Follow the 650FLY on Her Journey Back to Florida

Frank and Rusty,

Needless to say...... I'm extremely jealous and envy of you big-water and big-boat boaters. I have been wanting to meet everyone for years, but something came up that I didn't come to Miami for the boat show. (Potential new 470 didn't show up, so we cancelled). I wish you guys all the FUN and ADVENTURE that you can handle. If you can cut across to Coralville Reservoir in Iowa on the way.... we'll have some big IOWA steaks waiting for you.

Mike
 
Remember that pesky St. Augustine bridge and its schedule? Well, today we are out smarting it. We called the bridge tender last night and inquired about their schedule for the rush. Seems they have more seemingly random openings to handle the morning traffic, but that the bridge is open on demand until 7:00AM. We decide not to risk losing more time to bridges on this, our last day, before we both get home. So St. Augustine will be in our wake before 7AM:


On second thought, I'm not getting paid enough for this:

650staugpayenuff.jpg


On second thought, seeing the sunrise over the Atlantic on pretty morning with flat seas? ............perhaps I should be paying Sea Ray.


650ataugsunrise.jpg



We head out to the St. Augustine sea bouy and turn to stbd, and set up the plotter for our last waypoint..........the Port Canaveral sea bouy. Here we are, off Daytona & New Smyrna Beach on a course to clear the shallow water off Cape Canaveral.


650lastwaypoint.jpg


Today has been our best day yet. You could not ask for better sea or weather conditions:


650perfectday.jpg

650perfectday2.jpg



As we near the cape, we see the remnants of the space shuttle program, the termination of which put some 8,700 folks out of work in this area.


650canaveralVABpad.jpg


Here is a closer view........the buildings on the right are the VAB (Vertical Assembly Building) where the space shuttles were placed in a vertical position then the rocket fuel tanks attached. The structure on the left is what remains of the last shuttle launch pad:


650canaveralVAB2.jpg


This is a replica of Alan Shepherd's Freedom 7 capsule and the Mercury-Redstone rocket that propelled him into space for the first U.S. human space flight.



650mercuryrocket.jpg
 
Last edited:
my3sons said:
according to one of their earlier posts, It is well above the 19' fixed bridge at Chicago. (650 fly is mid 20's ?)
Click to expand...
According to Frank's earlier posts, the 650Fly needs 28'
 
Here is Cocoa Beach:

650cocoabeach.jpg




We are literally making the last turn and heading down the home stretch now. This is the Port Canaveral channel:

650portcanaveral.jpg


Here are the beach-goers on Cocoa Beach..........you just gotta love Florida!


650beachgoers.jpg


Port Canaveral:


650portcaveral1.jpg


Port Canaveral is a big cruise ship embarkation point for not only Disney, but other cruise lines as well:


650portcanaveral2.jpg


After the port, we request an opening of the "401 Bridge" and then locked thru into the Banana River, once in the river, we see the "Merritt Island Barge Canal" dead ahead

650bargecanal1.jpg

650bargecanal2.jpg

This makes moving a boat around this part of the country a slow, slow, job:

650manatee.jpg
 
Once in the barge canal, it is a short mile+ to t he turn into the boat basin by the Sea Ray facilities on Merritt Island. Florida DEP is very picky and getting permits for any changes near the water is an onerous job. You can almost forget dredging or widening a natural passage so this is what Sea Ray boat drivers must contend with:


650boatbasin1.jpg


Note the wicked little "S" turn at the other end:


650boatbasin2.jpg


650boatbasin3.jpg


This week happened to be the annual summer shut down for vacation which explains why there is no activity shown in the photos. This area is normally used for PD&E activity as well as some yacht warranty and some 650FLY and Express finish work.

650boatbasin4.jpg


So here we are, home at last for Rusty. He and the 650FLY left this dock on May 5, 2014, for a tour of East coast dealers to show the boat......I caught up with him in NY for the leg home.......Rusty is home; I yet have to catch a plane to Nashville.

650homeatlast.jpg
 
This has been one incredible travel-log and I am so glad that we all got to go along for the ride - great stories and fantastic pictures. For some of us (me), this is the closest I will come to these waters and a vessel such as the 650 Fly.

Thank you both so very much for taking the time to include us in this way.

Salutes to both Capt'n Rusty and Capt'n Frank

Safe travels home,
Dave
 
Not even close...........

Running 25 kts in 3-4 ft seas, there is one squeak in this boat.....we found and identified the cause and it is an easy fix on production models. I'm not even sure I would try running a Meridian in those conditions, but if you did it would rattle like a can full of marbles
 
fwebster said:
Not even close...........

Running 25 kts in 3-4 ft seas, there is one squeak in this boat.....we found and identified the cause and it is an easy fix on production models. I'm not even sure I would try running a Meridian in those conditions, but if you did it would rattle like a can full of marbles
Click to expand...

And at half the price or better than the L650
 
spikedaddy99 said:
Holy crap!! Did you scratch the gelcoat on any branches??? :lol:
Click to expand...

That's what I was thinking. Good gawd. It doesn't look like a 13' whaler would fit through there.

Rusty and Frank... thank you taking us along in your journeys. I enjoyed every minute of it. For a while there I thought you may have needed the services of JAG officer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,182
Messages
1,428,060
Members
61,088
Latest member
SGT LAT
Back
Top