Salty Podcast #22 | ⛵ Growing Up on a Sailboat | Real-Sail-Life Story: Family, Hurricanes, Struggles, Fun 🌪️❤️🌊

Cap'n Tinsley talks to real life-long sailor & author of "Boat Girl" ... A gripping memoir of family drama, hurricanes, and hidden struggles at sea. Summers in Virginia, winters in the Bahamas—life aboard their 47-foot sailboat wasn't all fun in the sun.  Audio from Video Livestream May 15, 2024:  https://tinyurl.com/SaltyPodcast22

Order "Boat Girl" here: https://amzn.to/4aogskI

#saltyabandon #podcast #sailing #boatgirl #saillife #sailboat #bahamas #liveaboard #cruising

Transcript

Salty Podcast #22 | Growing up on a Sailboat | Real-Sail-Life Story of Family, Hurricanes, Struggles, Fun

[00:00:00] Capn Tinsley: Good evening, everybody. This is Captain Tinsley, Salty Abandon, with another Salty Podcast, where it's always a great day to talk about sailing. And this is episode 22, and we have a very special guest tonight. This is the boat girl, Melanie Neal. She grew up on a sailboat and then wrote a book about it.

So without further Further ado, I'm gonna bring her out right now. Hello, Melanie. Hi. How are you? Well, good good, thank you for doing this I sure do appreciate it. You came highly recommended by Leslie Allen of Island Packet Yachts. I love her. She's 

[00:00:39] Melanie Neal: One of my favorite people. 

[00:00:41] Capn Tinsley: Oh my gosh. She's new to me, but I love her already.

It was, it was a great 

[00:00:45] Melanie Neal: experience. Yeah, it was a great uh, interview last week. 

[00:00:48] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, you were the only person that chimed in. Sometimes we get a lot of people commenting, you were the only one, so we appreciate you doing that. Uh oh, there we go, you're back. [00:01:00] Um, okay, so let me just throw this up real quick and show people the book.

Okay, so you wrote, boat girl. And basically just a few facts here. You grew up on a boat. This is you when you were just a little baby, right? Right. That's your dad. So you were on the boat before you were born in your mom's womb. And this is the boat you grew up on and say the name of the boat. Ches. She knew.

She knew. Okay. 

[00:01:35] Melanie Neal: So it's, it's French for our home, but it looks like cheese nose and people always call this on the VHF saying cheese nose, cheese nose, cheese a little bit for that. 

[00:01:48] Capn Tinsley: Okay. Well, we have more pictures, but I'll save them for later. So basically zero to 18 is how you describe it, that you were on that boat.

Um, what's your first memory? [00:02:00] 

[00:02:01] Melanie Neal: Um, to be honest, I'm, I don't know. Actually not. And people question this all the time. I am not kidding when I, I remember going to the golf star factory in Florida and still being in my mom's tummy and like just having this sense of, you know, I, I. I swear to God, I had like little, little snippets of, you know, being on the plane and it's, it's impossible to remember that far.

So I think I've kind of, you know, kind of, uh, added, added some detail in and filled in a little bit, but, um, but I choose to believe it. Yeah, yeah, one of my one of my first memories that I know is legit is, um, sailing in the Chesapeake Bay and sailing into Annapolis and, uh, telling my sister, my sister, who is two years younger, that, um.

Annapolis is where you went to get ice cream. [00:03:00] So yes, that was, that was very exciting. 

[00:03:04] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Cause your mom didn't really care for you eating ice cream. Did she, she 

[00:03:08] Melanie Neal: was very, very smart. We were just very smart nutritionally, of course. Did we listen? No, any chance 

[00:03:15] Capn Tinsley: you could get right. 

[00:03:16] Melanie Neal: Okay. Um, 

[00:03:19] Capn Tinsley: so the, the, I had, I started reading the book and I'm at chapter 11 and one of the questions I have was golf star.

Where is that factory? 

[00:03:34] Melanie Neal: So this is actually a pretty cool thing. It's the. Especially since, you know, we, you featured Island Packet, um, last week. There is a whole tradition of boat builders on the West of Florida. And it's like when Leslie was saying people from the original factory came back and, and worked for them.

A lot of those people worked for Gulfstar. So around Clearwater, yeah, there was, um, Gulfstar, [00:04:00] Morgan, Irwin, Island Packet, Catalina. Catalina's are actually still built there. Um, So there, there was this whole, you know, it's, it's, it's just that it kind of a little pocket. That's, uh, you know, these old classic plastic, uh, boats that, you know, were essentially built.

They were, they were built, a lot of them were built for charter, you know, they were built to be comfortable down in the Caribbean. This was before catamarans were a huge thing, but 

[00:04:29] Speaker 3: you know, 

[00:04:30] Melanie Neal: so yeah, it's, it's, uh, it's kind of a, a unique thing. They're all in that one little, little pocket. So it's why, 

[00:04:38] Capn Tinsley: why do you suppose they all kind of congregated in that area?

[00:04:42] Melanie Neal: You know, I, I don't know. And it would, it would go back to the very beginning and I would love to know. And I'm sure, um, 

[00:04:50] Capn Tinsley: somebody might tell us who's listening, you 

[00:04:54] Melanie Neal: know, the people, I mean, Charlie Morgan, you know, Bob Johnson from my packet, there were, you know, all, all [00:05:00] kinds of the original designers basically, right.

Bill Bolin 

[00:05:04] Capn Tinsley: might be able to tell us about that. I'm sure he will. I know. He started smiling as soon as I said that name. Yeah, he's one of my favorite people. Alright, so, um, so, like I said, I've been reading, I've been actually listening to the book. It's available on Kindle. Or audible, audible. It is available on Kindle too.

And by the way, I have included a link in the description, whatever platform you're watching. We're on 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 platforms right now live. Whatever platform you're watching, you can click on the link and purchase the book there. Um, it's a, it's a great listen or read, whatever you prefer. Um, what was my question?

Um, Oh, okay. You spent a little time in Virginia before, that's where you're from, and you spent a little time, you did move on, you guys moved on the boat, and you didn't leave [00:06:00] right away because you were getting the boat ready, and also one set of grandparents didn't really want you to go, 

[00:06:08] Melanie Neal: right? Yeah, there was a whole, a whole myriad of reasons, and I think the, uh, The biggest reason was that, you know, my parents, you know, didn't, they, you know, were still very cautious and they didn't want to leave, you know, leave the U.

S. with an infant, you know, they wanted to make sure that, you know, my sister and I were a little bit, you know, a little bit older, so we were three and five. So I was five when we started actually cruising. We lived aboard before that and we were full time living board, but, um, three and five when we started cruising and they, so it was about five years before, you know, that they took to kind of gracefully and slowly exit from, you know, from the, the land life.

My dad was kind of winding down his legal practice and, um, you know, they're, they're just, there was a lot of things that, Getting the boat [00:07:00] ready and getting, you know, there's a lot of, a lot of preparation. My parents are very big on preparation for things. They don't, don't do many things, you know, right.

Uh, spur of the moment, which I'm a little bit worse at that, but, but, um, So 

[00:07:16] Capn Tinsley: for people that are want to do the same thing, what kind of things do you just off the top of your head needed to be taken care of before your dad would say, okay, I'm ready. What just a couple of examples 

[00:07:30] Melanie Neal: and the main, so there, there are a couple of things.

And again, these are memories that I have very distinctly, um, you know, obviously, first and foremost, there was exiting exiting his legal career. And that's, yeah. It's not something you can just exit, so it's, uh, so, you know, winding that down. Um, but the education part of it, um, 

[00:07:52] Speaker 3: I 

[00:07:53] Melanie Neal: remember my, my mom getting a big old grain grinder and grinding, you know, wheat [00:08:00] seeds, wheat seeds into grain and making bread with it.

And, you know, um, learning how to do that, you know, learning the boat, they, my parents were very aware of it, you know, when we got out there. There weren't going to be mechanics that were just down the road that you could call. So there was a lot of learning, and I would say that's the biggest reason. So 

[00:08:20] Capn Tinsley: smart.

[00:08:21] Melanie Neal: Well, it doesn't take five years to learn everything, but that's. It would 

[00:08:27] Capn Tinsley: be for me to learn how to fix everything. 

[00:08:30] Melanie Neal: Very smart of people to do that, you know, a year to learn everything, learn your boat. Um, but it's, yeah, most, yeah, it's, it was, it was a little bit unusual to have waited for five years, but it was, it was very, uh, intentional.

So, 

[00:08:47] Capn Tinsley: yeah. And I guess that's why you were able to do it for so long or your parents were able to, so it took about what was it, it was like a month to get down to Florida. Yeah. And do [00:09:00] you remember the stops you made or anything or does that? 

