Cruise to Boy Scout Island - with anchoring location

Join us somewhere the club hasn't been for a few years: Boy Scout Island, located just over 2 NM south of the SR-520 Bridge in Cocoa, on the ICW.  On Saturday afternoon, we'll be anchoring off the island, at approximately 28.324° N 80.698° W or https://w3w.co/softening.vocal.unwraps on your What3Words app.  On the north side of the island there is a small beach where, weather permitting, we can have a gam, maybe even a fire.  Bring chairs & drinks, and dress for chilly (60 degree) weather.  Cooking ashore in 20kts may be more of a challenge than we'd like, so we suggest you dine aboard and dinghy in to the beach before dark.  The forecast is for 15-22kts of NE (on-shore) breeze Saturday, which should discourage most of the powerboat crowd that often uses the island on weekends.  Sunday, winds should be E 10kts and 72°

The approach to the island is not direct!  Luckily, our own Kathy and Bob Ford on Adiamo fearlessly surveyed the approach last week, and found it navigable.  Follow the directions in your ECSA Cruising Guide, being careful of the shallow sandbar on the north east side of the island.

To get there, leave the ICW off Rockledge at marker 83, eastbound as far as reasonable, following a heading of 70° Magnetic. The cell tower to the west can be used as a range marker.  Follow this track until the island is off your port beam and then turn northward at 340° Magnetic.  Anchor on the east side of the island where you generally can find 6’ – 7’ of water.  Our objective is the beach on the north side of the island.  We suggest you arrive in time to dine aboard and dinghy in to the beach before dark, where we'll celebrate our nav skills!

As Captain Kirk used to say: "Boldy go........"