John closes the chart on the ICW. We have sailed all the way from the Bahamas, then Florida and up the Intracostal Waterway back to Virginia and the Chesapeake Bay. We still have a ways to go -- all the way up the Bay along VA and into Maryland to our home port. We are excited and relieved to be so close to home!

These long days on the ICW have been a lot of fun but the kids have done some review work for school, and learned some new things too. Francesca is so proud that she learned to write her name. Not bad for just turning 4 years old!

Just about 10 minutes after this tug and barge pass us, we hear the captain on the VHF radio calling the coast guard because he has lost steering and the barge is out of control. The coast guard immediately called all boats to vacate the area and get out of the way. We then saw several police boats pass us on their way to help out. Like they say...timing is everything!

We've seen lots of marine life but we were surprised when a black bear came wondering through the marina. Apparently, he is fond of the fig trees on the edge of the property -- he even climbed one. We watched him eat for about 20 minutes. Fortunately, he had enough and disappeared into the woods. We know we are in the middle of nowhere, for sure! (Really, the nearest town is 13 miles away!)

JT is happy to be able to fish off the docks and takes advantage fishing all the way until sunset.

Next stop is Belhaven, NC. We have high hopes based on the ad in the Waterway Guide. The marina is old and in need of some updating, to say the least. The pool was dirty and the manor was dark and musty. The elk head is pretty cool, though.

We get to Oriental, the sailing capital of North Carolina, this afternoon. We had a good ride there but once we got docked on the face dock, the wind kicked up and stayed blowing between 15-25 knots the rest of the day and night. Needless to say, we rocked and rolled all night. There is not much to the town but there are alot of shrimping boats around. We did go to a little restaurant, M & M, with "amazing grits" according to JT, who loves this southern dish.

Gianna practices by reading Francesca a bedtime story. Good night, girls.

After about 9 hours of very little wind and very hot sun, we stop in Swansboro, NC. It is a small, quaint town that lives up to the marketing campaign.

We leave Wrightsville Beach early and watch the sunrise as we head out. It is another HOT day on the ICW.

We are surprised to see about a half a dozen ewes or goats or some other kind of animals on the shore of the ICW.

Will the tooth fairy find the boat? We hope so because Gianna lost her third tooth on the top row! (She wants everyone to know she's lost five in all!)
No corn on the cob or apples for her!

John is up at 5:00 AM to check the weather and it looks like the tropical depression is now a tropical storm and located north -- right where we are headed. Captian John decides "better safe that sorry" and we stay in Myrtle Beach one more day. We spend an interesting morning at Alligator Adventure and the kids even get to pet a baby alligator.

We were planning on leaving today but overnight a tropical depression developed right over Myrtle Beach. We don't want to take a chance with wind and waves, so we are stuck here. We go to the movies and see Journey to the Center of the Earth and hang out with our friends. Trust me, there are worse places to be stranded!

We head to Myrtle Beach, and the friends we met in Charleston meet us there to help us celebrate JT's 9th birthday. One of the highlights of JT's day is Wulf let him drive their dingy to and from the restaurant. JT handled it like a pro and we all had a great dinner.