Cedar Creek - at anchor

Shrimping is a big industry in this area

We had entered Swan Point Marina bow in but didn't want to back out into the ICW. It's not good practice to lead in shallow waters with your most vulnerable boat part. If the rudder were to hit solid bottom, it could break off and sink the boat!  So this morning was an exercise in how to turn a 42 boat 180 degrees in roughly 50 ft of space. It can be done by using prop walk and judicious use of forward thrust with the rudder pulled over. Unfortunately, I neglected to dry off the morning moisture over the front plastic so I couldn't see a thing! Ann stood outside the enclosure telling me how close I came to other boats. Eventually, we made it out without hitting anyone else.

He's not nearly as serious as he appears here

The rest of the trip wasn't nearly as exciting. We came through some shallow spots but nothing that challenged our 4' 9" draft. Our goal was Cedar Creek which we've always found to be excellent as an anchorage. There's a place to take Hoolie with a sandy beach and it's always calm and well protected. We invited a fellow boater over tonight for wine and dinner and watched the Kentucky Derby, Bill Edelstein who follows horses more than we do.

In the fall I had taken photos of the shrimp boats as they returned to their docks deeper in the cove. I since had printed pictures and mounted them in frames and today I placed one in the working area of the shrimp factory. I had wanted to present them personally but on a Saturday, no one was around.

As always, we like a good sunset

On Sunday we'll use the manual windlass method (me) to haul anchor and head to RE Mayo Docks where our new motor was sent. Hopefully I'll be able to install the new motor (hope it fits!) and all will be well. This manual stuff gets old quickly.