[00:09:03] Melanie Neal: Oh, yeah. Now I, I, I laugh about it. I've done, um, if you, you know, back, back and forth, about 20 trips of the ICW in my life, Intercoastal Waterway.

Um, we did a lot of it. because we, you know, we were, we were still, my dad was still, still working. He was doing his writing at that point. So my mom and I would be on watch and my dad would be down below on the computer, writing his articles and we couldn't go offshore because then it would be chaos. So we did a lot, a lot, but it stayed inside the ICW quite a bit.

[00:09:38] Capn Tinsley: This is probably about 84, 85 or something. Yep. 

[00:09:41] Melanie Neal: 80, yep. 84 was there for our first year. Um, But, you know, we couldn't have 

[00:09:47] Capn Tinsley: a desktop on board

[00:09:52] Melanie Neal: custom built a little desk in the aft cabin. And, you know, it was desktop then was very different from desktop. [00:10:00] Now, 

[00:10:00] Capn Tinsley: yeah, 

[00:10:03] Melanie Neal: we would, a lot of people went off shore and it's, you know, it's a much quicker. I just did a boat delivery from St. Augustine up to Beaufort, North Carolina. And, you know, we went out.

Took us overnight to get to Charleston and then, then, uh, back out to Beaufort. So to do the majority of the ICW in two days, or three, sorry, it was four days total. It's still like, Wow, you can do that, you know, because to me it is a month in my mind, it's a month. And that's, if you're going inshore, those are, you know, decent days, 10 hour days, you know, they're not, not short pit stops, but staying, we would stay in different places where we knew people and, you know, you stay and lick your wounds and fix whatever's broken and provision.

It's a good 

[00:10:48] Capn Tinsley: shakedown, good shakedown period, just kind of shake out whatever's Whatever's gone wrong before you cross over the Gulf Stream. So do you remember crossing the Gulf Stream when you got down [00:11:00] from Fort Lauderdale or, Oh no, it was Miami. It was Miami. It would depend 

[00:11:04] Melanie Neal: on what's going on. It's it's, um, I still think it's better off to cross as far South as you can, just because of the direction the Gulf Stream is flowing, obviously that has impact on, you know, You know, on your, your crossing, but 

[00:11:19] Capn Tinsley: Right.

[00:11:20] Melanie Neal: We crossed from Miami. We crossed from Kiske, we crossed from Fort Lauderdale. We, I think only once we crossed, uh, as far up as Palm Beach, but, um, but you know, Miami Kiske was, was sort of the, the primary, and I still love crossings. I haven't done a crossing. Oh my gosh, it's been almost 20 years since I've done an actual crossing.

I've sailed there, I've sailed here, I've sailed up the ICW, but crossing the Gulf Stream is a very, very special thing. Um, We have a friend who is, she'll be coming from the Bahamas back to the States pretty [00:12:00] soon, and my daughter and I may, may fly and, uh, and cross with her, but I would rather my daughter's first crossing be from the U.

S. to the Bahamas than from the Bahamas to the U. S., because there's just something awesome about having not seeing land for all that time, and then seeing, like, you see, you see the clouds, and You guys, there's tons of people that have done bigger crossings. I have not done a transatlantic yet. I want to do that as very much, you know, very high up on my list, but yeah, the little, little Gulf stream thing, you see the difference in the clouds.

You start seeing the, you know, the Bahamian water, you just arriving there was so, so magical. Um, getting back. And you 

[00:12:38] Capn Tinsley: guys didn't stop. You guys went all the way to Chubb Key. From Key Biscayne. You didn't stop in Bimini or anything? 

[00:12:47] Melanie Neal: We would, we would anchor. So the normal thing that we did, either we anchored overnight, um, around Bimini and Cat, but we didn't like to do that cause the anchorages weren't incredible.

But, [00:13:00] um, and then we would just go, you know, out on the Bahama banks and, you know, you're in miles and miles and miles of water that's 10, 20. Or shallower. Shallow. I've done it. Yeah, you have. Exactly. Yeah. It was beautiful. It was so pretty. Well, I've only, I've only done 

[00:13:20] Capn Tinsley: it once. I, I did cross the Gulf Stream by myself and I remember thinking I was going to see the water moving really fast, you know, north, but I didn't notice it moving.

Your 

[00:13:32] Melanie Neal: boat moves really fast sideways. You don't notice the water. 

[00:13:35] Capn Tinsley: But it was kind of more, you Wow. Lemme get me in the pic. It, it was kind of more rolly, rolly, you know? 

[00:13:43] Melanie Neal: You do. And that's, it's, it's really cool. Like you, we would know, but just by the, uh, you know, the size of the swells and just so that's a really special thing.

And it's something I haven't done in a long time. Um, I would rather do it from [00:14:00] the US back to The Bahamas for Marianne, my daughter, for her first time. But when the right time comes, we'll do it. It's right, right time and place. 

[00:14:11] Capn Tinsley: And speaking of your daughter, so does she like to sail? Obviously, I guess it sounds like she does.

[00:14:18] Melanie Neal: She, she really does. And I've, you know, the temptation to push it on her has been, you know, very big. Um, and I don't want to do that. I don't want to ever, you know, push something, push a hobby on my Christmas, push a sport, whatever, because that really kind of makes them not want to do it. Um, But she did sailing classes when she was, she started at 5, um, just little sailing classes in St.

Augustine and, um, you know, learned, learned quite a bit. And then when we moved, she and I moved on the boat, we, we had a, uh, it was Just me and her. We had grammar there, but, um, [00:15:00] we, we moved from sold, sold my house, moved from the house onto the Island Pack at 35. And it 

[00:15:07] Capn Tinsley: was 

[00:15:08] Melanie Neal: just, it's just the two of us. And it was such a wonderful time because that was when she really learned about.

You know, not just sailing, but what it's like to be on a boat and to, you know, have that lifestyle. And she was going, she's going to school full time. She goes to a public school. I worked full time at multiple, multiple different things. And, um, you know, so we couldn't take off and go cruising. I would love it.

I'd still love it. If we could, that's. That's, that's sort of the thing that I wish I could change the most in my life right now, but, but, um, it's, but the, the learning that she did, she 

[00:15:47] Capn Tinsley: got, she got to see the, the, the space that can find you, like, you can't have everything on your store, everything you got to choose, Oh, I don't need this.

I don't need that. 

[00:15:58] Melanie Neal: And to learn how to be a crew [00:16:00] member, that's, that was one of the biggest things to me, to realize, you know, she's very independent like me, so she wants to go off and do her thing, I want to do my thing, and how do we do our things together so that we actually are, you know, a cohesive team.

Team crew and she's she's become wonderful at it. So, 

[00:16:19] Capn Tinsley: well, so when you were you were growing up and you were five when you when you left and, um, were you at what point were you learning to sail and be? crew member from the very beginning, 

[00:16:34] Melanie Neal: you know, and that was just, you know, little things like sitting on dad's lap and, you know, holding the helm.

It wasn't anything, you know, serious, but, but, you know, my parents and it was very, it was the right. firmly believe it was the right thing for them to do. They taught learning was a very significant part of all of our, all of our adventure, adventure, all of our lives. They, [00:17:00] they believed in teaching early.

They, it was funny. My dad, my dad and I loved offshore passages. We'd, you know, we'd, we'd kind of, that was their favorite thing to do. And I just, I loved learning about it. And it's, well, here's 

[00:17:14] Capn Tinsley: you in the, in the, in the dinghy here, your little boat. Yeah. In the, in the, in the book you talked about that was like having your own car.

That was kind of like having a tricycle, that picture, but you're on the left here and that's your sister. Is it Caroline? Caroline Caroline. She's two years younger. So you guys were about Five and three or first 

[00:17:42] Melanie Neal: year we crossed over, we were five and three. 

[00:17:45] Capn Tinsley: And look at that blonde hair. 

[00:17:49] Melanie Neal: People mistake old photos of me for my daughter.

It's so funny. 

[00:17:53] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. I wasn't sure when I, um, I think I saw this picture on your Facebook page [00:18:00] and it wasn't labeled and I wasn't sure. I was like, it has to be them. And then here's you guys later. So 

[00:18:09] Melanie Neal: that in the background is the car. The last boat was the tricycle. Oh, okay. It's an aluminum dinghy with a 15 horsepower Johnson Alfa.

Oh my gosh. You know, we weren't allowed to Go places, or, you know, weren't allowed to use the thingy until we knew how to do, you know, change a carburetor or clean the carburetor or, you know, do basic things, um, always carburetor stuff. So that's why I bring it up, but it's kind of like, you can't drive a car until you know how to change the tires.

