History of Land Yacht Harbor of Melbourne

James Brungaard took on this challenge without Port O'Call and because of his foresight and determination, he planned and built LYH with the help of many volunteers from Port O'Call.
After a parcel of land had been found, it was decided by three people to form a new corporation without Port O'Call, and go ahead for a new park. These people were James Brunsgaard, Millard and Myrtle Finch. They established a "Blue Sky Corporation" which meant the corporation had no assets, owned nothing and it was necessary to sell stock for capital to start this project.
A meeting with the Exchange & Securities Commission approved the sale of stock. Stock was issued at $250 a share, with a limit of four shares per family. Shares were sold out of the Finch's trailer. Working capital was produced. Officers purchased 10 shares each giving them controlling interest. The capital was to be used to purchase the land and develop a travel trailer park similar to the plan of Port O'Call. The Corporation was incorporated in May 1976.
Two other sites were looked at but were not selected. The land finally selected was in Brevard County at 201 John Rodes Blvd. It was 22 acres more or less, 1/2 mile in length, and was covered with jungle-like growth of saw palmetto, slash pine, long needle pine trees, wiregrass, shrubs with yellow blossoms and rattle snakes.
Water and sewer were available from the city of Melbourne.
The selling price was finally negotiated at $5500 per acre.
An initial payment of $1000 was made on April 22, 1977, but soon found that utility costs with the city of Melbourne were too high. As all trailers were self contained, the required need for 50 toilets was cancelled. A rest room in the rec building would be sufficient to cover the sanitary code and the rate was lowered from $437 per trailer to $107.
It was now time to move on after the approval of stockholders at the November 1976 meeting.
Before the clearing of the property began, it was necessary to install a N-S conduit bolstered by 446 bags of cement or sand. This is the beginning of Midlane to allow approach to the property. The clearing and burning began in preparation for digging. Much hard work was ahead as the property needed city water lines as well as sewer lines. Robert King with his heavy machinery, cleared the land. The manual labor was done by a group of volunteers that Brunsgaard recruited from Port O'Call. He filled his van each day with volunteers and their reward was an opportunity to purchase stock and a preference in selection of a lot.
Digging ditches and laying pipe was hot, dirty work but the men kept at it and formed a camaraderie while working together. The women kept their thirst satisfied with iced tea, water, hot coffee and cookies according to the weather.
The sewer lines line ran north up John Rodes Blvd. to connect with the outlet at the second Harris plant. The volunteer workers were given credit for all this digging outside the park property.
The water line was connected to the one already in place as the water supply for the city of Melbourne comes from Lake Washington and crosses the park here. Melbourne has a right of way along the water lines. There is one meter located near the Midlane drying yard.
As the work progressed trailers began to arrive and the first trailerites have said that they felt like pioneers. With no hook ups and the only system available was a generator fueled with one gallon of gas and one quart of oil. This was started at dusk and when the fuel ran out it was bedtime. First trailers in the park were Warren Cheeley, Emery Noble, Martin MacPherson, Howard McCue and John Klein.
With a high water table present there were cave ins to contend with as the men were digging, but no serious injury was reported. Supplies were brought in and stored in the open and in one instance an 8 inch pipe disappeared during the night, Brunsgaard aware of the need of someone to stay on the site day and night, did just that for about three weeks. He stayed in a trailer left in the park by a former repair service worker and was then criticized for neglecting his duties at Port O'Call.
Florida Power and Light installed primary circuits and electric meters but LYH was responsible for the area at rear of these meters. There were six park volunteers who worked with FPL in placing the cables.
The plans for the park were drawn by Millard Finch, following a similar pattern of Port O'Call, lots being 40 x50 ft placed at an angle. Patio pads to be 8x20 ft and a pad 8x10 ft for an aluminum utility shed.
There were many delays because of the boundaries. Agreements were reached between Harris Corp and the southern boundary owner and with a new survey the park became 360 ft wide.
A drainage canal or ditch was definitely needed to dry out the property, Robert King was hired to dig a 7 ft drainage ditch around the entire property. An artesian well spouting a 4 ft high stream nearby added to the moisture and was plugged by a sapling. The drainage canal surrounding the property was later filled in to form a shallow swale.
James Brunsgaard and Emery Noble as his helper worked through the summer of '77 putting in sewer traps. Can you imagine working like this in Florida in the summer?
Emery Noble had to leave and Brunsgaard continued working often putting three traps a day, and by September 1, had 130 sewer traps installed and approved. By May 1978 there were 128 spaces ready and time to start the east section. The lift station was installed in January 1978. There were more delays in operation at the lift station because of a cave-in, sand in lines and poor connections.
