Barefoot Landing Marina - we have a great meal at Greg Norman's Australian Grill

How would you like to meet this fella going through the Rock Pile?? Note the "helper" strapped on the side

Getting the boat ready for moving on Monday involved filling the water tanks and cleaning out the cabin. Even cruising the ICW, you still have to do "housework". We were reminded today why we call ahead and ask whether there's any commerical traffic (barges, etc.) entering the ICW Rock Pile from the south. There were three barges pushed by large tugs over the past 24 hours that went north up the ICW. Furthermore, they are not just one barge wide but rather two barges side by side or in one case, a barge with a "helper" for going around curves beside the line of barges. Either way, there just cannot be very much room for south bound traffic in the Rock Pile when these guys are headed north! On the other hand, there's got to be more room than we think in the channel through there in order to pass two barges side by side!

Well, he did seem to make it through the bridge

I got a photo of the last of the three barges that passed us today. At least he showed up on AIS so we knew when he was coming. He's the one that appeared to have a "helper" tug strapped to one side of the barges., effectively making the push tow a double wide. In addition to the photos above, here's a video of the barge passing by. You get a better feel for the size of the barge from the video.

One of many couples that stopped by to chat

We're on a face dock here and as people walk by, they often stop and chat awhile. Of course, Ann is not shy about chatting so there usually ensures quite a conversation. Many are attracted by Hoolie, his breed has quite a reputation around here as a good bird dog. Most would love to be doing what we're doing and we would need the Queen Mary to house everyone that offered to come along.

On Monday we'll move on to Georgetown, SC for a stopover. Hopefully the fish market will be open even though it's a holiday, it would be nice to have fresh fish for dinner.We had a great meal tonight at Greg Norman's Austrialian Grill, highly recommended when you're in the area.