Up the east coast of Florida we go, heading from lovely Vero Beach to Melbourne. About 38 miles to our marina, home for the next 3 or so weeks. April 20th's the day and though it began sunny, clouds soon rolled in, it was solidly overcast, windy and COLD. There is usually a decent breeze in the flybridge where Thad drives at the upper helm and, even though we zipped up most of the isinglass enclosure, Cindy had her sweatshirt hood up and she and Eloise huddled in a fleece blanket together. Poor little Beezer was actually shivering much of the day but that did not keep her from asking to go up front onto the bow. She loves to sit in someone's lap while that someone is sitting on one of the dock boxes. Which we did until the spray got to be too much for us. Then back up top.
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| Gee, who must be driving the boat?? |
We arrived at Telemar Bay Marina in the afternoon and between the wind and the current Thad had a heck of a time getting Glorious Dei into her slip. That is when you are very, very glad for dockhands who help get you tied up. We keep a stack of $5 bills for tips. That gentleman got $20 for his invaluable help!
Okay, safe and sound at Telemar Bay. Met our neighbor, Jim, a liveaboard two slips down, who clued us in to a great little restaurant, Doubles, just down the road. We frequented it many times over the next few weeks, riding our bikes down there. Yes, bikes. We have never been bike riders in our adult lives but we sure are now! Actually we did not have to go cold turkey, yet, from having a car, as we rented one while we were in Melbourne. As long as Thad was finishing up his work his company picked up the tab. Verrrry nice, verrry convenient. One of the things we were a bit worried about was doing without our car. Glad that was postponed for a bit. Another shout out to our dear friend (and pet sitter extraordinaire), Nancy LeClair. She is keeping tabs on things in Port Charlotte for us, the condo, our car and my mom's car. Thanks Nance!
So, time for the answer to the title question. Since it was not the man of steel it must be . . . yes, you guessed it - fleas! Fleas, you say?? Oh yes, our Telemar Bay greeting committee was made up of not only the wonderful people who worked at the marina, but also those horrible little bloodsucking creatures. There was a grassy strip of land just off the dock and it must have been infested with fleas, though we could not figure out why. The second day we were there flea bombs were purchased, Elvis and us left the building, and we bombed the boat but good. Thad even sprayed all of the grassy areas. Eloise already takes a monthly flea/heartworm med, so we weren't worried about her, but those pesky pests reappeared the next day! On the dog and on us!
Eeeww. We needed help!
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| Who ya gonna call??!! |
I wish I could say that something miraculous happened to get rid of them but, unfortunately, something very sad happened to help with that problem. Our liveaboard neighbor, Jim, was found deceased, on his boat, the next week. When they went onto his boat it was found to be totally infested with fleas (they had a cat). Once the fleas on that boat were dealt with it took care of them elsewhere. Whew.
We had company while in Melbourne; Kathy (Cindy's sister) and Brooks came to visit, with their fuzz muffin of a Goldendoodle puppy, Breelie.
They live in Tampa and we were so happy to have them as our first visitors.
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| Breelie's in training as a rescue dog! |
Telemar Bay Marina is actually in Indian Harbour Beach, just across the Indian River from Melbourne. Just the best little beach town, ever. We said, many times, that we could live there. Just sayin'. We thoroughly enjoyed our time and Thad successfully finished up a 1 1/2 year stint in Melbourne, working on the merger between HealthFirst and MIMA. He worked with wonderful people, Brad Escousse and Mark Miller in particular. Thanks guys, for being such great friends.
The marina was in such a wonderful location, right by a swing bridge over the Banana River, very peaceful and picturesque.
Okay, we enjoyed our time in the Melbourne area, but now it's time to get goin' on this exciting trip of ours. The Lord has been gracious enough to gift us with our beloved boat but she was meant to go , not just sit in a marina. So, Glorious Dei, get a-go-go-ing!! See ya on up the waterway!
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| The loveliest sunsets at Telemar Bay |
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