Farewell 2009

The Fog

Yesterday afternoon the fog bank that had been hanging offshore moved in and whited out Cocoa Beach. Sunny and mid-80s one minute and dense fog and chilly the next. It was still here this morning and I could barely make out the waves from the dune. By 10 AM fog was gone and temps were in the mid 70s and headed for the 80s.

Christmas parades

A good time was had by all yesterday at the always eclectic Christmas parade through downtown Cocoa Beach. In addition to the usual high school bands and fire engines, we had the local church rock and roll band on a trailer rocking the crowd along with random vehicles, people walking and the occasional crazy group of Shriners careening about on mini cars and bikes. Somehow the Super and Volcom buses snuck into the mix between the Girl Scouts and a couple of librarians in a Rolls Royce followed by the boys from Virus Busters in their ratty old station wagon. All threw candy to the delight of the kids. The weird times continued last night in the Christmas boat parade through the southern residential canals of Cocoa Beach. The blurry photo at the bottom is from under the 520 bridge before the start as those of us in uncovered boats dodged a rain shower. Probably about 30 highly decorated boats manned by rowdy crews braved the on and off sprinkles to the delight of what appeared to be thousands of residents in the waterfront backyards.

Slow day at Coconuts

Beautiful but slow day at Coconuts.

Misty morning

Misty morning yesterday in south Cocoa Beach with a lone walker.

Below is the map of the route of the Cocoa Beach boat parade on December 12 starting at 6 PM. The parade will start at Marker 101 across the road from the hospital and end off the golf course. Watch the silly boaters from anywhere along the route or fire up the party barge and join in.

Good morning Cocoa Beach

Epic sunrise this Monday morning.

Art Festival Weekend

Healthy sea oats in south Cocoa Beach.

This is Art Festival weekend in Cocoa Beach. Streets in downtown will be lined with artists displaying their works along with food vendors and live music. It's a great time to stroll the streets and visit with neighbors and visitors. On the space front, Shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center this morning.

No wetsuits yet

Gerry tags another one in south Cocoa beach.


Starting today (November 25th), Waste Management will begin collecting recycle materials for all Cocoa Beach residents on Wednesday of each week. In addition to your current items, food boxes, corrugated cardboard boxes, juice cartons, junk mail, phone books, magazines, aluminum foil, aluminum pie plates, aerosol containers, Clorox containers, and all types of detergent containers, may now be placed in you recycling bins for pick up.

Please remember to place your recycling bin curbside by 7:00AM each Wednesday.

New swell in town

I shot the pic above around 7 AM this morning just after high tide. Our 20 mile buoy is reading 10.2 feet at 14.8 seconds, a powerful deep water swell from the nor'easter that formed off New England from the remnants of Hurricane Ida. Looks to be a great weekend for surf with the wind out of the west. Hit it if you can.

South Cocoa Beach

Looking northwest from an upper balcony at the Constellation.

Art in the Park

Art in the Park at Lori Wilson Park in Cocoa Beach today. Various artists with paintings, clothing, carvings, jewelry, etc. set up displays in the breezy conditions. Sean Slater's Skin Cancer Surf Contest benefit is going on a few blocks south behind Coconuts. Last night's concert with G-Love at Coconuts was a blast. Kelly sat in on a few with G-Love and the crowd loved it. Costume party tonight at the same location with the same crew.

South Cocoa Beach gets a another haircut

This is how the biggest south Cocoa Beach developer takes care of our dunes. Get the lawnmower and mow all the natural vegetation down to the sand. I suppose the idea is that the overpriced units will now sell having been unattractive because of the sea oats and other minimal natural vegetation. This is the same developer that massacred the dune at 24th St. and now is at it again at Ocean Paradise. If you are considering buying a new condo (not a great idea right now unless you can get one for half the current outrageous prices) please reconsider giving your money to a developer with this kind of blatant disregard for our shared resources. He's giving a big FU to all of us every time he does this.

