When traveling on the "ditch", one of the important aspects of our journey is to research what lies ahead. Are there bridges that we have to wait for, when do the bridges open, are there any shallow areas that we need to be aware of and plan for? Today's trip was about shallow water. According to the US Army Corps of Engineers, there were a number areas on our route today that were 3 to 6 ft in depth at low tide. This meant that with our 5 foot, 3 inch draft, we could not likely be able to go over these areas at low tide. Planning was required. We were able to leave this morning at near high tide at the marina and progress over to these shallow areas "not at low tide". Actually we had plenty of water below us at the time of our passage, but it would have been much different if we had left earlier of later in the day.

During our early start ( just before 7am ), we encountered endless miles of marsh. In amongst the grasses we saw egrets and pelicans darting in and around the marsh. I saw my first dolphin jump out of the water in the distance while the pelicans dive bombed their prey near the surface of the water. Cormorants are plentiful here. You will often see them perched on the navigation markers with their wings outstretched capturing the sun.

Arriving at Lady's Island Marina, we were asked to tie up behind another Canadian flagged boat. Later on as we were walking around the marina, I saw this man walk by and I said to Lynn "I think I know that guy". Well it turns out it was a guy named Scott ( an experienced sailor ) who we had met at Riverview marina on the northern part of the Hudson River many many weeks ago. It turns out it was his boat that was in front of us. After some discussions about our journeys, I would say that they had much more horrific stories that we did since we last saw them. During that big Nor Easter storm that we told you about, they were in an anchorage at Coney Island and both of their anchors came loose while 60 knot winds thrashed them against wooden posts along the shore. They could not do anything but ride it out. In the end everyone was fine but he and his wife came up with some new rules for the journey going forward which meant they were to be cautious of the weather and take their time. Similar to what we are doing. As well, the young couple from Port Colborne on a boat called Widely Intrepid is also here and have been buddy boating with Scott and his wife Toby. Nice to see and catch up with other Canadians that are the same adventure. I guess we're not so slow after all.