It's the same, same kind of principle. So that was, that was a little bit further along freedom. 

[00:18:47] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. And this is, uh, various. Various place anchorages or just I don't know if you're anchored right there on the left. Well, and these, these 

[00:18:56] Melanie Neal: are actually, they're actually, uh, different, different [00:19:00] boats. So the, um, The one on the far right is the Golfstar 47 and that's at the Lock in Great Bridge, Virginia.

That's the boat that we lived on from when I was born to when I was 18. But at that point, my parents wanted more space and, you know, wanted just a bigger boat. So we bought the 53. Okay. docked the boats next to each other and moved everything from one to the other and um, cruised the Bahamas for a couple of years on the 53.

So that was the, the latter, you know, that was okay. My, my time was mostly on the 47, but yeah, so, so, 

[00:19:39] Capn Tinsley: and tell us what this one is real quick. 

[00:19:42] Melanie Neal: So this is actually in Annapolis, um, on one of the mornings during the boat show, boat show, Annapolis boat show has always been. A special time. It's always been, you know, sort of the beginning of the journey.

It's the beginning of the year. It's, you know, it's where a lot of, you know, all [00:20:00] the cruisers stop there, meet each other, get together and make plans and take off. But this was actually Is that 

[00:20:05] Capn Tinsley: you on the left there? 

[00:20:07] Melanie Neal: It is. And this was actually taken by my, uh, good, good friend, Cindy Wallet. She was really cool.

When I see this photo, I think about, you know, you talk about keeping in touch with people, but I think about meeting her when I was You know, 15, 16, and she's still, still a great friend and, uh, a really good photographer. So, so Yeah, that's 

[00:20:28] Capn Tinsley: a good Is that How old were you there? Uh, 14. Okay. And is that your sister in the middle there?

Yes, it is. And is that your mom on the right? Yep. Okay. All right. And, uh, well, that's your dad. Yep. Very 

[00:20:45] Melanie Neal: salty. 

[00:20:46] Capn Tinsley: I love that. Yeah. It looks very serious. Yeah. He's got some waves kicking up there in the background. Yeah. And then is this his book? That's his 

[00:20:55] Melanie Neal: book. And yeah, he wrote that, um, [00:21:00] actually came around, came out around the early nineties.

Um, and it was, I, I laugh with the people that laugh at it because 

[00:21:07] Speaker 3: I 

[00:21:07] Melanie Neal: always tell people we were, so now there's the, the vloggers and, you know, YouTube and you know, the, the generation before it was the bloggers. And then the generation before it was like the actual writing and books. And so we were, yeah, I tell people where we're the YouTubers Three generations ago.

[00:21:25] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. So, yeah. So he, y'all, you were still, you were still cruising when he came out with this book? 

[00:21:31] Melanie Neal: Mm-Hmm. . Yep. Yeah, we were still cruising for funding The Cruising . 

[00:21:36] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. 

[00:21:37] Melanie Neal: The book came out. I wanna say 92. I could be wrong, but early nineties. Okay. 

[00:21:42] Capn Tinsley: I'll have to check that one out. Yeah. Hopefully you can still get, now we're jumping ahead, but, um, this is your boat.

When you were in college, right? 

[00:21:51] Melanie Neal: Grad school. Yeah, this is my grad school. I actually lived in the dorms, which was a wonderful experience 

[00:21:58] Capn Tinsley: That was a big change for [00:22:00] you

[00:22:03] Melanie Neal: So 

[00:22:04] Capn Tinsley: so you weren't you went to we'll talk about that but you were in grad school in Miami, right 

[00:22:09] Melanie Neal: Yep. Living on that boat. 

[00:22:12] Capn Tinsley: And I wanted to show your parents, recent pictures of your parents. 

[00:22:15] Melanie Neal: Yeah. Well, that's, there they 

[00:22:16] Capn Tinsley: are, the trailblazers. 

[00:22:19] Melanie Neal: Me up front and then my mom and then my dad and you can, can't see him real well, but yeah, that's a good, a good photo of that.

And whose 

[00:22:27] Capn Tinsley: boat was this? 

[00:22:28] Melanie Neal: So that was actually my Island Pack at 35. That was, 

[00:22:31] Capn Tinsley: Oh, okay. And how long ago was that boat? So did you sell? 

[00:22:37] Melanie Neal: I bought it in the very end of 18 and sold it in 2022, I guess, so. 

[00:22:46] Capn Tinsley: You probably made some good money off that boat. I know what happened during that time. Well, 

[00:22:51] Melanie Neal: I, I bought, I sold it for close to what I bought it for and I, you know, I, I like, I take care of my boats, at least I try, so.[00:23:00] 

It was never a, never a money thing. And that was, you know, before, before COVID, um, actually, no, it was after, sorry, after, after COVID, but it was a strange time. So, 

[00:23:11] Capn Tinsley: yeah, I bought my boat. Um, well the hurricane happened in September of 2020. One month later, I closed on another boat. I wasn't wasting any time.

I was like, I cannot be without a boat. And that was, uh, it was during COVID. And. But I think it was right before the prices just went sailing up, you know, so to speak Okay, so tell us about okay. So in the book, it sounded like you were you were by yourselves a lot And why you're going through the through?

The Bahamas until Georgetown, and I heard you say Chicken Harbor. You know, there's people that I've said that to and they go, Huh? What? But I've also I've heard that for years. And that's funny. Um, so your dad wasn't [00:24:00] so crazy about about Georgetown because so structured. It does sound a little structured.

[00:24:07] Melanie Neal: All the 

[00:24:08] Capn Tinsley: activities and everything. 

[00:24:09] Melanie Neal: It's it's still, I laugh. We were, we were some of the chickens in chicken Harbor because the, you know, the, you know, idea was a lot of people planned on going further. And this is still, you know, still the way it is. They plan on going further and Georgetown area is so great that they stop and they're like, we're just going to hang out here, which is fantastic.

It's an absolutely wonderful, beautiful place, but it was sort of a, I compare it to high school. It was, it was, you know, every year you go back and meet the same or see the same cruising kids, meet new cruising kids and get together on volleyball beach and sneak into the woods and make out and, uh, yeah, bonfires and, and, uh, I think, I think my name and another boy's name is still carved into a tree there, uh, [00:25:00] near the volleyball court.

Rod, 

[00:25:01] Capn Tinsley: but that's not his real name. Yeah, Rod, yeah, Rod, 

[00:25:04] Melanie Neal: um, anyway. 

[00:25:06] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, I just learned right before we went live that she changed some of the names. So I was saying a couple of names, yo, but that's not his real name. Oh, oh, I didn't even think of that, you know, of course. Yeah. So, um. So, yeah, I have heard a lot of, uh, I read a book before I even got a, before I got a boat because I was trying to read everything I could put my hands on.

And there was a young couple, their book I read, and they were totally turned off of Georgetown and everybody was contacting them on the VHF and saying, come over and do this and come over. They're like, please leave us alone. This is what we're trying to get away from. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Exactly.

But a lot of people like really love it. They, they're into it. 

[00:25:52] Melanie Neal: And I think, you know, for us, it was the reason that my sister and I loved it so much is because it was like the States. The reason [00:26:00] that my dad didn't like it is because it was like the States and, you know, you cruise to get away. It's time 

[00:26:06] Capn Tinsley: to get away from it all.

I get it. And your, your mom was kind of so so about it. She could take it or leave it. 

[00:26:14] Melanie Neal: Yeah. Parents were smart enough to know that they. Yeah, they had to give us that bit of socialization and, you know, get there to, you know, for two or two months, three months out of the year, we could have our, you know, have our group of friends and go run 

[00:26:30] Capn Tinsley: wild.

Like your dad would say, we're staying here a week, but you knew that wasn't really true. Yeah, I've been reading. I've been listening to the book. It's really, you guys need to check it out again. It's in the description of whatever platform you're watching. I do want to do one, get one thing out of the way and to introduce tonight's sponsor, which is me.

Um, in case you didn't know, I'm Tinsley Orange Beach, and I sell girlfriend condos. Been doing it a long time, 21 years. We have the Myrick team, my husband and [00:27:00] I, uh, with Remax Orange Beach, and we know what we're doing. So give us a call. And also, if you enjoy this podcast, I have a, another one with another colleague on my team.

