Luck runs out on Mayday.

 The day started well. Sunshine a fair wind, we knew there was a thunderstorm coming so having learned from yesterday's storm we decide to anchor for lunch and sit out the storm. No storm arrived, lunch was tasty.

 On we went, Vince noticed that one of the exhaust pipe fittings appeared to be lose, we continued as the thing was so corroded it could not be tightened. 

We were at low tide and there was very little water, several times we went aground trying to find a route through the low water.  On one such occasion after a very hard stint of reversing to pull ourselves out of the mud Lizzie spots black smoke billowing from the engine compartment. My first impression was that we were on fire but once the smoke had cleared, and there was a lot to clear, all looked safe. The anchor was dropped and we investigate. It looked like leaking exhaust had filled the engine compartment and starved the engine of air causing the black smoke. Vince's lovely clean engine and the whole of the engine compartment was as black as the ace of spades.

  It was now getting dark and nothing to do but stay put anchored where one shouldn't be, right in the middle of the ICW.

 At about 2am Vince checks depth and realises we have swung round to a very shallow piece of water so we have to reset the anchor in deeper water, all done we now keep a watch for the rest of the night.

 Come morning bits of wire hold the exhaust together as we very gingerly head to George Town to find somebody to fix it.