Sunday May 15:  Mosquito Lagoon

     We took Willie in to the yacht club first thing to take on water.  After being in the Bahamas and understanding that most water there is rain gathered in cisterns and reverse-osmosis created, it’s quite a thrill to remember that here in the US it’s free and available almost everywhere.  

    We headed back into the ICW North.  It’s the weekend and the air and water temperature are in the eighties.  The waterway is busy with small motor boats of all kinds - jet skis, fishing boats, pontoon boats, weekend party-boats, even sleek, noisy cigarette boats.  They zoom all around, bouncing along at a bone-jarring speed for the occupants who wave at us cheerfully.  We can only imagine what this area is like in the heat of the summer.  We kept up our steady 5.6 knots, reminiscing about the last time we came through, and watching for wildlife.

Ospreys are nesting on almost every day marker.

     Today we saw turtles, dolphins, manatees, and several different birds.  Two new-to-us birds were the white-face glossy ibis (which isn’t white-faced yet, and has a very dark body) and the roseate spoonbill.  There were also white ibises (ibisi ?), royal terns, great blue herons, white egrets, osprey, and lots of pelicans.  After the scarcity of birds in the Bahamas, seeing the large avian community here is very nice.  

Two manatee cavorting in the canal between Mosquito Lagoon and Indian River.

Roseate spoonbill - see the dot of pink in the center of the photo?

Lots of fishermen out.  We don't know what they were catching, but they were catching something.

     We dropped the hook just North of Cape Canaveral, in Mosquito Lagoon.  Fortunately a Northerly breeze is keeping any mosquitoes at bay.  We enjoyed a virtually bug-less fall and winter; I am hoping the trip North in spring time will be ok.  Some people are very attractive to biting/stinging insects.  I am one of them.  If there are ten mosquitoes and a hundred people, I will end up with at least five bites.  We have screens, but it can get a bit stuffy below decks with the hatches and door closed.  But the good news is that the black flies should be gone by the time we get back to Maine!