3 days ago, 250 miles SE

Today in Palm Beach

Today in Palm Beach, originally uploaded by Cocoa Beach.

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Canaveral Bight

Just north of the entrance to Port Canaveral in the Bight looking south.

Another Cocoa Beach backyard

Land or Sea

Just another dead calm day in Cocoa Beach.

Early morning surf fishing

Flu shots today

This is what everyone is fishing for in the surf lately.

Don't forget that flu shots are available today at Freedom 7 Center in Cocoa Beach from 10 AM until 2 PM.

Cocoa Beach Air Show Day 1

I missed all of Saturday's airshow as I was too far offshore to see anything. While we were catching snapper, sea bass and scamp, a few sailors enjoyed the show from just off the beach. Here's one returning as we made it back yesterday afternoon.

Air Show this weekend

Don't forget the airshow this weekend, Saturday and Sunday, noon til 3:30 over the ocean in Cocoa Beach. Military performers include the U.S. Air Force F-16 Viper Demo Team, U.S. Navy F-18 Hornet Demo Team, U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team and the U.S. Air Force Reserve 920th Rescue Wing. See an F-22 Raptor flyover at noon on Sunday to start that day's show. The US Army Golden Knights are doing a night jump tonight sometime after 7 PM and will land in the middle of the kickoff party at the Cocoa Beach Pier.

Delta launch this morning

Strolled a block from the office to the 1st St. North boardwalk to watch the Delta launch this morning. Perfect weather and a beautiful launch. These shots are from 20 minutes ago.

Pebble Beach in Cocoa Beach

I played a round with friends on the Pebble Beach Golf Links course yesterday on the golf simulator at the Cocoa Beach Hilton. A very fun experience and at $30 per hour we saved a total of $1920 over the price of a foursome on the real course ($495 green fees with cart each). We used our own clubs and played shots exactly as if on the real course. Definitely worth checking out. Choose from dozens of world famous courses to play.

New greens are open at Cocoa Beach

After enduring months of bad and dying greens in the spring and then an entire summer of temporary greens, the new ones have filled in and are open on all 27 holes at the Cocoa Beach Country Club. If you have played Cocoa Beach in the past, you're in for a treat at your next game. The old grass read somewhere around a 6 on a Stimpmeter but the new grass is currently somewhere around 8 to 9 and expected to be around 11 soon. That means fast putts and a whole new level of pucker when standing over a long downhill putt.

More beauty

Remembering last weekend

And then there was this

Orange and short

Another Mayo beauty.

Super Sunday August 2009

Yesterday was the last day of the Hurricane Bill swell in Cocoa Beach and it was a doozey. Glassy, head high perfect waves all day long, classic Cocoa Beach summertime surf. I saw dads and sons, brother and sisters, old timers, grommets and every cut of surfer in the water including mother and son, Barbara and Laza, pictured above sharing one of dozens of waves they enjoyed in south Cocoa Beach, hooted on by a handful of neighbors and friends.

Hurricane Bill swell

Hurricane Bill swell this morning at 9 AM. That's a surfer slotted just to the left of the tall sprig in the center of the shot and another guy sitting out on the shoulder.

IMG00024-20090820-1043.jpg

IMG00024-20090820-1043.jpg, originally uploaded by Cocoa Beach.

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Looking south from Waters Edge

Looking south from high in Waters Edge gives one a good perspective of how narrow the island is here and why the beaches are so uncrowded, low population density. The total lack of public parking also contributes. South Cocoa beach rocks.

Delta rocket launch at sunrise

Aug 17, 2009 Delta launch as seen from south Cocoa Beach

Cafe Surfinista update

The Cafe Surfinista in downtown Cocoa Beach has been Richter with crowds since opening a couple of weeks ago. My expectations have been exceeded with the variety and quality of the offerings. I've managed to work my way through less than half the menu and it's all been good. If you're into healthy casual food, this place should be on your list. There is another menu of smoothies, bowls and drinks not included here. Click on any of the menu pages to get a larger view.

August Banana River morning

Early morning in south Cocoa Beach.