AQUA QUEEN
10/4/2007 5:05:54 PM by Lisa Knapp
Although Melissa Church doesn’t get much time to sit on her throne, this queen is at the top of the food chain at Aqua Village in Key West — but don’t tell that to the chatty parrot she lives with.
Photo by Lisa Knapp
“Most gals couldn’t do what I do,” says Melissa Church. “It’s like having a 300-foot yacht with an owner and three crew…and I take care of everyone and everything…I’m the queen of this throne.”
Such are the trials and tribulations of Church, manager of Aqua Village, an eight-houseboat flotilla owned by megayacht enthusiast Peter Halmos. Aqua Village is squatting at open mooring in the seagrass flats of Key West, about one mile from the Man Of War docks. From the Aqua Village, Church observes the salvage work of Halmos’ 158-foot sailing megayacht, Legacy, which has been stuck in the seagrass flats since Hurricane Wilma.
While the yacht is finally nearing removal from the Florida Keys National Wildlife Sanctuary, Church manages the whole village. She’s the liaison with the salvage crew. She shops, cooks, feeds and cleans the Aqua Village while handling all accounting, payroll and scheduling for the crew of Legacy and the salvage ops. She also swims with the tarpon daily while watching for rainbows, which occur often with the intense, spontaneous rains that end as soon as they start. Church’s radio handle is Aqua Kitten, which is a reference to her survivor-show-style real life.
“I’m very independent, but occasionally lonely,” she says, “I love the water. I’m drawn to it. The downside is I’ve got everything in the world except time. I’m the only girl, and miss having someone to talk to. But I’m challenging myself and I’m okay by myself.”
It’s the trappings that come with living like a paradisical gypsy. She rides her skateboard through Key West and enjoys collecting seashells and doting on her eclectic menagerie led by Jake, a 10-year-old dog. Jake is Church’s main man right now. He’s in charge of an entourage of ark animals living in her houseboat. An iguana relaxes on her head’s towel bar, two turtles hang in the salon. They’re heckled by an annoying parrot.
At 32, Church is into yoga and art. She’s worked as a glass blower, sculptor and artist. She’s relocated several times to manage every Wyland Gallery, renowned for its marine art collection.
And she usually gets what she wants. Quickly. She is a firm believer in creative visualization.
One day, Church says she will leave the Aqua Village. She says her tears will raise the salinity of the Gulf of Mexico after her departure. But a new adventure awaits: a retreat in Costa Rica. It’s a combo surfing, yoga, soccer, boating, horseback-riding spa escape surrounding her private art gallery. She can see it happening, almost like a double-rainbow.