Um, we have the Gettin Beachy podcast on Thursday nights, also live at 6 p. m. So come check it. There we go. Thank you for allowing me to do that. Got to pay the 

[00:27:20] Melanie Neal: bills, right? Well, it's funny. You, you sell, you sell homes and condos. I sell boots. So yes. Yes. Go ahead and give 

[00:27:28] Capn Tinsley: us, give 

[00:27:28] Melanie Neal: us 

[00:27:29] Capn Tinsley: a plug. Go ahead and give us a plug.

Go ahead. Go ahead. No, 

[00:27:33] Melanie Neal: really go ahead. I, uh, I started, you know, real quick, whatever the story behind it is that I had a corporate job for about 10 years. Got married, had a kid, did the white picket fence thing. Um, and then all like when the, within the period of the year, um, and I, my daughter was born, um, in 2011.

So about 2014, um, got divorced, got laid off from the corporate [00:28:00] job cause they closed all the locations. And it was, you know, so I'm my kid and, you know, I, I, uh, and her dad is, is very much in the picture. So he's, you know, he's, he's great. But how old is she? 

[00:28:13] Capn Tinsley: She is 13 now. Wow. That's where I am in the book.

You're 13. Okay. But, um, she read the book. She, 

[00:28:25] Melanie Neal: I think she's read more of it than she tells me she's read. 

[00:28:30] Capn Tinsley: That is so 

[00:28:31] Melanie Neal: funny. 

[00:28:33] Capn Tinsley: It's not cool to read your mom's book. Right. 

[00:28:37] Melanie Neal: I was cracking up the other day, actually, because I was, It's in her room in her little, little cubby that she hangs out in and there's a copy of it right there.

But, um, yeah, no, she 

[00:28:50] Capn Tinsley: like took it off your bookshelf or something and took it in her room. 

[00:28:56] Melanie Neal: There's things that I may not want her to know, but she's going to find out those [00:29:00] things eventually. And that's, that's um, Just part of growing up, part of, so 

[00:29:04] Capn Tinsley: everybody listening, check out the book. Okay. So, so go ahead.

You're, you sell boats now. Yeah. 

[00:29:12] Melanie Neal: So you're working up to that. Yeah. Divorce laid off. What the heck do I do? Oh, I know. I have all this like, useless knowledge about boats, so maybe it's not so useless. And I started selling boats for Edwards Yacht Sales and they were, uh, worked with Ray Edwards and he's just a wonderful mentor.

Um, so I worked with them for about five years and, um, just sort of, you know, built, built my following or whatever that way. Um, Being a broker is, you know, you, you know how it works. You're on the road a lot. You, I listened to a lot of audio books. I put about 45, 000 miles on my car every year. Like it was, it was intense, but my daughter was [00:30:00] there with me.

I used to, um, I'd be in a boatyard taking photos of a boat and this is when she was like five. And, uh, I, Turn around and there's another boat in the boatyard and a ladder and Marianne's halfway up the ladder with her Her phone that she's playing on saying I'm gonna sell the boat You know as far as give me something to do that You know, worked with being a mother.

Um, but then in 2020, I started, I left Edwards and started my own company, Sunshine Cruising Yachts. Um, another good timing thing. We, we, we started, we opened our doors February 5th, 2020. By March, the whole world was shut down and I was terrified. And you know, what did I do? I just spent my, you know, little bit of savings that I had and opened a company.

And, um, but it actually, after a few months of just kind of panic, what's going on? Me, a lot of people [00:31:00] were, uh, during COVID, they were, you know, watching YouTube, they were reading books, they were, you know, listening to podcasts, they were, they were basically, yeah. Kind of, yeah, they're isolated and they're like, Oh, the boat's a great way to socially distance.

So we, the market got really, really busy right after people were able to come out and, you know, move freely. Um, you have a little 

[00:31:24] Capn Tinsley: shout out here from captain sandbar here. I guess, you know who that is, right? 

[00:31:31] Melanie Neal: And I know why he was named captain sandbar. Nothing to do with running a ground. Okay. 

[00:31:40] Capn Tinsley: Well, captain Sandbar, we'll have to come on to the podcast and tell us about that.

If you can't tell us, thank you. Captain Sandbar for commenting. Anybody else, please comment. We got 16 people watching right now anyway. So yes, I was on my boat during the pandemic and it was very stressful in real [00:32:00] estate. Cause we had, um, we had the hurricane, we had the pandemic and the hurricane in one year.

And, uh, we had a bunch of damaged property, but it's so each. Each, uh, transaction was like the work of five. Um, but I, I was able to, to go on Florida was open. So I was down there as much as I could be on my boat. 

[00:32:21] Melanie Neal: Yeah. Yeah. So anyway, 

[00:32:25] Capn Tinsley: everybody was buying boats, including me. 

[00:32:27] Melanie Neal: Mm hmm. You know, the interesting part of it now is that boat market is kind of talk about business stuff, but the boat market is kind of normalized.

Um, there are a lot of great boats on the market now because these people who bought boats put a lot of money into their boats and, you know, went cruising for a couple of years and figured out that, well, this isn't for me, but I just put, you know, 80 grand into sales and canvas and paint and, you know, whatever.

So there, those boats are being sold. Um, So is 

[00:32:58] Capn Tinsley: this your daughter, best boat [00:33:00] woman ever, your daughter? 

[00:33:02] Melanie Neal: I guess so. What's your name though? She's on, she's on with my mom's. Oh, okay. Yeah, she's on with my mom's. And her, her 

[00:33:12] Capn Tinsley: name is 

[00:33:12] Melanie Neal: Marianne, right? I didn't know they were watching. They're literally in the next room.

[00:33:16] Capn Tinsley: That is so cool. Hey, I've, I've been glad they're watching. I forgot your mom's name, but hey, mom, I'm reading the story. So that is so cool. And we got, we got, uh, Cindy, just found out you're alive. You rock. I'm so lucky to have you in my tribe. Boy, there's a lot of people here. We love you, Melanie. Yatsy?

Yatsy? 

[00:33:42] Melanie Neal: I wonder if Cindy was on when I showed her photo. I 

[00:33:45] Capn Tinsley: don't 

[00:33:46] Melanie Neal: know. 

[00:33:46] Capn Tinsley: She just, we, tell her we just showed a photo that you took in Annapolis. And, um, and then you, so, and then we have Angel. Hi. Hi. [00:34:00] And Angel says, Melanie rocks. Oh my gosh. Love you watching in St. Augustine. You've got a lot of fans. You know what?

We appreciate 

[00:34:10] Melanie Neal: it. The friends, but are any of these, the boat kids, uh, actually, none of them were people who grew up on the boat, but a lot of them are people that I have, you know, know from working in the industry. Um, captain Sanbar is one of my yacht brokers who works for me. And, um, they're, you know, I, that's what I love about this industry.

It's, you know, It's so small, even though it's spread out, you know, geographically, geographically. It's the Annapolis boat show is a family reunion to me. I go and yeah, and everybody should go, but 

[00:34:49] Capn Tinsley: cool. I missed that. I'll backtrack and watch again. Here's another one. She's been my idol since 2001 after reading her book, she gave him my start [00:35:00] in the Marine industry.

That's Ann Decker. Thank you, Ann. Very, very sweet. Thank you, Anne. You know all these people, right? Yep. 

[00:35:07] Melanie Neal: I told people I was going on, you know, but hey. That's awesome. Please 

[00:35:15] Capn Tinsley: tell them, please ask them to subscribe to the Salty Abandoned and the Salty Podcast. Please, please go ahead and like that video and subscribe.

Okay, so where were we? 

[00:35:26] Melanie Neal: I don't remember. Oh, 

[00:35:29] Capn Tinsley: we started selling boats. 

[00:35:31] Melanie Neal: Oh, yep. And, uh, yeah, so it's, it was, um, I still own Sunshine Cruising Yachts. We still do business. It's everywhere. We have brokers all over the place, but we're still a very small company. And most of who we cater to just because of my background is, is cruisers and, you know, people with kids that, you know, I, somebody will call us and say, I'm getting ready to sail around the world with my family.

Can you help me find a boat? Can I help [00:36:00] you? Well, you know, you need a certain amount of state rooms for your kids and, you know, where, where are they going to be homeschooled and where are they going to, you know, so there's, um, that's sort of become our kind of core customer. 

[00:36:15] Capn Tinsley: Oh, my gosh. I mean, they find all that out.

I'm sure they, what a goldmine. They called you. 

[00:36:22] Melanie Neal: Many of them become friends too. That's, that's another thing that I love. It's a, it's just like you and I have never talked face to face, but we have tons of mutual friends. Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:36:33] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. So, um, that you mentioned, um, in the book, um, about the schooling, the program, I've had, I've had somebody on before that has a family and they were telling I can't remember the name of the program.

Is that program still available? 

