THE DISMAL SWAMP

We left Tidewater Marina on 9/28/12 to get into the Dismal Swamp. Mile zero of the Intercoastal Waterway starts right in front of the marina and after a few miles of more huge shipyards building huge ships, we passed under the first bridge and then made a starboard (right) turn into the the Dismal Swamp Canal. If we continued going straight we would be taking the Virginia Cut of the waterway. The right turn took us into a narrow channel that was covered with trees and vegetation on both sides and ran in pretty much a straight line for most of our first day. The Dismal Swamp Canal was dug under the supervision of George Washington, who had purchased thousands of acres of the swampy area for the wealth of Cypress and Cedar trees that grew there. Cypress and Cedar wood is rot resistant and was used for ship building and housing. He primarily used slave labor to dig it and the logging industry eventually cleared virtually every Cedar and Cypress tree in the area. The swamp got it's name from how the local people percieved it to be; dismal. It was interesting traveling through it and there was some nice scenery, but in many ways, I can see how it got its name. The water is a dark brown from all the rotting vegetation and looked like we were traveling through dark coffee. There are two locks in the canal that raise and lower you about 8 feet and they only open at 8:30 AM, 11:00 AM and 1:30 PM. We had left early to make sure we got to the first lock in time for the 8:30 opening. We were about 45 minutes early. It seems the distances on the canal are measured in miles per hour and we calculated our arrival based on knots per hour, and we were not alone. We circled around in the narrow canal with another sail boat that was trying to catch up to his sailing club who was spending the night at the North Carolina Welcome Center at Mile 28. The canal had a reasonable depth of 7 to 10 feet through this section, but there was a considerable amount of debris, and every once in a while we would hit something submerged in the water. We had been warned about "deadheads" that are sunken logs that would sometimes float up from the bottom and become hazards. We made it to the Welcome center in mid afternoon and, even with a dozen other boats there that were rafted off to each other, we were able to get a spot a along the wall. Later on, a trawler came along and we let them tie up to us, since there was no room left. We had a light dinner and explored the Welcome Center and the Dismal Swamp museum before the rain started and then we called it an early night. Entering the Dismal Swamp

Coffee Colored Water

Surpises around every corner.

Manana and her trawler buddy Summer Time

In the morning, all the South bound boats left at 6:30 in the morning to get to the 2nd lock opening at 8:30 AM. We decided to wait for the 11 AM opening and had a restful morning and a nice breakfast on board. It appears that the next lock was only about 5 miles away, which meant all those boats that left at 6:30 had to have gotten there almost an hour early. After confirming the distance with the Welcome Center, we didn't leave until 9:45 and decided to travel at a slower pace. The canal appeared to be widining some and the scenery became a little different, but when we got to the lock, we were told that there was North bound traffic and they would go through first and then we could go. So, once again, we had to stay in position for about 45 minutes while the Northbound boat went through the lock and bridge. The scenery after the 2nd lock changed even more dramatically with a heavy carpet of green across the water. Further down, the canal entered the Pasquotank River where it got wider and deeper. We passed several abandoned logging camps and the "deadheads" kept banging against our keel. We finally got through and passed under the Elizabeth City Bridge and to the Pelican Marina for the night. The 11 O'clock Lock

Green carpeted water

Dismal (?) Scenery

Denise's cousin Judy, who had been traveling with us through the Dismal Swamp, was having her son pick her up on Sunday morning. He got there around 8:30 and by 9:30 we were being driven to the grocery store to restock the boat. It took a lot longer than we had hoped to get the shopping done and get on our way. We left around noon to exit the Pasquotank River and cross the Albermarle Sound to the Alligator River. We had originally hoped to get to the South end of the River to an anchorage, but we had to stop and get fuel at the Alligator River Marina. It was already 4:30 by the time we fueled up and it would take another 3 hours or more to get to the anchorage and it would be dark. We decided to stay at the marina for the night. Tomorrow, we travel over 35 miles through the Alligator River. Yes, there are alligators in the Alligator River.