After a man’s boat washed ashore south of New Smyrna Beach four months ago, he found himself hunkering down on the vessel in the sand.

Weather permitting and depending on cloud cover, a rocket launch from Florida’s Space Coast could be visible from Daytona Beach to West Palm Beach.

When he first ran aground, he went to a nearby hotel and stayed there for a week. But then he heard people were climbing into his boat and taking his things, so he moved in and for the last four ...