To Titusville

Beez Neez now Chy Whella
Big Bear and Pepe Millard
Thu 16 Feb 2012 13:50
To Titusville Marina
 
 
 
 
 
 
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Up and ready for the off at eight o’clock, we looked back at the Daytona anchorage. Today we have thirty seven miles to do with as far as I remember no dodgy shallow bits. Yeehaaa
 
 
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A mixed bag of girls. We passed Calico Jack and Free Bird, potential for the ‘One Careful Owner’ and with five anchors out one definitely not getting away.
 
 
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Just fishing. Loved the tongue out in concentration, with a little friend waiting for a tidbit
 
 
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Spuddling along on a lovely afternoon
 
 
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Passing a huge RV park
 
 
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With some very impressive vehicles with all kinds of extensions
 
 
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A spot of gardening
 
 
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Is that supposed to look like me ?? Um no
 
 
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A eccentric crab pot marker. Oops. Christmas still and tourists
 
 
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A busy gang played with us for some miles.
 
 
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Ahead the pale square building is the Kennedy Space Centre. Keeping the reds to our right, a bit of a wiggle and a sharp right behind the bushes and into the Haulover Canal.
 

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The Haulover Canal is a waterway north of Merritt Island near the former site of Allenhurst, that connects Mosquito Lagoon with the Indian River, and is part of the Intracoastal Waterway. In the early 1960’s there were plans to relocate the canal further north, near the junction of US1 and Courtenay Parkway, but by 1964 when the new Haulover Canal Bridge was constructed these plans had been shelved.

 

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On the 19th of December 1978, it was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. According to the state historical marker just before the bridge:  

Native Americans, explorers and settlers hauled or carried canoes and small boats over this narrow strip of land between Mosquito Lagoon and the Indian River. Eventually it became known as the “haulover.” Connecting both bodies of water had long challenged early settlers of this area. Spaniards visited as early as 1605 and slid boats over the ground covered with mulberry tree bark. Early settlers used rollers and skids to drag schooners across. Fort Ann was established nearby in 1837, during the 2nd Seminole War (1835-1842), to protect the haulover from Indians and carry military supplies from the lagoon to the river. In 1852, contractor G.E. Hawes dug the first canal using slave labor. It was 3 feet deep, 14 feet wide, and completed in time for the 3rd Seminole War (1856-1858). Steamboat and cargo ships used the passage until the railroad arrived in 1885. By 1887, the Florida Coast Line Canal and Transportation Company dug a new and deeper canal which is there today, a short distance from the original. The Intracoastal Waterway incorporated the Haulover Canal as a federal project in 1927 to be maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Since then the channel has been dug wider and deeper, and a basin added for launching boats. 

 

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We waved to the many people out enjoying their afternoon fishing along the canal, a very popular way to spend the weekend. We left the canal and bridge behind to cross the Indian River, our last enormous stretch before the marina. The tiny stick on the horizon is the usually open railway bridge that carries heavy loads now and again to the Space Centre. 

 

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A fly past, a guard of honour and a full platoon

 

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Nesting material inbound on a fixed allocation. We hope this lady doesn’t build a nest on the railway bridge. Sssh don’t tell anyone I’m here, keep it a secret.

 

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A passenger for the final couple of miles enjoys the sunshine and rest

 

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Titusville Marina, welcomed us. First job was to fill up with diesel. On the fuel dock next to us was a pair of osprey sitting on top of a mast. I pointed them out to the dock master who agreed they were a fine sight but nothing compared to his wife’s face when he went home a little while ago and had to tell her that they had ruined his wind transducer, replacement around $500. So he sees them in a slightly different way to me then.

 

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Beez Neez settled on the far right, yes, that is a train on the far left. Thankfully these enormous beasts with over a hundred and fifty trucks, only go through at six in the morning and five in the afternoon. The first one soon after we arrived sounded like it was going through the kitchen.

 

 

ALL IN ALL HAPPY AND VERY SETTLED

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