Cocoa Village Mardi Gras - Harbortown Marina, Merritt Island Florida

February 26 – 28
Cruise Leaders: Fleming/Mittauer
(407) 462-4016 (321) 525-0365

The next cruise will be over to Merritt Island on the East coast on February 26th -28th. Due to the large number of people who want to get their boats in the water, we’ve made a change to the marina. Instead of
Cocoa Village Marina, we will be staying at Harbortown Marina in
Merritt Island. We will still make the Cocoa Village Mardi Gras the
main event of the weekend.

Marina information:

Harbortown Merritt Island Marina is located on the barge canal between the Indian and Banana rivers. This marina is in a very protected location. Even with very strong winds, the boats in the basin
do not move much. The club last visited this marina in May 2008. The
marina has a nice on-site restaurant with full bar and usually has a
live band on weekends. The marina has fixed wooden docks, but the
marina reports the tide is “minimal”. The shower facilities have all
been renovated recently. The marina has a pool, though it is not
currently getting much use! They currently have a special for
transients of 75 cents per foot (no minimum) plus $4 electric, if you
use the coupon on their website. This is a fantastic rate, but you must
print the coupon from website. They also have free Wi-fi and CATV. The
staff plans to put all our boats on the same dock. The marina will also
allow us to park trucks and trailers on-site if desired. This gives us
the option of going over to Cocoa Village by boat, truck, or
combination.

Marina website is http://www.harbortownmarina.com/

Nice aerial photos at: http://marinas.com/view/marina/2322_Harbortown_Marina_Merritt_Islan... (Try the zoom-in feature too – very nice!)

Launch Ramp:
Primary ramp is Kelly Park ramp, about a mile away from marina at 2550 North Banana River Drive, Merritt Island, FL, 32952 http://www.centralfloridacruiseclub.com/resources/kelly-park-banana...

http://www.brevardparks.com/visittheparks/parks/prkbch1.php#KellyEast

Another option would be to launch in Cocoa Village at Lee Wenner Park, which is at 300 Riveredge Boulevard, Cocoa, FL http://www.cocoafl.org/index.aspx?NID=201

http://www.brevardparks.com/visittheparks/parks/prkmn1.php

Two cautionary notes if you launch in Cocoa Village:

1: When parking overnight, you must call Brevard County Parks & Recreation at (321) 633-1874 for permission to keep truck and trailer there. (Not a big deal — they just want to know it is there).

2: This is right in the heart of Mardi Gras area. Brevard County people say you should still be able to get to the ramp (streets not planned to be closed leading to ramp), but there could be traffic
issues that make it hard to get to the ramp.

Mardi Gras information:

The main Mardi Gras event takes place on Saturday, February 27 from 3:00 pm until midnight in Cocoa Village. However, there will be activities from Thursday through Sunday. The website contains a lot of
information, though it takes some navigating to find it! http://spacecoastmardigras.com/main.cfm?mn=1

Activities planned so far:

Friday: Docktails and light snacks on dock at 5pm. Dinner at marina restaurant.

Saturday: Spend most of day over at Cocoa Village Mardi Gras. Transportation method still to be determined, but we should have enough designated drivers (boats and/or trucks) to work this out.

Sunday: Breakfast on dock. Depart at leisure.

If you will be joining us on this trip, please send me an email at mfleming@vol.com with the following information:
Boat Name:
Boat Length:
Boat Beam:
Port or Starboard tie preference (not guaranteed)
Cell phone number:
Expected date of arrival:
Expected date of departure:Number of people:

Finally, if anyone needs help launching or finding your way to marina please let me know, and we will group-up as needed. I apologize for the last-minute change in venue, but it’s important we are all at
the same marina!

We will send an info update as we get closer. Hope to see everyone there!