GO for LAUNCH!

When we were in St. Augustine, Sharon told us there was gong to be a big launch of a rocket to Mars. But she wasn't sure of the details.

That was almost true.

We hurried down to Titusville to be there for the launch on the 4th. En route I searched the internet for any NASA, USCG, East Coasts Alerts, DNR restricted zones. We didn't want to repeat the delay of the Wallops Island launch in Oct. Nothing. I called two different USCG sectors. They didn't know about a launch but said if there was a restricted zone it would be offshore and not on the ICW. I knew there was a launch and tried to find info. I could see why the person in VA sailed into trouble.

We got a mooring ball from the Titusville Muni Marina. The best (fastest, cheapest, 4 W, 4 D) laundry around. A bit tired but they had clean showers, a little store, great wifi in the mooring field, several TV channels, screened in "captains' lounge" with TV, fuel, water, pumpout. But back to the launch.

The Mission:
The December flight test will send the uncrewed Orion spacecraft 3,600 miles from Earth on a two-orbit flight to test critical systems for the challenges of deep space missions.

During the 4.5-hour flight, Orion will travel farther than any crewed spacecraft has gone in more than 40 years, before reentering Earth’s atmosphere at speeds near 20,000 mph and generating temperatures up to 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Orion will land in the Pacific Ocean where the U.S. Navy and NASA’s Ground Systems Development and Operations Program will recover the spacecraft.

The Orion Flight Test will evaluate launch and high speed re-entry systems such as avionics, attitude control, parachutes and the heat shield. In the future, Orion will launch on NASA’s new heavy-lift rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). More powerful than any rocket ever built, SLS will be capable of sending humans to deep space destinations such as an asteroid and eventually Mars.

The launch was scheduled for 07:04. The first delay came because of a boat in the offshore restricted zone. Surprise. Then wind exceeding the parameters. Then some valves wouldn't close. The mission was scrubbed and rescheduled for the 5th.
That evening there was a beautiful full rainbow and the right end fell on Pad 37! A good omen!

 Friday morning was cloudy but the wind was ok. We were "Go For Launch." This was not Jo's first launch as she used to live in Cocoa Beach and her favorite part is, what she calls, the "Go Fors." All the different system commanders in Houston are polled:
Communications? Go!,
Fuel? Go!,
SLS? Go!, etc.
 Once everyone gives a "GO" the launch can proceed. Gives Jo goose bumps.

On the second try: LIFTOFF! We could see the flames and finally the ROAR reached us! It was soooo loud, even in Titusville. Once the rocket went into the clouds we ran inside to watch on TV. On the Space Coast, the local TV stations break into shows to cover launches completely. There are cameras on the rocket so you can watch as the different stages fall away.

 

An amazing first launch for Mark.

St. Augustine to Daytona

Tuesday morning 2 Dec, we left the dock at around 0800. The goal was to get to Daytona by late afternoon.

Unfortunately leaving at this time meant that we would be fighting a current for at least 4 hours. Que sera - it was an uneventful trip driving the condo south.

Prior to leaving St Augustine, I introduced myself to Justin and Trish, an Irish couple on an aluminum sailboat named Selkie. We first saw Selkie when we were sailing west down Buzzards Bay in September. I again saw Selkie when she was anchored in our Back Creek in mid-October. An here they are in St. Augustine! Selkie left the dock about an hour before us, but we somehow caught and passed them about 5 hours later. Like almost everybody we are meeting, they too are heading to southern Fla, then eventually over to the Bahamas.

We anchored to the south east of the Daytona Memorial Bridge. We read in Active Captain this was a nice deep(er) anchoring area and it proved true. I decided not to Bahamian moor as the current didn’t seem that strong, and for the most case, the current was headed to the north, with just a short time heading the opposite way. 

We dinked ashore to the western side to the municipal marina. This is where we began our boat search back in December 2012. We looked at a 40’ Manta here as well as a 42’ Grand Banks trawler motor yacht. Back then, I was applying for Navy positions in Naples Italy and, if that occurred, our plan was to buy a Grand Banks 42 to live on it in Naples.

Daytona to Titusville:

We waited until 0900 Wednesday morning to get underway, so we could ride the ebb current to Ponce de Leon Inlet (PdL), get there at low tide and the ride the flood current to Titusville. In theory it worked to PdL inlet, however the current was pushing us so fast that we got to the inlet ahead of low tide, so we had to fight the current for about two hours after PdL inlet. 

This part of the ICW seems to be a berthing nursery for dolphins.  We saw so many mothers with babies along side.  So fun to see. I am guessing that since it is so protected, lots of current to stir up the fish, (lots of guys in their boats trying to catch fish) this is a good place to raise a young dolphin.

