A couple hours south of New Smyrna is the Mosquito Lagoon. If the winds are light, you can anchor overnight here and have a great unobstructed view of the Cape Canaveral launch sites.
We had the right wind conditions and there were two launches scheduled for 14th. Great opportunity.
The first launch was at 1730 and the weather was perfect. Its hard to see on the photo but ahead of the contrail is the rocket with red flames shooting out. Watching with your eyes it was easy to see the rocket and flames and you can even watch the first stage cut-off and second stage ignition. You can then see the booster returning to the Cape Canaveral launch area which may be the most technically impressive part of the Space-X launches.
The second launch was at 0100 that night. The night launches are even more impressive than the day ones. When the rocket first ignites it lights up the whole horizon like the moon coming up. Then the rocket starts slowly lifting up, then gathering speed. As in the day launch, with clear skies you can see the main ignition cut-off and second stage ignition. Then the booster fires its retro engines to return it to the launch pad and fires again just before touch down.
We have now watched several of these Space-X rocket launches. I want to watch one of the heavy rockets launch in the future and position ourselves near Titusville so you can "feel" the launch. Maybe on our return trip through here.
From the Mosquito Lagoon anchorage, about 12 miles away, the rumbling sound takes about 1 minute to reach you and you can feel a bit of vibration but nothing like being near a Saturn V launch.
