Other Things We Did While in Melbourne, FL for the Winter

We were in Melbourne for two months. The boat was there for three and a half months, but we went home for the holidays, and three weeks in March.  We stayed at Eau Gallie Yacht Basin Marina.  We chose this marina because it is close to our son's place.  We had plenty of time to go do things while we were there. And there are a number of "live-aboards," people who live year-round on their boats.  So we got to know most of them. They have a potluck every Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. It turns out that everyone really liked my deviled eggs, so I made them every week except for one time.

Eau Gallie Marina





This is the hangout area at Eau Gallie, called the Temple

Our boat was docked right at the Temple!

We also went by car to St. Augustine (see previous blog), and to Disney's Animal Kingdom.  I said that if we were going to winter in Florida, we had to go to Disney. 

SPACE LAUNCHES  -- One of the coolest things about Melbourne is that you can see the space launches from Cape Canaveral.  And there were a LOT of launches while we were there.

Space Launch January 13, 2022

Interesting contrail 

This is the launch that did not go right 

SURF FISHING -- Fred brought his father's surf-fishing set for the beach. We drove the three miles early one morning, and he caught some fish!

Sunrise


Surf Fishing


MANATEES -- We kept hearing about a cove where manatees go during the cool weather months.  So one day we went to find it.  It’s on the barrier island across from Melbourne at Indian Harbour Beach.  

The cove where manatees go







Impressive, right?  The manatees were in a canal at a county park right by the backyards of some houses.  Manatees and more manatees

SUPERBOWL -- We went to Michael’s place to watch the Superbowl on his big screen tv.  We had a good time with him and watching the game.  AND, we had a bunch of sushi all for the three of us!

Sushi for Superbowl Sunday

GUEST SPEAKERS -- Remember that we went and talked to the Banana River Sailing and Power Squadron back in January?  Well, one of their members told the Melbourne Yacht Club about us, so they asked us to come speak to their group in February.  Again, it was fun meeting other boaters and they enjoyed our presentation.

Melbourne Yacht Club
FAMILY VISITS -- Our niece, Summer, lives in the Tampa, Florida area. So we drove over to see her family for the day.  We got to see their house and get to know their three kids a little bit. The set-up is very much like our daughter’s, two boys, then a girl.  In addition, my brother, Mike, also drove up to see us. 
Our niece, Summer and her family along with my brother, Mike.

Our daughter, Steph, and her family came to Florida for a week, so we got to see them too.  We went to the Palm Beach Zoo with them.  The kids had a great time and it was wonderful to see them.

Palm Beach Zoo












FUELING THE BOAT CAN BE FUN -- In early March, one of the sailboaters in our marina needed fuel. Since it’s a minimum of 200 gallons purchase, we also topped off our tanks with 100 gallons. And the diesel from the fuel truck was not throttled back.  It took about two minutes to put 50 gallons in each of our tanks.  I wish it was that easy when we get it from a marina. Sometimes it takes 45 minutes to fill our tanks.  

Fueling the boats

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