[00:36:48] Melanie Neal: So that one is not. Um, that was Calvert School. They, I don't know. Yeah. It's, it's interesting. And I, I, you know, when I meet, like Cindy's kids or, you know, meet, Boat kids [00:37:00] now. It is so different. You know, they, they have, they can take their exams. They have a lot of, a lot of states have very good homeschool programs.

Florida does, you know, it's a much more, much more accepted thing now. You know, back then it was kind of like, oh, you're weird. You're homeschooling your kids. Are they getting a good education? Blah, blah, blah. Yeah. Um, but it's, you know, yeah. It's all, it's all online. We, we used to, I, I tell, I tell boat kids now that, you know, we used to do an exam.

And put it in the mail, it would go on the mail boat, go on the mail boat from Staniel Key to Nassau, maybe go on a plane from Nassau to the States, and then, and then hopefully get to school and then, you know, reverse the process and you get your grades. So, you know, we're waiting a day or two to get a grade, we'd wait a month.

And, uh, you know, but it was, And it's always fun when the mail clip. And now they just take everything online. Yeah. It's wonderful. It's wonderful that they can, people [00:38:00] can do this online. And it, it makes it a lot more achievable for families to get out there. It's, it's absolutely wonderful. 

[00:38:08] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. A lot of people have just decided to do that because they think they're going to get a better education by homeschooling.

But you mentioned a lot in the book about the, the, the land kids bullying you. The land kids, is that what you call them? 

[00:38:21] Melanie Neal: Kids are kids, and they're going to do their kid thing no matter, no matter who they are. The land kids. It's funny, because I think, you know, if I'd been in a regular high school, it would have been, you know, band kids versus football kids, or you know, whatever, you know.

It was, 

[00:38:39] Capn Tinsley: it was like that, yeah. So, 

[00:38:41] Melanie Neal: you know, the land kids were the ones we would see during the summer, and they were just, you know, They're good friends. They've turned out to be good friends, you know, but they were just always kind of like, they couldn't relate to us. That's what it was. We couldn't relate to them.

They couldn't relate to us and we would try as hard as we could. And there were a lot of things that we did connect on. [00:39:00] But, you know, if you're different, you're an easy, easy target for bullying and you know, it's. The link is fine. I'm just kidding. If you're on one 

[00:39:10] Capn Tinsley: side 

[00:39:10] Melanie Neal: of 

[00:39:10] Capn Tinsley: it. Yeah. Well, yeah. So for those who haven't read, um, the, you were at this, um, the narrows, um, Marina in Virginia in the summer and during hurricane season and, um, the kids would, that had power boats there.

Maybe even a sailboat. I don't know. They would come there on the weekends. Those where you, that's where you came in contact with the land kids. Is that right? 

[00:39:35] Melanie Neal: Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. It was really great that my parents realized that we needed that in our lives too. It wasn't, you know, Bahamas in the winter, homeschool kids.

Summer, meet the land, hang out with the land kids. And, you know, we, we needed that to learn about culture and, you know, I'm a huge, huge music buff. I don't play any [00:40:00] instruments. I don't sing, but getting back to the States and learning, you know, what's the popular new music. What, what's the top 40, you know?

Oh my gosh, let me learn that really quick so that when I talk to the land kids, I can have something to relate to them about, and it's, you know, It's a funny music. Yeah. 

[00:40:18] Capn Tinsley: There was fashion that you had to get caught up on. It was all pop culture. 

[00:40:23] Melanie Neal: Yeah. 

[00:40:23] Capn Tinsley: 17 magazine. 

[00:40:25] Melanie Neal: Okay. The, the, uh, shopping list when you got back to the States at the boat kid back then was 17 magazine.

Why am Pocket us ice cream. Um, And that's pretty much it. Those are the things. But, and then, you know, I knew, I knew radio stations all up and down the East coast. So I'd be like, okay, when I'm in Beaufort, I'm going to listen to this station anyway. 

[00:40:50] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Cause this was pre internet. So, I mean, people, kids can't even imagine today when you're in the Bahamas today, you can keep up with all your friends.

You can, what the [00:41:00] music is, you're downloading, you're, you know, you're You're checking out what's the fashion that this was a totally different time. So 

[00:41:07] Speaker 3: yeah, that is 

[00:41:08] Capn Tinsley: just, that is just so cool. Um, 

[00:41:13] Melanie Neal: go ahead. I think it's beautiful that the kids now being that it is a different time. They have the opportunity to feel a little bit more connected and they enjoy.

Doing the cruising thing more so that's that connection is good, 

[00:41:29] Capn Tinsley: but would you trade 

[00:41:30] Melanie Neal: it not? Nation I wouldn't trade it. I would absolutely love to be doing the same thing with my daughter right now It's just yeah right now. It's just not not in the cards for a lot of reasons, but no, but we do Um, we went, you know a couple years ago we went and stayed for two weeks on the friends boat in the exumas and we You know, that's the great the great thing about being at berger.

I have friends with boats [00:42:00] everywhere So I know that there are places that I could you know, call and be like, hey soupy i'm coming there for two weeks you know and and uh And show up. Yeah, you just 

[00:42:10] Capn Tinsley: keep up where they are and you can just go there Exactly. Yeah, that's like Blaine, Blaine Parks. He's like, I don't need to have a boat, you know.

No, he doesn't. He's on a 

[00:42:19] Melanie Neal: different one every, every, I would say every week. He's probably on two different boats every week. 

[00:42:23] Capn Tinsley: Right, and they're usually really nice island packets, right? Yeah, Blaine's the man. You know he was on here. I'm sure 

[00:42:33] Melanie Neal: I'm gonna have to go back and watch some of these episodes because it's I, you know, Oh, it's a 

[00:42:37] Capn Tinsley: who's who in the you will know all of them I'm excited to Hayden hayden and radine, which i'm gonna have them back because now they're back near you.

Well where you are right now Yeah, i'm not 

[00:42:49] Melanie Neal: sure where they are right now. But yeah, 

[00:42:50] Capn Tinsley: they're they came home and um there i'm letting them get settled But I I want them to this time I talked to him when they were in uh, st martin You [00:43:00] And, um, so I told him the next time they come on, which wasn't that long ago, but I want to, people would really like to hear about the anchorages, about the different, where's the good places to say, you know, they want to save money on, um, you know, all those expensive marinas down there.

Where's, where are the great places to anchor? So I've asked them to come on and really talk about that. That's all you have to stay tuned for that. Yes. 

[00:43:25] Melanie Neal: And you know what's interesting about that? The anchorages haven't changed. There's still the same instances, but you learn about them on the internet now and learn about them through, you know, just learn about them.

Well, 

[00:43:36] Capn Tinsley: you'll have to come on and really talk about the anchorages next time. Oh, here's somebody else that knows you. I need to be in 

[00:43:44] Melanie Neal: more anchorages. Hi, Joe. Thanks You know, okay, so who's Joe, by the way? Who's Joe? Oh, Joe's Joe's one of my friends from, uh, from Green Cove Springs. We're in, um, Fort, at St.

Augustine. Green Cove Springs is a huge destination. I'm sure a lot of you know, a huge [00:44:00] destination for, uh, storage and stuff for cruising sailboats. So I've got a lot 

[00:44:04] Capn Tinsley: of stuff there. Okay. Is that near St. Augustine or where is that? 

[00:44:08] Melanie Neal: It is is up the ST john's river. Um, so it's a two day run by boat just from ST augustine, but about a 45 minute drive and they have a Just sort of, you know, iconic, uh, storage boatyard, do it yourself boatyard.

That's, I say iconic, it really is. Um, it's been a cruising destination for people for ever and ever. They, they So for people 

[00:44:31] Capn Tinsley: that live up north, they just come and store their boats there? Okay. 

[00:44:35] Melanie Neal: They store their boat, and then, you know, right before they're ready to head south, they move the boat from the storage area to the work area, and they can paint the bottom, and do all the work, and get the boat ready to go, and, you know, do the same.

It's like, it's a cool, it's a cool system, so. 

[00:44:50] Capn Tinsley: It's a good experience, yeah. Thank you, Jo, for commenting. Um, yeah. All right, I already asked you that. So what happened when you were 18? I was [00:45:00] thinking maybe that you, you moved away. You went to college or something, but you, your parents got another boat. You got the bigger boat, but were you like, get me out of here?

What, what were you, what was your thought process? 

[00:45:12] Melanie Neal: I was not eager to move out. And, and mainly because I didn't really know what I wanted to do. I mean, I had at that point in my life, it was sort of follow the, you know, Tanya AB, Robin Lee Graham, my. childhood idols and follow them, get a sailboat, start sailing around the world, you know, or it was, you know, do a more traditional thing and go to college.