As the park progressed, road names came into being. They were Alpha Lane, Omega Lane and Midlane. These lanes were muddy with ruts and poor drainage. Black top was added in May 1981. This added to the beauty of the park and made walking and biking easier. Later Theta Land and Sigma Lane opened when the park was more developed. The East section was now being built and with the winter rains there was much to contend with. Each trailerite was to beautify his own space. Laying sod was a beginning and then the cement runs for parking the tow vehicle helped. Some trees were planted but not all survived. Work on digging for lines and making concrete patio and shed pads moved along at a good pace. The workers were here in the park and did not have to be transported from Port O'Call as with the developing of the west section. The women helped in the field with moral support, snacks and liquid refreshments. When the daily call came for workers at 8am, many of the new-comers protested saying they were on vacation. But when the cement trucks arrived with the raucous air horns blasting the quiet community, the "vacation" folks changed their minds and came out to help.
The first business office and post office were in metal sheds now used for storage in back of the rec building.
Social gatherings and happy hours were held in the rec hall which needed a lot of work to be completed on the inside. It was this need that motivated the residents to organize the Land Yacht Harbor of Melbourne Residents association in 1981 to represent their interests in financial and physical contributions to the park.
There was a mandatory requirement by the corporation that lessees:
    1. Sod their leased lots
    2. Buy and installed utility sheds on lots
    3. Provide concrete automobile driveways on lots
    4. Many leaseholders provided concrete pads under their trailers (this was not mandatory)
The above investment by each leaseholder was approximately $1200.
In addition to the above financial investment on individually leased lots it became apparent that to fully enjoy the building facilities in the park certain amenities had to be provided such as tables, chairs, pianos, refrigerators, coffee pots and miscellaneous supplies. These items were not considered by the corporation management as proper to the expenditure of the corporation funds. Therefore the lease holders had to arrange for financing and purchasing of items essential to this phase of the park.
All of the tables, chairs, table dollies, card tables, refrigerator, stoves, coffee pots, punch bowls, drapes, propane grills, pots, pans, tile on the floor, kitchen cabinets, outside bulletin board, shuffleboard roof and benches, food processor, microphone and even more has been supplied by the residents association. More than $18,000 was donated to the park via individual donations, sales of newspaper and aluminum, green stamp sales, flea market and bake sales, social affairs, pancake breakfasts and many individual airstream units each contributing to making Land Yacht Harbor more enjoyable for its residents.
All these improvements were done for the love of the park. Each committee had a pet project and worked toward seeing the project completed. There was never any problem getting people to work, because everyone had something they wanted for LYH and committees could designate what they wanted to have done with the money made from their function.
Because of the work and talent of the residents, we now have a beautiful park with a lovely club house instead of a shell for a building, paved streets instead of mud ruts, nice patios and sodded lawns.
In 1989 the residents association resigned in body over the dismissing of a propane chairman. The resignation was accepted by the president Charles Brodie, and the residents association was disbanded. The park was then under the directional the Board of Directors only and they were required to pick up the duties and take responsibility of running the park without the financial and social help of the residents association.
The park has been operating under this policy since.
In 1994 other brands were allowed to rent in the park on short and long term rentals as there were as many as 70 sites with fewer airstreams coming into the park and a poor economy. The board advertised in camping books and made incentives more attractive to airstreamers.
From 1995-1998 a fountain was donated and installed, the drying yards were concreted, four pool tables were purchased, trash collection was changed which saved money. Some aprons and pads were put on company sites, and two shelters were built near the lake. Visitor parking spaces were black topped and our park was beautifully landscaped.
The last 4- 5 years our park has made many changes to keep up with changing times. Some people were not happy with these changes, especially with other brands renting in the park. These other brands helped financially and many of them volunteered in the park.
We are still a volunteer park with the exception of office help, a custodial worker and yard maintenance crew. Rentals have helped provide revenues for many of the extra pleasures we enjoy.
In the past few years a new 100 amp electric system was installed at all sites, a new heating/aircondition system was installed in the rec building and many aprons have been poured so we can do away with the laying boards for entering and exiting sites. A retaining wall was installed in the lake to stop erosion.
Today Port O'Call has closed. Land Yacht Harbor of Melbourne invites you to spend a day, a week or a lifetime with us ... Come live the dream!
---- Complied for the 25th Anniversary 2004 By Eleanor Krohn