Our 50 mile trip along the ICW yesterday was pretty uneventful. There was a lot of barge traffic (even though we thought they didn't run on Sundays). And of course, sometimes we passed them in narrow places (like with shipyards on both sides) just to make it exciting. There were only 3 bridges to open and no delays. Our speed only averaged about 4 knots, so it took 11 hours. We would have been faster if we could have sailed, but what little wind we had was on the nose. It was so smooth and calm in the ICW that Ralph was able to refuel underway. We didn't leave as early as we had hoped (because we were exhausted from Saturday's trip), so we didn't arrive here until right at sunset. The marina here is right between twin 73 ft. bridges, an easy (if tight) entry.

We got settled in, had dinner, and went out into the cockpit to relax and look around. A tug with 3 barges started by when suddenly...BANG! They hit the bridge structure on the other side of the ICW. The impact broke the barges loose from each other and the tug. Barges hit both sides of the ICW. The tug spun around and hit some rocks. People came out of their houses to see what the loud noise was, so there were lots of spectators on both sides of the waterway. The police came, the water police boat came, the Coast Guard was called and the waterway was shut down for hours. They had to bring in a rescue boat to get all the barges rounded up and out of the way. But no one was hurt, so that's good. Apparently this has happened before. It does not inspire confidence in the barge captains! Although all the ones we've dealt with have been very professional and nice on the radio.

We are spending an extra day here to rest and plan the rest of our trip home to Texas.