This morning we raised anchor a lot earlier than we ever have before on this trip including Sandy Point back in Virginia. Poor old Peri had suffered long enough and we needed to get him to a rest stop, pronto! We had had an anchor trip line rigged to the CQR but it turned out to be unnecessary as the bottom was just plain mud - perfect for the CQR but not so good for the deck and Barb's temperament when she got it aboard.

In many respects today's travel was promising to be pretty boring with straight line canal and woods or swamp right to the edge, but at about the half way mark Barb saw a deer come down to the canal to get a drink and a little later on we came across a clearing that had about a dozen wild turkeys grazing. Pretty interesting!

We got to the marina that we were going to stay at around 1030 after steaming steadily since 0610. Very nice little place - a bit remote but they have a courtesy car for guests to borrow to get into Bellhaven for shopping and browsing about. They tell us that we should expect a lot of rain tonight along with the high winds so everything is getting battened down and tightly sealed. This will be the first rain that we have had since Grotton. We haven't had the warmest of weather but it has been dry. One thing for sure, the number of flies has dramatically increased today, in spite of the fact that I have had a shower. I guess that's a sign that we are getting further south.

The marina itself is one of those fixed pylon docks that we are getting more and more used to here. Floating docks simply don't exist since they are just not required as the tide range is either zero or so small as to be nonexistent. Power and water is available on the dock, plus this is the first time that we have noticed that there are regular fire points along the docks. We have been warned that there is abundant wildlife in the area and to not be too surprised during our morning walks with Peri if we come across a bear looking for something to eat.

I have been giving some thought about the starting circuitry for Nelleke and have an idea for a redesign that will eliminate the requirement for a start key. Basically, I will have a toggle switch for ignition and a push to contact switch for the preheat, both with duplicates at both helm stations. Then I'll have a high current push to contact switch at the lower helm station to actually turn the motor over. The boat motor will be locked whenever the boat itself is locked up.

Barb and I borrowed the courtesy car and went into the town of Bellhaven for some groceries and the push to contact switch. If there was any doubt but that we are now in Dixi they were put to rest as we drove past acres of harvested cotton fields. The slash looked like shredded toilet paper scattered along the rows and ditches. I didn't realize that they mechanically baled the stuff now and you'll see 5'x5'x10' bales of cotton pressed into solid rectangles and covered with plastic wrap. Also, we have had proof of the abundance of wildlife as there was deer road kill on the side road leading out to the main drag into town. We interrupted the Turkey Vultures having their dinner.

Everyone down here is incredibly friendly and I guess I'll just have to get used to the girl on the cash register saying things like, "Thenk yew, Babe. Y'all hev a naz dey!" She was kinda cute but she said it to every male customer including one toothless octogenarian so I don't think that it means anything.

Boats have been arriving all afternoon at the marina which I am sure gladdens the heart of the owner. Most of them are powerboats; in fact, I don't believe that there has been a single sailboat arrive after us. There are powerboats from 40' to 80' aplenty, but no sailboats. The weather didn't materialize ugly this afternoon like I was afraid it might have so we could have continued to the next cut with Silverheels III, but now we are hearing that it will pour rain and blow tonight and tomorrow, so I'm just as glad that we're here.

The marina is hosting a pot luck dinner tonight at 18h00 and all the boaters here have been invited to show up with something to share and whatever we want to drink. Barb and I co-operated on a salad and we took a thermos of white wine for our tipple. We met the couple off Magic, one of the boats that passed us in the canal this morning, Curt and Nancy Kruger. They have homes in East Boothbay, ME where they stay for the summer and Pompano Beach, Fl which is their home for the winter and they travel back and forth aboard Magic. They are former sailors who have "escaped the tyranny of sail" as a famous sailing writer whose name escapes me once put it, and were great to talk to. We shared a table and they were kind enough to share some of their experiences and recommend some places to stay en route. If we stay here another day we will probably see more of them.