Our Intrepid "Swamp Fox"

I hope I won't be embarrassing him here, so I won't use real names, but just call him Francis; after Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox" of revolutionary fame.  Our 'Swamp Fox" built his own 28 ft boat... It's lines are similar to a C-Dory, but it is much longer and taller with a deeper keel.  It is also fairly narrow for its length (about 8 ft wide).  

For anyone who doesn't know; or doesn't want to reference Wikipedia to find out; Francis Marion is considered the "father of guerilla warfare", and the movie "Patriot" (Mel Gibson) is very loosely inspired by his life and escapades.  All along the ICW we saw references to Francis Marion (including a very lovely state park/campground).  He confounded the Brits, time and time again; ecaping into the swamps, to later strike again.

Our "Francis" loves the swamps and can't resist exploring every creek and inlet along the way.  He often veered off course, away from the group; later to meet up and join us for a meal.  We didn't worry, we knew he'd come around when Joan or David was cooking!  He dragged his dinghy so that he could explore areas where his boat wouldn't go.  We know he caught some fish but only to know he "could have" fed himself if he needed to.  He would anchor off, away from the docks, because he just preferred to anchor out.  If he's not the Swamp Fox, then he is Huck Finn reincarnated.  

Catfish for dinner?  Nah, he just caught it for fun

On our last day, "Francis" dawdled at some point and missed a bridge; so he traveled behind us a bit.  However, as we approached Portsmouth, we were stuck waiting for a bridge to lift (waiting over an hour and a half) and there he caught up with us.  He looked around and radioed that he thought he could go under, through the trestles.  Then motored up and down, investigating to find the best spot.  Our jaws dropped as he proceeded right through!  We asked if he scraped and whether we should try it.  We didn't get a definitive answer, so we exercised caution. Our boat is about the same beam, but the C-25 would definitely not have made it.  So, we sat another half hour listening to the pre-recorded announcement stating that the bridge would lift "momentarily".