Rocket Launch and the Dancing Dolphins of Melbourne

Titusville to Melbourne – 32 nautical miles sailed, 5 bridges, 3 miles by dinghy, 6 kilometres walked

Our day began at 5:13am with a rocket launch. SpaceX sent up a Falcon rocket with a fresh batch of Starlink satellites sent to orbit the earth and provide access to TikTok dances, cat memes, chili recipes, and unlimited streaming of 80’s playlists to all the citizens of the world, at least those who can afford to send Elon Musk a subscription payment every month. The launch went off as expected – bright, loud, and fast, with the first stage returning to Earth in just seven minutes, landing flawlessly on the drone ship out at sea. We couldn’t see the landing as it happened several hundred miles away, but did watch it through the online broadcast. It’s incredible how routine these landings are now. I remember the millions of people watching these online when SpaceX was first trying to land the returning rockets on the drone ships, and having them blow up on impact, completely miss the ship, or land then wobble over and explode, but the persistent engineers eventually stuck one landing and after that, well, it’s become business as usual.

 

My friend Greg gave me a ukulele before we left on our trip, so I spent a couple hours practicing along the route as it was mainly a straight-away with a decently wide channel, which provided some opportunity for inattention at the wheel. It’s been surprisingly difficult finding time to practice on our trip as there’s never as much free time as you think there should be. But now that we’ve made so many miles we are able to spend more time in each place, have shorter travel days, and a little more free time.

 

We found a nice anchorage in Melbourne then went for a dinghy ride to explore the area. As we were rounding one of the marinas we noticed some commotion in the water ahead of us. Dolphins! And these ones were hard at play, splashing around on the surface, leaping high into the air, and didn’t seem to mind us getting close enough to take a video. Ana’s quick trigger finger caught a dolphin in mid-air, a spectacular photo, especially as it was taken from a bouncy dinghy. We explored a few of the many channels there, seeing many more dolphins, but not the elusive manatee.

The marina Anchorage Yacht Basin near us provided dinghy parking for ten bucks, so we docked there and had a nice chat with the lovely owner who was working in the ship’s store. She told us the manatees were plentiful, but you would see either dolphins or manatees  – not often both at the same time.

 

From the tranquility of the anchorage and the spectacular flying dolphin show, we were surprised to find a major highway running right past the marina, and we walked along it through a busy commercial area with many stores, bars, and restaurants including a Walmart, which is the first one we’ve seen. Ana found the Pink Zebra consignment store which was my cue to go sit somewhere and do nothing. I relocated myself to a broken up parking curb, which in turn sat lonely on a small shred of dusty highway grass, shaded by a chorus of Florida palm trees. I fired up the fragrant 75-cent cigar I had brought along and smoked it down to the nub as I watched all the busy people of the world speeding in their cars to the places they needed or wanted to be. I had nowhere else to be, so this was exactly the place I needed to be.

We walked for a long time down the highway until we reached the end, and at the end was the Atlantic Ocean and a magnificent beach. With kicked-off shoes and shirt tails flapping in the wind, we walked in the fluffy sand to a spot we liked and sat down and watched as a nature show unfolded before us. As each extinguished wave receded, these little white birds would dash down onto the water-saturated sand and stab their needle-beaks into it, pulling up sea lice or sand fleas or tiny crustaceans, but with one eye to the ocean. As the next breaking wave rushed in, they would turn tail and sprint back up the beach, staying just millimetres ahead of the advancing foam, with their little legs moving so fast all we could make out was a blur. Then, as that wave died, then would race back down for more beach snacks. We were mesmerized by these birds, and sat for a very long time watching them, very much aware that it was a Wednesday afternoon, further enhancing the moment.

 

The ravenous little birds showed no signs of stopping, so after a while we said goodbye and began the walk back down the highway, stopping to pick up a few things at one of the shops. We considered taking a drink at one of the local pubs, but decided a cockpit sundowner would be much better, so we picked up the pace and made it back to the boat just as the big orange ball was dropping into the horizon. I grabbed the novelty 948 millilitre can of Miller beer I had found a few days before, providing three beers in one, but really only like half an IPA considering the meagre alcohol content. Ana poured a regular glass of wine, and moments after sitting down again spied some commotion out in the bay. This time, we sat transfixed as we watched a dolphin leap into the air and fling a fish from its beak. He landed, disappeared underwater, then leaped again and flung it further ahead. This continued several times, then at one point it looked as if another dolphin caught the flung fish and probably ate it. What a spectacle!

 

As the sky darkened we called our buddy boat friends Ben and Kate and had a catch-up chat, as we've been doing regularly every day or two. They’d really been making the miles and were now only about three days behind us now, so a reunion was imminent, maybe in Vero Beach.

After a delicious shrimp pasta and a call with Stella, we agreed that his had been a nearly perfect day. All that was missing was a visit from a manatee...but we'd have to keep looking.