So it was very much a divide. At that point in my life. And join the 

[00:45:40] Capn Tinsley: podcast. Mel is the best 

[00:45:43] Melanie Neal: captain. But, so I actually stayed aboard for a year after finishing high school and of all things, studied Naval Architecture. Um, For a year, you know, I, [00:46:00] I sucked at it, but I like drawing boats and, uh, it was actually, it was a great, great thing to do is with the, uh, there was a school called the West lawn, which was a correspondence school for Naval architects.

So did that for a year and then realized there was a lot of math in that. So, um, so then ended up, but that was, that was my 18th year. So that was after high school. Um, and so I stuck around for a while and then, um, Moved off and lived in Fort Lauderdale and worked in a restaurant and in a bookstore and, you know, So 

[00:46:36] Capn Tinsley: tell me about that.

You, you moved up. What were you like? Okay. I need to get off. I get it. Need to get away from my family. There's no shame in that. 

[00:46:46] Melanie Neal: I mean, it was close 

[00:46:47] Capn Tinsley: quarters, right? 

[00:46:48] Melanie Neal: I don't want to think about my daughter doing that, but 

[00:46:51] Capn Tinsley: yeah, 

[00:46:52] Melanie Neal: yeah, well, 

[00:46:53] Capn Tinsley: you live in a house, right? 

[00:46:54] Melanie Neal: Exactly. She can stay as long as she wants.

She knows that. [00:47:00] 

[00:47:00] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. So, so you thought, okay, I'm going to go, I'm going to go, um, check out what, what the regular folks do and go live in a apartment or something. 

[00:47:10] Melanie Neal: Yeah, it was, you know, I was still wasn't sure if I wanted to commit to going to college and so I, you know, and I advise people to do this if you don't know what you want to do, don't go.

But, um, but I took my, my sort of gap year or whatever they call it, living in Fort Lauderdale and Fort Lauderdale is a great place for a boat kid to move off the boat. It's also a really scary place for a boat kid to move off the boat because 

[00:47:38] Speaker 3: it's 

[00:47:38] Melanie Neal: where all the crew for the large yachts are. It's where there's so much partying and, you know, just, there was a lot to do and it was, it was great, you know, but I got my first car there.

I, you know, I, um, it was, uh, 

[00:47:52] Capn Tinsley: did you know how to drive? 

[00:47:54] Melanie Neal: I actually did. We, yeah. Cause you had the 

[00:47:57] Capn Tinsley: car back 

[00:47:58] Melanie Neal: home. I 

[00:47:59] Capn Tinsley: [00:48:00] told you. So, yeah. Cause you had the car in Virginia. 

[00:48:02] Melanie Neal: Yeah. Yeah. I learned, learned on that. There are people out there that would argue that I've never really learned. 

[00:48:11] Capn Tinsley: Well, so I've, you know, that show below deck, all the, those folks, all those young people, um, they're around that they live around in that area.

Um, so you could have gone in that direction. Couldn't you ever think about that? 

[00:48:27] Melanie Neal: I'm honestly not sure why I didn't because it was a very viable, you know, I, I would have ended up already have my captain's license at that point, but I'd probably be captain of a, you know, mega yacht right now. If I'd, if I'd stayed, you know, if I'd gone that direction, but I can't even tell you what it is that, it's.

Didn't want to, but I didn't want to, or maybe didn't want to, um, but I didn't want to 

[00:48:56] Capn Tinsley: get back on a boat, I guess. 

[00:48:58] Melanie Neal: I was, I would love to [00:49:00] get back on a boat, but I think what back 

[00:49:02] Capn Tinsley: then, back then you were, 

[00:49:04] Melanie Neal: well, you have no control of your schedule when you're working in the, um, the Maggiot industry, not much 

[00:49:10] Capn Tinsley: sleep.

[00:49:11] Melanie Neal: Yeah, yeah. And you're on the boat and you're going wherever they want you to go. And you know, and it's a great thing for people to do. You save money, you're, you're, you know, you're lodging and food and everything is paid for. It's a really wonderful thing for young people to do, but I just wasn't interested.

Okay. Didn't have sales. Okay. 

[00:49:31] Capn Tinsley: Right. Yeah. They have below deck sailing now, but yeah. So after the year you were, you said you were working where? Um, I worked 

[00:49:43] Melanie Neal: at a nautical bookstore called Blue Water Books and Charts, which isn't around. They still have a, uh, warehouse, but they're not really around anymore.

Um, like a lot of bookstores and, uh, worked at a restaurant on the ICW. And one of the reasons I didn't do very well as a, as a [00:50:00] server, I think everybody, everybody should work as a server and work. in retail at some point in their lives. But one of the reasons I wasn't very great. A, I'm clumsy. B, there was a dog that was on the ICW so I'd be like, Oh, there's a boat coming in.

I'm going to go help them. Okay. Those people's, their food is going to get cold, but I'm going to go help the boat. Let me go help them tie up. I quit after like two months. And it just, and that, that experience that year All right. Realizing how much money it actually did take to live. Um, and that, you know, my jobs were not something that was ever going to, you know, get me, you know, provide a future for me.

That was when I decided to go to college and do the whole academic thing. 

[00:50:49] Capn Tinsley: Okay. Before we, we go there, I would like to go back to, um, the story about. When you guys were leaving the Bahamas to head back to the States, and [00:51:00] you passed what you thought was, what, what was Some drug folks. You want to, can you tell that story real quick?

[00:51:09] Melanie Neal: Yeah. And you know, the funny thing is it, it sounds so sensational to people, but it was a totally normal thing. And it was, you know, your Florida is, you know, square groupers and, you know, all that stuff. I mean, it was very, very, I mean, 

[00:51:24] Capn Tinsley: Miami vice was in the mid eighties and this is after that, right? Yeah.

If 

[00:51:29] Melanie Neal: you've 

[00:51:30] Capn Tinsley: seen the movie, it was about the same time. 

[00:51:31] Melanie Neal: Yeah, I'm with Johnny Depp. I mean, that's, you know, that's all cocaine. Cowboys. Um, this is really. But, um, you know, we, we were, you're always worried about being mistaken for somebody that was actually smuggling drugs, even though, you know, you very obviously weren't, the boat, you know, next, you know, a couple miles away from you may have been.

And, and so being boarded by customs and the coast guard, um, when you came back into the States [00:52:00] was a very normal thing. And they, They'd bring dogs aboard. They'd go through and, you know, just check everything, um, because people were bringing stuff back and forth, back and forth from the Bahamas in slow sailboats, in speedboats, in planes.

So it was, um, but at that point, at that point there had been a drop. Somebody had dropped whatever from a plane nearby and, um, the, you know. And 

[00:52:26] Capn Tinsley: this was at night when you were passing? 

[00:52:28] Melanie Neal: It's a night just getting into the Gulf Stream. So, you know, pitch dark and, uh, and, uh, so, you know, we, they, they thought it was, they thought we were the ones picking it up.

So, 

[00:52:39] Capn Tinsley: Well, but, but what you, what you passed first was the boat without their lights on and they were shining a light in the water. So what you guys thought it was, was someone had made the drop and they're going and picking it up. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, your dad, you know, your mom turned off all the lights, 

[00:52:58] Melanie Neal: like, 

[00:52:58] Capn Tinsley: let's just get by [00:53:00] real as quiet as we can, 

[00:53:02] Melanie Neal: which is definitely the, you know, the, the right thing to do in that situation.

But, um, it's just, it's crazy to think about it now, but they come, they came up with no lights. They, they boarded us, brought the dogs aboard. I was. I don't know, seven at that point and, you know, sleeping up in the V birth and, you know, look up and, oh my God, there's a German shepherd and there's a, there's a, you know, border patrol on the boat.

Yeah. Yeah. Came up and they jumped unlit and jumped aboard. And, you know, there was a moment there when my parents were like, That, you know, we, we saw something we shouldn't have seen, you know, their pirates were very real then. They are very real now. There's just, I'm sure a lot of you, you know, know about the recent situation in Grenada where the couple got, um, killed.

I don't know 

[00:53:49] Capn Tinsley: about that. Oh, I'll have to, oh my gosh, really? 

[00:53:53] Melanie Neal: Very, very sad, but, um, as wonderful and happy as the [00:54:00] cruising life can be, there's still bad people out there and you've got to at least be aware, be situationally aware and, you know, just, uh, 

[00:54:09] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, so they, it was the, it was DEA that boarded you, right?

