Blog 006 – It’s the Little Things that Matter

So the little things in life really do matter. I am talking about the really little things – mosquitoes! We are on a mooring in Titusville, FL. We pulled in exhausted yesterday afternoon. I can’t even count all the bridges we went under or thru. We followed a tugboat pushing a barge all afternoon. It was hot and we took the side windows off to get some airflow thru the cockpit. We took turns driving the boat, hand steering, speeding up and slowing down constantly because of the tugboat ahead of us. There was no passing him because like us, he was constrained by his draft and he had to keep to the center of the channel which is not very wide. Occasionally a big trawler would pass us both, squeezing by and leaving us rolling from the wake.

We motored thru Mosquito Lagoon. An area that is a huge wide open lake, but only about three feet deep. It deceivingly looked like we were going into the open ocean with water as far as you can see ahead of us. Water every where- just none of it was very deep. Liana joked that if I fell overboard here she wouldn’t be able to turn around she would just stop the boat so I could walk back. Then the ICW (intracoastal waterway) took a dog leg turn and went thru the Haul Over Canal. This place connects the lakes and rivers together. It’s lined with trees on both sides and is like taking a 50 ft boat thru a ditch that’s two sizes too small. Right in the middle is a bridge. So while we were trying to avoid trees and stay in the deeper water, we were calling the bridge operator and asking him to open the bridge for us. He told us to continue our current course and speed and he would have the bridge open by the time we got there. Closer, closer, closer. Just like clock work we made it thru yet another bridge opening.

Only one more bridge left for us this day. This next one was just possibly a bit trickier than the last. This was the NASA rail road bridge.
I can imagine these huge space shuttles being ferried by rail out to the launch pad over this thing. This bridge is unmanned according to reports on Active Captain. So there’s no one to call to open it. Also, there is another report of the marine traffic signals for this bridge being out of commission. So, no lights. It might come open without warning or be closed. We didn’t know until we got close. (Remember, no room to turn around). I also read about this bridge. A while back a yacht was going thru in fog and did not know the bridge was being worked on that evening. It tore the mast right out of the boat and did a lot of damage. Well, we were not taking any chances. Liana was on the binoculars looking for the bridge as soon as we got close enough. Open or closed. Open or closed. Get a little closer. Good news for us, it was open. It was strait up in the air like a gigantic Crane. No trains and we are home free.

On to Titusville. We picked up a mooring ball and Liana got a nasty cut from barnacles on the mooring ball line. Blood all over the rail and deck. We finally got tied up, the cut was cleaned up, and we were in for the night. Still hot but we watched a thunder storm roll by east of us with a lot of lightning.

Now about those little things that really matter. When we went to bed it was a hot 85 degrees so every window and hatch was wide open. A gentle breeze was blowing, cooling me off. But a little later after we fell asleep we found out how Mosquito Lagoon got its name. I got up quick and shut all the windows & hatches but it was to late. The little buzzards were already having us for dinner.

If you think you are to small to make a difference in this world just consider the mosquito. We out-weigh them millions to one, but it only takes one of those little critters buzzing your ear to keep you up all night long. Tonight we made a screen for our hatch. We learned even the littlest can matter the most. Good night and God Bless.