Haulover Canal

After PdL inlet, the ICW opens up and pretty much runs straight until Haulover Canal. Winds were out of the NE so we decided to motorsail a bit. We unfurled the jib, gained .2 kts so throttled back so as not to run up on the boat I was following since PdL inlet. Haulover Canal is where one leaves the Mosquito Lagoon and enters the Indian River Lagoon.We arrived at Titusville Municapal Marina at 1545. Fueled up and grabbed a mooring ball. The facilities were not as nice as St Augustine's facilities, but the wifi in the mooring field was very strong and TV signals came in clear. We also had fairly good view of the Delta Heavy launch pad. More on that next!

We were now back in Joelle's old stomping grounds.

1565 America's Oldest City - St. Augustine

Pulled out of Charleston at dawn for an (almost) uneventful trip south. Notice I didn't say sail. In fact it was DFC (Dead Flat Calm.)

Departing Charleston.

Sunset in the Atlantic.

We pulled into St Augustine Sunday afternoon, 30 Nov, just before high tide as an acquaintance had recommended. I was worried about shoaling in the inlet cut as lots of people had mentioned in Active Captain. Even the Coast Guard had issued a warning that morning that the number 4, 5 6 and 7 channel buoys were out of station. We called BoatUS for some local knowledge, and they told us not to worry, hug the reds, so we did. The shallowest we saw was 16 feet at buoy # 4. After that the depths got progressively deeper.

After some calling around we finally did secure a mooring at St Augustine’s Municipal Marina. We met Selena Hernandez, Joelle’s roommate from OCS, and brought her out to the boat for a looksee and sundowners.

On the way back to the dock to go to dinner, the outboard engine sputtered and quit. It seems we had gotten some condensation water in the fuel. We had not run the outboard for almost 2 ½ months, and had experienced some freezing temperatures. Yikes. I broke out the oars and rowed to the dock against the current. Getting back to the boat was not too hard as we still had a little of the current pushing us. I guess I will be tearing into the outboard in the morning to clean out the water, something I know nothing about.

We had big plans for Monday so I started tearing into the outboard at 0715. I had looked at removing the carburetor when I had the OB off the dink when I was painting the dink. It looked a little complicated for my taste at that time. Now I had to do it for real, sitting in the dink in the water. Yep this is certainly a chance to lose parts overboard. I analyzed everything before I tore into it. I figured a way to pull the carb out without having to remove many of the engine adjustments. Of course after I got it all apart, I discovered a drain screw at the bottom of the carb bowl that I could have used to drain the water. Oh well. At least I was able to clean the carb and open up the little hole in the carb that allows the engine to idle. (Thank-you Eric Epstein for telling me about this little orifice).
Everything clean, the carb went back together again without any extra parts left over! Yea!

Oh, one minor point: when I started working on the OB, I disconnected the fuel line from the fuel tank to flush the bad fuel out of the fuel line. It seemed to me that I had an especially hard time getting the fuel line disconnected. I can’t be sure, but there is a chance I may have not connected the fuel line correctly in Nov after we had finished painting the dink. So basically, no fuel was getting to the OB. Don’t know for sure, but the fuel line connected a lot easier than it came off.

A slip opened up at the Municipal Marina and we moved off the mooring ball. Sharon and Henry Cardenas, Joelle's outlaws, were coming to the boat in the afternoon, and I didn’t want to chance that my repairs to the OB didn’t work. Once at the marina, they had a place to deposit the suspected water contaminated gas and buy new gas. Reconnected the fuel line primed the OB, and she started on the first pull. Also she seems to idle better. Sigh of relief.

We joined Selena for a tour of Flagler College, her alma mater and where she is an assistant professor now that she is retired from the Navy. Flagler College is housed in what used to be the Ponce de Leon Hotel at the end of the 1800s. Henry Flagler helped create St Augustine into a winter destination place for the very rich, and built three hotels adjacent to each other. The Ponce Hotel was built first. Flashing her faculty badge, Selena was able to take us into areas off limits to tourists and non-students. What an amazingly beautiful premises to go to school.

Selena points out her old dorm room.

That afternoon we biked to the St Augustine Lighthouse and walked up the 213 steps to the top. The views were fantastic. Back in the day, the lighthouse keeper had to carry a 5 gallon pail of oil up to the top every two hours to keep the light burning. Also every two hours he had to wind the movements to keep the light rotating. No need for an exercise program or gym membership; you kept in shape just by doing your job.

We rode back to the boat to welcome Henry and Sharon onboard for sundowners. (Henry is the brother of Joelle's SIL, Di.) We then headed into town; first to JP Henleys to sample their extensive collection of beers, on to Harry's for dinner, and then to the American Legion for jello shots. Henry and Sharon are so much fun. I'm sorry it was a work-night for them or we could have partied all night.

On the town with Sharon and Henry Cardenas - our outlaws.

During dinner, Sharon mentioned that a Delta Heavy rocket was set to launch from Cape Canaveral on Wednesday. Actually, she said a rocket was going to Mars but she wasn't sure of the details. LOL. Now we had a mission: make it to Titusville for the launch.