February 9, 2023

So long Vero Beach, hello Melbourne.

One month in this adventure and we’ve already begun losing things in the water:

• Matt lost his AirPods in West Palm Beach and dove after them. Locals told him to be careful and watch for sharks. They like to come to the marina in hopes of people dropping fish from their cleaning. He did not recover the AirPods.

• In between Vero Beach and Melbourne, I was vacuuming and went to empty out the vacuum canister. While removing the filter, I see in slow motion, the holder for the filter fall from the canister and into the water. It promptly sunk and there was no way to retrieve it as we were under way. A new vacuum has been ordered.

• Here in Melbourne, Annette sat on the edge of the dinghy, like usual, while we all tried to get in. I saw her phone plop out of her pocket and into the water. I reached for it, but was too slow. Donning my amazing snorkel gear, I jumped into the water (It was about 15 feet down). Visibility was terrible and I didn’t have time to search before running out of air. Boris even tried scuba diving for it, but it is gone. Apple Care is sending a new phone.

We need food and clothes! Off in the Publix and Ross we go. The Boys went to Publix while the girls went to Ross and Belles. Last words I said to Boris: “Don’t get too much stuff since you have to carry it back.” Matt sends me a photo after they’re done shopping. They had so much stuff, Publix told them to take the shopping cart.

February 10, 2023

Google tells me that Melbourne has a historic downtown. I’ve learned exploration is key to having fun, so we took a dinghy to the library and an Uber to downtown. Who would have thought a library would have a dock?

The town is cute! Lots of little shops on the street from cafes to clothing boutiques. The town is also scattered with lots of art and murals. We enjoyed wandering around for a few hours and then finished off with lunch at Squid Lips. I had an amazing coconut crusted fish sandwich. We also found bead shop where the owner informed us she used to have a shop in Washington called Shipwreck Beads. I remember hearing those commercials. She sold it and moved to Florida.

Back on the boat, what better thing to do then relax, fish, and watch dolphins? The popular catch of the day is hard headed catfish. I cooked it two different ways: Honey Chex Crusted and pan fried with butter. Both were quite tasty. It was similar to a flakey white fish. I wouldn’t mind eating more of these, but I guess they’re a pain in the butt to clean.