We made some new friends from the other side of the world last night. Ryuta Tomonaga and Clara Watanabe came aboard both Screech and Nelleke to visit. Their boat, Fang is owned by one of the teachers at a school where Ryuta studies and works and when he decided to take his boat around the world and asked him if he'd like to go Ryuta jumped at the chance. Then later they met Clara at a bar and she said that she'd like to go too. She had little sailing or boating experience so they accepted her conditional upon her taking some sail training and meeting them later on which she did in Vancouver. Their route so far too them from Yokohama up through the Russian coast to the Aleutians and Alaska and down to Vancouver where Clara joined them. They then proceeded down the American coast to Los Angeles and the Baja and Mexico and Central America to Panama where they went through the canal. From there it was up the coast again through the Caribbean to Miami and some of the ICW to where we met them. They left today too and went along to Beaufort, NC where they were jumping offshore directly to NYC. They will be leaving the boat there and heading home for 3 weeks before continuing the journey. As I said yesterday, one of their stops will be Halifax and Barb and I will both be doing our best to get there to welcome them. On a less than wonderful note, Clara showed us a photo of her cabin after the USCG wrecked it during their inspection on the same day that they checked over Nelleke. I understand the need for inspection but why pick on her? Too bad!

We got off at 1000 and headed up the ICW. The area that we were worried about was no problem but at another place just shortly after we left the dock, that we didn't expect any problems at all at the mouth of the New River Inlet, we bumped into a sand bar. It wasn't much and we easily powered over it but it did make us nervous about the area a little beyond the Onslow bridge, but we needn't have worried. We smoked through there with never less than 2 feet under the keel.

The rest of the day was uneventful except for the number of Sportfisherman boats whose skippers need a lesson in manners and seamanship. If we ever see on of them coming up on us from behind or from our bows we just know that the chances are better than 50/50 that the clod won't even pretend to slow down and will give is a good bounce in his wake. Oh for an anti tank missle!

When we got to Moorehead Coty we stopped at the Portside Marina the same place that we stopped at on the way down. Screech went ahead and found a $10 dock at the Sanitary Seafood Restaurant but with no electricity, but they don't use shore power anyway to that was not an issue. Ted up behind them was a Nordic Tug called Nelleke Belle who turned out to come from the next cove over from them back in Maine. Small world for them too.

Tomorrow we will be leaving the dock at about 0800 and going up the Adams River. By 1000 the tide will have turned and we will be riding the tide all the way for most of the day.

But first a message for one of our loyal readers: HI PEG!