The Leland Bowman locks, with a 6-pack (double wide and 3 long) barge train coming through. It was apparently very heavy because it moved very slowly.

We left Shell Morgan under cloudy skies with light sprinkles. We looked at the radar and the forecast and decided we could deal with a little light rain. As it turned out, we saw very little rain and in the afternoon we even got a little sunshine. About 3 miles out of Intracoastal City we had to go through another set of locks. The lockmaster asked us to wait outside the area because he had east-bound traffic coming in. It ended up being a long wait (about 45 minutes), loitering in a wide place in the ICW, since the barge was so big and moved slowly. Still, when it was our turn the transit went very quickly because we were directed to float the lock again (so no stopping to tie up inside).

The rest of the day went smoothly, although of course there was plenty of barge traffic. Along the way we kept spotting flocks of flamingos flying over, mostly going northeast. Then at one point there were a lot of them, along with some egrets, roosting in the trees along the ICW. Maybe they were there because we were passing through rice fields, or maybe they migrate?

We arrived at our anchorage late in the afternoon and had plenty of time to get set up, enjoy the breeze with some adult beverages, listen to the alligators roaring, and have dinner before dark. Then we enjoyed a beautiful sunset, one of those that keeps changing colors. By the way, if you decide to anchor in the river make sure you go all the way past the green #5 and turn to starboard into the north side of the island, where the charts says "Stump PA". We had 11+ feet of water all along, whereas on the other side of the island there are some shallow spots.

This morning we got up, had our coffee (Ralph) and tea (me) outside in the cockpit, enjoying the scenery. We decided since we enjoy this area so much, no need to move on right away - so we're staying an extra day. The alligators were roaring again this morning and we saw a big one resting on a log nearby. We also watched some turtles sunbathing on another log (not too close to the gator). We're just chilling like the natives!