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| Hot Air Balloons Being Filled for lift off |
Leg 2, Day 4
Jacksonville, FL to Vero Beach, FL : Hot Air Balloons
(09APR11)
Today we began our journey down the Indian River... this is the water way in Florida that is pretty famous for Oranges and such. There was a lot of traffic out and about, and it was beautiful. Lots of families on the water way enjoying the Saturday. We saw a number of folks camped along the river banks.
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| Families enjoying the river |
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| Nothing like an afternoon on a pontoon |
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| Good way to spend the day |
There was 1 scheduled opening bridge today, and we saw lots of sailboats coming through. From the radio traffic, they boats appeared to be a part of some regatta.
As we passed the New Symerna Beach area, we could see lots of hot air balloons being filled up. There was the usual Remax one, but then we saw a giant Godzilla looking one and also a large Sun one.
While heading down the ICW, we noticed a helicopter buzzing real low along the river coming towards us. As it came in close, KJ and I stood on the front of the boat and danced for it. As it swooped past, it had a logo on the side that read “www.BoatPix.com”.... Neat business for sure.
As we passed marker 55 on the ICW, a boat called Incognito called out “South bound sailing vessel passing 55 this is Incognito, we plan on passing you to Port.” As I reached for the microphone to respond, someone else responded! It was crazy. We listened to the 2 boats talk back and forth, and then I watched as Incognito did indeed pass us to port. Funny stuff. They had a wonderful conversation about how to pass, but it was us that Incognito really intended to talk to.
We saw lots of manatees today along the river too. They floated right on the surface and watched us as we passed.
Our anchorage today was in Mosquito Lagoon. The anchor point was out in the middle of the lagoon, far from any shore. However, it turned out to be fantastic as we all were able to jump in the water and swim around Ariel for hours. It was a fun filled day for sure. No bugs in the cabin yet, so we aren't sure why Mosquito Lagoon is named Mosquito Lagoon
From our current location, we can see the Space Shuttle assembly way off in the distance. That is tomorrows anchorage, Cape Canaveral!
Val and I plan on starting off early tomorrow to take advantage of the tides.
