Melbourne vs. Titusville

We left our mooring ball in Vero Beach before 9:00 am. It was a hot, sticky, muggy morning. We had 30 or so miles to get to Melbourne. We were excited to arrive and connect with friends Dave and Deshone Boner and Dave's cousins, Steve and Lila Rogers.

Mystic on Vero Mooring

We've spent quite a bit of time in Melbourne and love the cute historic downtown and nice restaurants. When we visit, we like to park at the base of the Melbourne Beach Causeway Bridge and run over it. We slipped off the ICW and into the Melbourne Municipal Marina where an older gentleman caught our lines. We were surprised to see that there were many open slips. The transient fee of $2 per foot was high. In addition, the dock master was unfriendly and somewhat rude to us as we tied off. He kept calling me Ma'am in a condescending tone and as I tied Mystic off in the way we always do at a dock, he'd roll his eyes and tell me do something else. I wish I had the confidence to say, "Sorry, SIR; I only follow my captain's orders!" Instead, I just went along with him; 'Minnesota nice' winning, over the 'East Coast honesty' that sometimes takes charge.

We walked up to the office to pay our two night slip fee and ask for a bathroom key then take a look around. We are surprised that the place is dirty and needs updating. There is an air of "take it or leave it"; so we decide that we will leave here tomorrow and head up to Titusville. There is a cool bar on site at the Melbourne Marina called Ichobod's. We've walked through here many times on our visits. We never saw any signs that this Marina atmosphere would be less than welcoming!

Dave and Deshone Boner are old friends of ours. We make arrangements for them to pick us up for a night out at Broken Barrel. Steve and Lila Rogers will join us there. We had a great visit with them. Deshone gave me a dboner (Deshone Boner) Brevard Rock. This rock painting movement was started in Brevard County, Florida; a community effort to spread a pay-it-forward attitude. These rocks are hand painted, usually with inspiring messages, and planted within the community. If you find one, you may keep it but you are encouraged to paint one and leave it for others to find. We actually found one in Titusville but only took a photo of it.

Brevard Rocks News Article

Brevard Rock by Deshone Boner

Brevard Rock found in Titusville

In the morning we cast our lines and headed out to the ICW. It's 42 miles to Titusville. It will take us all day. We motor sailed most of the day enjoying a great trip with perfect wind from behind; not too much but enough to pick up a little speed. We pulled up to the fuel dock at the Titusville City Marina where a young man met us. He was friendly and chatted freely with us. What a stark difference from Melbourne Harbor Marina. After fueling, he pointed us to slip H120, right next to s/v Rough Draft out of St. Paul, Minnesota. We pulled into the slip and met Mike and Mary. They are excited to tell us that they kept their boat in Knife River, Minnesota, twenty years ago. Knife River is our home port. It's a small, small world!

Mike and Mary aboard s/v Rough Draft

We wonder to ourselves, how can two marina's be so different! In comparison, Titusville Municipal Marina is cheaper than Melbourne and offered us discounts. They have the best showers we've seen on the Loop. We are close to the historic downtown; the Playalinda Microbrewery is within walking distance. 

Like many microbreweries, Playalinda is housed in an old hardware store. The original wooden bins are behind the bar. The fermenting tanks line the wall in the lounge. The beer is very good; the atmosphere friendly. It is busy and appears to be a local favorite. Titusville is full of parks and has nice bike paths. We decide to stay here two days.

Sign at Playalinda Microbrewery

Playalinda Brewing Co.

Fermenting Tanks

Playalinda Hop-Ening Board

A Brown and a IPA

Jenga

Poseidon

Mystic tucked in at Titusville

Osprey are perched on almost every mast. They chirp to each other and don't seem to mind the human activity. They dropped a lot of waste on our decks. My guess was that they were a beautiful nuisance for the liveaboard boats.

Boating people are some of the nicest people you'll meet. We've always found them to be ready to help. We were walking back from the microbrewery and saw a bunch of our neighbors running from pier to pier. One of them was Bill who we met in Vero Beach. We spent an evening in the Captains Quarters with him and his boat kitty, Banjo. Bill is originally from Rochester, Minnesota. He told us that someone was yelling for help but they couldn't figure out where it was coming from. We joined in the search. It turned out that it was our neighbor, an older gentleman who had been working on his engine and had gotten his arm stuck above the elbow. Someone had called 911 so police and rescue were on scene. Once we figured out where the call was coming from, the man was rescued. 

Banjo the Sailing Kitty

We rode our bikes out to the Chain of Lakes athletic fields. It was very hot but we were able to refill our water bottles at the park. On our way back we noticed a group of warehouse workers standing on the side of the road looking into the sky. I followed their gaze and saw a bright light with a long contrail beneath it. I yelled "ROCKET"! We stopped and watched the rocket until it slid out of sight. At the marina we would have had a perfect view of the launch. Yet, here we were, riding along a bike trail and we look to the sky and see a rocked move through the atmosphere! It never gets old watching rockets soar and Titusville is the place to be to witness this amazing event.

Rocket Launch

On our way back to the marina, we could see an old sailboat with the mast strapped to the deck coming in. We rode over to our pier and waited at the dock to catch their lines. The boat was in need of repair but the three boys on board spoke lovingly about picking her up in Miami and bringing her home to Daytona. They had big plans to fix her up and sail the world. Her name is Yellow Bird. We wished them well.