Up at first light to find the cockpit covered with hundreds (thousands?) of gnats. They left a green slime. They are just like Lake Erie gnats except 10 times the size. We spent our first few hours underway cleaning them up. While going up the Alligator River, a military fighter jet screamed past us, then several more. For over an hour they ran maneuvers around us. They'd come down low to the water and scream by our stern. We could see the flames coming out of the engines. We felt the roar and the noise was deafening. They'd accelerate up tens of thousands of feet in seconds, do some barrel rolls and dive back down in front of us, rolling 180 degrees only to start over again. Later in the day, in the Alligator-Pungo Rivers Canal, we saw natural birds of prey - eagles, cruising along the banks and tree tops looking for dinner. It seems we may have finally found the warmth as we spent the day in sunshine with t-shirts!

Mike

The similarity between the jets and eagles was striking. Yet, the birds were seen, not heard; rolling , diving and climbing much like the fighter jets. A beautiful sight.

Liz