And, and, and your dad and your mom weren't sure who it was, they were coming up behind you. Yeah. Without lights on. So you weren't sure what was happening. Like, is it pirates or is it? And then it ended up being DEA, but it was a very scary thing. And, um. 

[00:54:29] Melanie Neal: There's that moment of, this is it, you know. 

[00:54:33] Capn Tinsley: And, 

[00:54:33] Melanie Neal: um.

Yeah. He 

[00:54:33] Capn Tinsley: didn't know what to do. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, so Captain Sandbar says still very real, especially in Bimini, they traffic humans. There's, 

[00:54:42] Melanie Neal: there's so much, there's so much more going on than, than what we think. So it's, yeah, I mean, yeah, there's a lot of And then just 

[00:54:51] Capn Tinsley: finally with that story, when you guys got in, um, Close to that.

You saw that you were coming into an inlet and there was the three [00:55:00] different, um, authority boats out there and he had you sit on, sit outside, waving to him and let him, we're just a family. Every time we came 

[00:55:08] Melanie Neal: into an inlet, we had to nicely set up on deck, you know, to the whole, the whole wave. And, um, I would, I would make my kid do that too.

[00:55:20] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Because they, I guess they saw you on radar coming past that other, that boat that they had caught. Exactly. And so they thought you were okay. 

[00:55:29] Melanie Neal: Exactly. They thought we were. Oh, that was such 

[00:55:31] Capn Tinsley: a good story. So you got, okay, there's the boat girl link in the description below if you wanna get the book, if you wanna get really bored.

No, no, no, no, no. Um, okay. So, um. After you're like, okay, I guess I need to go to college. Right. So what happened then? 

[00:55:50] Melanie Neal: Uh, started taking out student loans and then more student loans. And now that's part of it, but, but now I went to, um, Eckerd college, wonderful school, [00:56:00] private college over in St. Pete, Florida.

Um, I chose the school because they were right on the water and I thought I could buy a boat, live on the boat. And, you know, dingy into class. That was, uh, that would have been awesome. I was lucky. That was why I chose the school, but it was also, it's absolutely wonderful, you know, private school. And I, um, and obviously, you know, had scholarships and grants and student loans and all that stuff, but, and I lived in the dorms and it was, I'm so glad I did.

You know, I had that, that experience. Um, but then I, I graduated because I had taken some college level classes, um, in high school, correspondence school. Um, I graduated a year early and, um, which is good cause I started a year late, graduated a year early. It all worked out. Yeah. And, um, at that point was very, very caught up and still, I still am.

I still love it, but very caught up in the whole, um, creative [00:57:00] writing, fine arts world. I wanted to write, I grew up reading books. That was my, you know, that was my entertainment. I grew up reading books. I grew up making up stories. I grew up writing poems. I, you know, that's, that was just sort of it to me.

So I decided to go to, um, an MFA, Master of Fine Arts, um, and went to the program at FIU. Um, Got in Miami, and I did live on the boat at that point, that Columbia 28 that we saw earlier. Yeah, the 

[00:57:28] Capn Tinsley: 1969 Columbia 28 that showed in the picture earlier. 

[00:57:33] Melanie Neal: Yep, so that was my, that was my dorm while I was in grad school, and wonderful year, crazy time because I'm at this old marina.

Weird old marina with a lot of, you know, it's a lot of weirdness going on. And again, talk about like throwbacks from the old Florida days, but, but, uh, What 

[00:57:52] Capn Tinsley: marina was it? I've stayed at dinner key marina. I know that one. It was huge. That's a huge one. 

[00:57:58] Melanie Neal: It was, uh, it was in [00:58:00] North Miami and it's all condos now, but it was in North Miami.

It was called mall lake mall, like your tiger mauling somebody. Okay. Um, and it was, uh, it was just a. inexpensive, fun, little, weird, weird, weird, liveaboard community. And I was the youngest person there and, you know, which is kind of cool. They, the, you know, people looked after me and I'd come from, come from class and they'd be like, Oh, here, I made a casserole.

Do you want some food? Oh, here's a rum and coke or, you know, whatever. So, um, just a wonderful, Experience, but that was, 

[00:58:34] Capn Tinsley: I bet they loved your stories. 

[00:58:37] Melanie Neal: I know I loved their stories. That was the thing. Cause they, again, I'd been. I've been through a lot of things that I hadn't been and been in Miami in the 80s, um, while I've been passing back and forth.

A lot of, a lot of the people at that marina were, you know, it was, yeah, I, I liked their stories. I think I tried to listen to their stories more than I tried to tell mine. [00:59:00] 

[00:59:00] Capn Tinsley: Did any of them write books? 

[00:59:03] Melanie Neal: I don't think anybody from that group has, yeah, I would, I would love it if they did. Yeah. 

[00:59:08] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. 

[00:59:09] Melanie Neal: So 

[00:59:11] Capn Tinsley: what happened after, after, um, graduate school?

[00:59:15] Melanie Neal: Um, work. So I moved, I worked, actually went back to Blue Water Books and Charts. The place where I'd worked right when I moved off, um, in Fort Lauderdale and more of a professional, you know, aspect. I was their event coordinator and doing boat shows and bringing in visiting writers and which was wonderful because I got to meet a lot of great people.

But, um, I did that and then that was the, that was the last thing sort of marine related until I got, um, essentially recruited by, um, a large, um, Um, for profit art school, which is really learning period of my life. It was the right place for me to [01:00:00] be at that time. I worked, what year are we talking here? Um, 2005.

So, yeah, so worked my way up, um, you know, was to climb, climb the corporate ladder ring very quickly, um, for about 10 years. And that was what brought me from Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville. I got a promotion and it again, it was one of those, one of those for profit art schools that did a lot of wonderful things, but did a lot of, you know, part of my job was helping people find jobs.

And anyway, um. So that was where, when they closed down, I got laid off and divorced and all that. So that was come full circle. All of 

[01:00:40] Capn Tinsley: that at once. Yeah. And that's 2015, 16. 

[01:00:46] Melanie Neal: Yeah. Started there in 2005 and ended about 2015. So this is 

[01:00:51] Capn Tinsley: about the time you say, I'm going to write a book or I'm finishing writing the book or.

[01:00:56] Melanie Neal: I had actually, um, the book, no, it's sad. I'm [01:01:00] I get, it was so long ago. I mean, 2000, it came out in 2012. I'm, I'm almost like, Oh, like this. I want, I'm like, I need to write something new. Why are we talking about my same old book? You know, I want to write something new. Cause it's 

[01:01:13] Capn Tinsley: still awesome. I just discovered it.

So, 

[01:01:20] Melanie Neal: um, No, I had actually written it while I was in grad school, because I got a MFA in creative writing. Um, it was my thesis from grad school. It was good enough to get me graduated, get me moved on. It was not good enough to be published. And I had connections, you know, I thought for sure I was gonna, I had a lot of, a lot of, You know, possibilities and knew the right people just from being being in that grad school program for, um, for a while.

And, um, so I just sat on it for that. It was gone through three drafts at that point. It's like, yeah, whatever. I need to actually make money, you know, so, [01:02:00] you know, did did that whole thing. And then, uh, Acquaintance, um, who's become a good friend of mine, um, said that I knew her writers conferences and stuff like that, said, Hey, I'm, I'm opening up a publishing company, um, you know, indie, an indie press, and I know you have a book, let's talk about it.

Let's, you know, so I ended up 

[01:02:22] Capn Tinsley: Well, it's on a lot of different websites, a lot of book websites. 

[01:02:26] Melanie Neal: Yeah, it's, it's, I mean, it was, you know, they're, they're a good press. They're still, they're still around. It's not a, you know, it wasn't, it's not a self published book. It's, it's, you know, but it's a very small independent, uh, press.

Um, and that's the great thing about just, you know, print on demand and, you know, audio and all that digital. I mean, it's, you know, books can books can stay around longer. Um, But I went through about 10 more revisions of it and a lot of, a lot of painful stuff, a lot [01:03:00] of wonderful stuff, a lot of asking people, Hey, can I write about this?

Can I change your name? You know? Um, so that was a really sort of cathartic, um, crazy experience and then got it published, went to boat shows and marketed it and did a bunch of readings and, you know, it's still, it did well for, for what it was. Um, I need to write a new book. I'm I'm not going to say I'm tired of talking about this one, but I, I feel like a sellout because I feel like I really should write.

Why am I still talking about a book from so long ago? I really need to write something, but time. But it's still such a 

[01:03:40] Capn Tinsley: great story though. I mean, first of all, it's a time, I mean, like before GPS, they, when you guys left, I mean, there's so many good, cool things about it. Things that have changed. That, that just, I, I think it's more relevant than ever.

