Gemini Loop: Titusville to New Smyrna Beach, FL

We left Melbourne for Titusville, continuing along the Space Coast. For many miles of our cruise, you could see the huge NASA building across the mangroves. The launching towers were a little harder to get in the photos because they are so far away. We could only imagine what it would be like to see a shuttle launch from the water - which unfortunately will never happen now.

We saw lots of fishermen and kayaks as we headed north. We are also seeing more manatees! Some of the photos are from the Titusville to New Smyrna Beach stretch, and they are mostly swirls and a tail. They are actually pretty good at getting out of the way of slow boats like ours - not so much the fast boats.

At Titusville, we were docked directly across from Sun Gypsy, another Grand Banks 42 on the Loop. Rick and Leila started their Loop near Sarasota just a little while ago. They have been to some of the same places recently that we have, but we didn't see them until Titusville. We are both in New Smyrna Beach now, and will head to Daytona today.

The cruising days have been a little longer, so we haven't been sightseeing quite as much. I did get out this morning and take some photos of a very old foundation across the street from the marina. It was a fortress that was destroyed in the Civil War. Also, I discovered that a large group of colonists from Greece and nearby Mediterranean countries settled here in the late 1600s. The colony did well at first, but failed after 9 years. The remaining settlers, about 900, relocated to the St. Augustine area.

We plan to stay in Daytona for a couple of days, then head north again. As you can tell, we are very close to finishing our loop!