We had put the aircon on in the bedroom to cool it down, and turned the Vornado fan on when we finally turned the genset off. We have to have Genset power (runs on diesel) for the aircon to run, and we dont want to run the risk of failure while we sleep and carbon monoxide poisoning.
Waz installed a carbon monoxide detector next to my side of the bed where the vent from the aircon blows towards it. That should wake more than the dead...and that isnt a joke, actually. It is a silent killer and you wont smell it either. This is one reason we decided to bite the bullet and sleep in the room with portholes open and only the fan on.
The wind was cool while we were showering out back, but a stunning evening with a full moon and Stars!! yes...we could actually see stars. I say this because in Houston there was so much pollution we had trouble seeing them at all.
I guess we had our full 8 hrs sleep because we were awake at 5.45am, and up looking at the last of the moon with a halo around it. The boat feels and smells salty...not much fun when you have to hold onto the railings to navigate. It is also dangerous and slippery.
The morning was gorgeous:) We ate and cleaned up and got ready to move around 7.30am. The light was stunning...
As we were not far off the ICW we could see that we would need to make a run for it before a Tow came around the corner and out into the river mouth. We managed to slip in line before he made it to the opening.
He was about 5 mins behind us.
Up ahead were a series of tows that we had to negotiate with to pass.
This part of the ICW became more interesting with the odd house on the banks, more animals and larger trees.
This is rather idyllic:)
Miles from anywhere. This was something we had trouble getting our heads around. We couldnt see past the trees, and on our chart plotter the chart said 'swamp' everywhere...so how come there were people, animals.(farm) and houses??? no sign of roads on our charts at all. I guess this is easily explained...it is a chart of the waterway:)
From a distance this patch of weed looked like sand coming out into the ICW, so it was a bit worrying when we saw a barge coming through the small gap going through the middle of it. We guessed that it must move, coz he went through it. This is the first lot of weed we have seen out in the ICW.
There are little off-shoots all along the ICW and it would be fun to explore them in a little boat. Most of them have many obstructions in the water...hence the need for a little boat!
Here we are in the middle of our second lock, with the gates opening at the far end to let us out. We had to wait again for a Tow to go through. Not a lot of room for us to mark time, but we dont have much choice.
Waz it taking care not to pass too close to this tow, and keep enough distance from the bank of the waterway. We have to keep a close eye on the depth sounder when overtaking, more than any other time. The ICW is really wide in some places. When we overtake a tow, we have to ask which side to pass because they often move over for us to pass, but others hog the middle of the waterway, forcing us to go into shallower water. To date, the majority have been great. 
The Capt. of this cute little tug 'Mud Tug 11' was not very happy with us. We should have slowed down when passing him, but we were so busy finding it cute and passing a tow at the same time, it slipped our minds. Waz greeted him, but his frantic waving told us his greeting wasn't a friendly one! Lots of wood chips in the water for about a mile after passing this scene where they are clearing the land.
Here we are 8 miles up Bayou Petit Anse with our first view of Port Delcambre. Waz had looked at it on Google Earth, so he had an idea of what was coming, but I had no idea:)
This used to be the Shrimp capital of the USA, apparently. After the Hurricane that wiped out New Orleans, and then the oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico, the fleet is much diminished and the product is not what it was. They also said the imported shrimp have threatened the indigenous industry.
Looking out the starb'd window I took this photo before the rain finally came down. Looking towards the main road (cant see it from here tough) where those tall towers are the rail bridge over the river.
Now here is THE cutest tug we have seen so far:) I bet my nephews would get a kick out of this one!!
and finally....
The sausages were a gift from the local butcher...Cajun Cane Sugar sausages...now, we have seen cane growing all along the ICW...also rice!
These were part of the gift basket Katherine appeared with after we docked. Amazing gifts from the local community to welcome us to the marina.
So much to see and do in this place and surrounding area. It is truly fascinating History. I think we are staying a week here and with a rental car will be able to travel to many different venues to check out the local 'stuff' woohoo!!!
Night night. Waz is already snoring, and it is past our bedtime.
Ciao
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