I told you that, uh, and more and more people are wanting, I feel like sailing [01:04:00] is making a comeback. It kind of died off and with the internet, so many people have become interested in it. 

[01:04:05] Melanie Neal: And it's interesting. Yeah. 

[01:04:08] Capn Tinsley: No, go ahead. 

[01:04:09] Melanie Neal: So it's interesting too that it's, it is easier for families to do it now because of the internet, because they can homeschool, because, and that's, I love seeing that.

I love, you know, I'm on all the Facebook groups with kids on board and, you know, it's, um, it's really wonderful to me to see it be so accessible. For a lot of people. Um, I do. You know, last year I did Cruisers University at the Annapolis Boat Show. Um, had a seminar there and, um, you know, there's, there's, it's a, There's still people who are doing the exact, they're doing the exact same thing.

They're communicating about it differently. And they have some differences, but 

[01:04:50] Capn Tinsley: it's easier to share the experience. Um, I, I had a guy on, um, three weeks ago, um, a guy that teaches [01:05:00] celestial navigation and he said, um, I said, why do sailors today? Why is it relevant for sailors today? And he said, It's just like you said, he said it's for more relevant.

I mean, it's, it's so easy. It's, it's more accessible to people than ever before, you know, sailing, but then he, you know, and he told all the reasons why, and then he said, but there have been any gave specific situations where, um, people used it when everything else was like, the batteries got flooded and they lost everything, all the electronics and they were able to navigate their way to wherever.

So even some of the old ways. They don't even print charts anymore, but you still have, I, I have my captain's license too, and, uh, you still have to pass that test, don't you? Yeah. You're plotting. I, 

[01:05:51] Melanie Neal: I take paper charts with me. You know, I have, you know, I have, uh, the chart by ICW. Chart [01:06:00] books and chart kits.

Yeah, except when I did the delivery a couple of weeks ago, showed up with my paper charts and I'm like, I know we have Navionics, we have, you know, this and this and this, but I just feel better with paper charts on the boat. 

[01:06:15] Capn Tinsley: Yeah, that's your old school upbringing right there. That's great. So Captain Sandbar says celestial navigation is actually still mandatory for above 200 gross ton captains and uh He's right.

And he also said, I really want to write my first book. I suck at writing though. 

[01:06:33] Speaker 3: With all 

[01:06:34] Capn Tinsley: the programs out there now, I'm wondering if it's easier to do it now. Get a little chat GPT going. 

[01:06:42] Melanie Neal: Yeah, it's, and I, I'm actually working on a book right now about how to buy books. So, which is a technical thing, but, um, the cool thing is that it's easier to, once you write the book, it's easier to get it out there.

Um, 10 years ago, I was like self publishing. No, ew, [01:07:00] gross. Nobody self publishes. And that was my, you know, sort of what I took away from, from grad school and being, yeah, I wouldn't trade the experience for anything, but, um, you know, there were a lot of like old school, you know, smoke a cigar in the corner, like, you know, Hemingway.

That was great. I loved it. But, um, yeah. You 

[01:07:20] Capn Tinsley: have so much to share about how it was and now how it is. So the captain 0125 says try Boat Girl to Boat Broker, Captain Steve L. That's a good book. Yeah. Boat Girl to Boat Captain, Boat Broker. 

[01:07:35] Melanie Neal: I'm not sure I'd want to tell him.

[01:07:40] Capn Tinsley: All right. Well, um, let's see what we've been on here. Or, uh, just over an hour. Um, I do, do you mention something before we went live project on the horizon? What were you referring to? 

[01:07:55] Melanie Neal: I have a lot, I always have a lot of projects, but like I said, there's, there's, uh, I am [01:08:00] working on a book now, which is more of a how to, um, and I've got, you know, we've got, got a publisher, got everything lined up, but it's, uh, how to buy a boat.

And. It's going to be interesting writing it because that process is changing whole different area, but the process of, and real estate too, like, you, you know, this has, it's been, it's the world has changed dramatically in the past couple of years. So I'm actually a little bit worried about being able to write it and keep it.

You know up to date but wish me luck because I really need to get going on it. I'm pretty far behind So 

[01:08:36] Capn Tinsley: well, what about a youtube channel where people pay for subscription so they can stay up to date? 

[01:08:43] Melanie Neal: I've just an idea. I can't know i've i've always thought about doing that and I would love to do it. I suck at video editing um And, you know, it's just, I know, I know how much work it's, I'm not afraid of work, but I know how much work goes into a YouTube channel.

I know that these, these [01:09:00] YouTubers. Well, it doesn't 

[01:09:00] Capn Tinsley: have to be perfect. Like it doesn't have to be, you know, production doesn't have to be a hundred percent. It's, it's you that, you know, you just got a good camera and a microphone and. Better done than perfect. Your face, your knowledge, boom, done. So. 

[01:09:20] Speaker 3: Yeah.

[01:09:21] Capn Tinsley: Yeah. Something to think about. 

[01:09:23] Speaker 3: Yeah. 

[01:09:23] Capn Tinsley: So do you have a boat project in the works? Oh, oh, yeah. I always have some sort of boat project. Oh yeah. So, um. I'm on the edge of my seat. I can't wait to hear this. 

[01:09:36] Melanie Neal: It's, uh, it's, I sold, I lived, last boat that, um, I lived aboard was a Irwin 43, another one of those Florida built boats, right?

I have an affinity for those. Island Packet, Irwin, Morgan, Catalina, you know, that, that genre. So it was an old Irwin 43. It was a great boat to have a teenage girl on, you know, not what I wanted to go. cruising [01:10:00] on long term. And just at that point, this point, I'm like, I'd rather put my money into a mortgage than put it into new sales when I'm not going to go sailing or put it into.

So I bought a house, um, boatless for a while. And then a very, very good friend of mine just sort of entrusted me. It's kind of a weird, you know, entrusted me with a restoration of her Ingrid 38. And it's just a beautiful double ender, you know, just actually the kind of boat I saw myself in next. Um, seaworthy, you know, it's, it's a great boat, but it needs, it needs, you are 

[01:10:34] Capn Tinsley: restoring it.

[01:10:35] Melanie Neal: I'm yeah. Along, along with somebody else, I'm, I'm restoring it. And, uh, we, you know, painted it and gotten it in the water, but there's tons of rotten decks and there's, it's going to be, it's going to be a good five year restoration, but I have something, I know I have a boat to work on. I'm not just living life.

There's a, there's a, 

[01:10:55] Capn Tinsley: I have a lot of admiration for you to be able to do all that. I mean, I [01:11:00] just wouldn't know where to start, you know, 

[01:11:01] Melanie Neal: don't do it. If it well, I do a lot. I don't do it well. So 

[01:11:06] Capn Tinsley: that's, that's fantastic. Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming on and I feel like I'd like to have you back and Talk about anchorages or something, you know, boat you have for sale or bring on one of your boat kid friends or something.

[01:11:25] Melanie Neal: Yeah, yeah, I definitely, I'd love that. And I know a lot of, I don't know any, you're, you're, you know, in this, This, you know, area too, but women in the Marine industry, getting women into the Marine industry is a huge thing for me. So there it's an industry that's still 98 percent male. And, you know, there are those of us that are female captains and that, you know, have been, so it's, that would be, that's, 

[01:11:53] Capn Tinsley: well, this is what, what I tell people, and I've told this to Leslie, cause she's got, You and a [01:12:00] list of other women sailors that could take her out.

Cause, um, she just needs to get out there and do it is just get out there and do it. Right. Brand new Island packet. Yeah. She's got, she probably got a, um, a bunch of boats. She could go out on, and I told her if you bump the dock, you have a whole factory to fix it. 

[01:12:22] Melanie Neal: Never go any faster than what you're comfortable bumping the dock.

Right. Right, but 

[01:12:30] Capn Tinsley: that's right. And and you just have to just do it. And it's scary. The first couple of times or 15 time, whatever, because all the conditions are different every time. So, 

[01:12:42] Melanie Neal: so. Have a pitter patter in my heart when I back a boat out of the slip or you know, 

[01:12:47] Capn Tinsley: especially when it's windy. Yeah 

[01:12:50] Melanie Neal: You know, it's good.

It's an interesting 

[01:12:52] Capn Tinsley: just do it, right? 

[01:12:54] Melanie Neal: Yeah. All right. 

[01:12:55] Capn Tinsley: Well, thank you. Melanie This has been a pleasure. Please. Tell your parents. Hello and [01:13:00] your sister I'm reading all about them. So I feel like I know i'm already But thank you so much and on this channel. This is how I go out. I say salty abandoned Out.