MAY 1, 2007...MELBOURNE

We cruised from Fort Pierce to Melbourne on Tuesday. We stayed inside on the ICW even though the ocean was calm. It is longer, but much more enjoyable. It was 48 miles and took 3 hours. We did not have a lot of slow speed Manatee zones, but the channels are narrow so we slowed down for a lot of traffic. You just don't want to leave the channel or knock someone out of it. Outside of a few small boats we seem to be setting the pace.
Melbourne is a great little port with the marina located right downtown. So after we tied up we walked up town and visited the unique little shops. Purchases were limited to ice cream at Kilwin.
Our service is really slow, so no pictures tonight. The houses on Barker Island made Fort Lauderdale look like low income housing. We also cruised through a screen of smoke from a fire on an island between the ICW and the ocean. No residents and no way to control it...so guess they will let it burn out.