley that they must be talking about the launch and told her that I was going to join their conversation.
The guy with the fishing gear was a former SpaceX employee. He had worked on the Falcon 9 project at the Space Center and was a wealth of knowledge; the two younger gentlemen were European, one French and one Belgian. We four space junkies talked for about 90 minutes before I returned to the SUV to find a sleeping Shirley.
It was time to get out of the car and assume our viewing positions. We were now restless with anticipation (at least I was, the XO was still half asleep). We found the perfect spot, laid out our blanket, set up our folding chairs and then checked and re-checked our camera and iPhone/iPad movie cameras, taking test shots to make sure that everything was ready.
At T-minus 6 minutes NASA once again postponed the launch by 24 hours; this one due to problems on the Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship (ASDS) named Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY). The Falcon 9 reusable booster makes a soft, vertical landing on OCISLY, a large landing platform which was holding station about 17 miles off of Cape Canaveral.
We finally got lucky on Friday, May 3rd. No delays, no postponement; the Falcon lit up the night sky at 2:48am. It was spectacular! Shirley was shooting a movie on the iPad; she was so excited that she got a terrific 3-minute video of a completely black sky. I was on the camera and did a little better.
We got back to the boat around 3:45am, immediately hit the sack, and were met with a very rude awakening shortly before 11:00am; the semi-annual LOVE BUG plague had hit Cocoa overnight; thousands of these pests filled the air; countless had descended upon Perfect Love.
For the next five days these bugs, similar in size and appearance to the lightning bugs of south-western Ohio, got stuck in our hair; flew into our faces; crawled up our legs, and were crushed under foot. Fortunately, they do not bite and only live for two days. Little black carcasses piled up on the deck and docks, against windows and doors; splattered on windshield; they were everywhere, there was no escaping them. It was disgusting and almost unbearable.
The carcasses, when crushed, ooze an acid-like green-yellow goo that, if left on a light painted surface overnight, can stain the surface and can actually pit the paint on a car or on the deck of a boat. I spent hours, at least twice per day, washing the dead bugs off of the deck while hundreds of live bugs swarmed around me. It was a losing battle.
We suffered through this scourge for five days but it seemed like an eternity. It took its toll; we stayed cooped up in the boat most of the time; it made us angry.
Saturday, May 5th, was Cinco de Mayo AND the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby. We decided to brave the bugs, hit the road and find a place to celebrate. We found El Lioncito (the little lion), a great Mexican restaurant in Titusville. With a very violent thunderstorm raging outside, we did it up proper at the bar.
The bugs were really bad on May 5th and 6th but completely disappeared on the morning of the 7th, one day before Shirley's sister Cindy and Cindy's daughter Gina were scheduled to arrive for a 5-day/4-night mini vacation with us. After a thorough cleaning both inside and out, the boat was bug-free and ready to host our latest guests.
We had a great time with Cindy and Gina. While Shirley worked during business hours Cindy and Gina explored downtown Cocoa while I did boat maintenance. We dinned at a couple of great restaurants; we met again with David and Deborah at the Pub Americana (this time Cindy and Gina got caught up on the last 40 years while we listened to live blues), and we took a 5-hour gambling cruise out of Port Canaveral on the casino ship Victory (none of us won).
We drove our guests to Orlando International Airport on Sunday, May 12; Mother's Day. After dropping Cindy and Gina off at the departure terminal Shirley and I headed for Disney Springs and killed a few hours window shopping and dining. The XO had fun trying on "authentic Disney retro dresses" and posing with Buzz Lightyear.
The drive back to Cocoa was alarming; we drove through swarms of love bugs; the noise of their bodies splattering against the windshield sounded like heavy rain. The windshield wipers were useless, they only smeared the goo all over the glass.
I was hoping that the swarms were strictly inland; I was sorely disappointed to find swarms all over Cocoa. The marina was thoroughly infested AGAIN!
Until next time, may your tomorrow bring fair winds and following seas.