NC - VA: Dismal Swamp

Day 344
July 2, 2016
NM Today: 40
NM To Date: 5562
Locks: 104

With the completion of our travel through the Dismal Swamp today, we hit two major milestones on our Great Loop trip. We have not encountered any locks on our travels since the "western rivers". The lock at the entry to the Dismal Swamp canal and the second lock at the end of the canal added two more locks to our prior total of 102. These are the last locks that we will traverse as part of our Great Loop trip.

Our second milestone accomplished today was the completion of our trip on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (ICW). When we docked in Norfolk, we arrived at mile marker zero of the ICW. (We have been counting down as we traveled north.)

We had an absolutely gorgeous day weather-wise to travel through the Dismal Swamp. Rains yesterday reduced the air temperature and we had a lovely breeze to keep us cool.  As all the cruising guides state quite clearly the Dismal Swamp is far from dismal. It is so named because European settlers called swamps "dismals".  Traveling through this particular section of the ICW made me feel like we were miles and miles from civilization surrounded by nothing but water, trees, and a lone eagle.

Long and narrow canal leading into the Dismal Swamp in NC
(the green in the water is pollen from the trees)

 The only concern we had as we slowly motored through the canal was the wood in the water - some we could see and some we could not. I heard a "ka-thunk" several times and winced every time.

Branches reaching out to grab unsuspecting boaters ...

We targeted arriving at the South Mills Lock at the southern end of the Dismal Swamp canal for their 11:00 opening. With mostly "slow speed - no wake" it took us two hours to reach the lock from Lambs Marina where we started today's journey at 8:30 this morning. Given we arrived with time to spare, we tied up to await our turn to lock through.

South Mills Lock - Dismal Swamp, NC

Tied up and waiting for the "red light" to turn green

 Actually we were not alone traveling on the Dismal Swamp, it just felt that way. We had a sailboat that followed us the whole way.

Dismal Swamp traveling companion Sur la Vent

At each end of the DS canal we found a lock / bridge combination. Both required the lockmaster's attention as the lock must be operated and the bridge opened. The lockmaster would do one of these operations and then jump in his truck to drive to the other site and perform his second role.

Water came up 10'; Time to leave the lock

Houses located along the road visible
between the lock and the bridge

Bridge opened to allow us to continue our trip

The stretch of canal between the two locks was straight and narrow. Along this section of the canal, we passed a few folks in kayaks and inadvertently chased a bald eagle along the waterway. Every time we got near the perched eagle, he took off down the waterway to find another tree branch.

Chasing an eagle down the ICW -
he's in the middle of the picture

Kayaks along the side watching us pass by

The Dismal Swamp Visitor Center is situated between the two locks. As we approached, the pedestrian, swing / pontoon bridge magically opened for our passage through. We had talked about stopping here for a look around; however, by the time we reached this point we were dealing with large quantities of biting flies. Only the continual breeze and a lot of arm waving kept them from eating us alive. We decided we needed to keep moving.

Pedestrian Pontoon Bridge in process of opening
(sailboat waiting to go south as we go north)

Dismal Swamp State Park Visitor Center

Open bridge with Visitor Center rest stop / park behind

At mile marker 24.5 we crossed over the North Carolina / Virginia border.

Traveling north we saw "Welcome to Virginia" 

and, looking back to the south, we saw "Welcome to North Carolina"

Along here we passed the site of the Swamp Commander. What a great job title.

Swamp Commander Headquarters

Finally after two hours of swatting nasty flies as we tried to enjoy the serene canal, we arrived at Deep Creek Lock at the northern end of the Dismal Swamp Canal. Unfortunately we had an hour to wait for the next (and last for the day) opening. We made excellent use of this time by introducing ourselves to the owners of the sailboat that had traveled with us all day long. From them, locals to Norfolk, we got a great lead on a place to stay for the Fourth of July and were actually able to make a reservation!

Bridge goes up as we get close to exiting the Dismal Swamp canal

Deep Creek Lock
(last lock of our Great Loop trip - Lock  #104 of our trip)

 We learned from Clark's friend, Bob, in Bimini in the Bahamas, that we should bring a conch shell as a gift to the lockmaster at Deep Creek Lock. We did collect one while in the Abacos an presented our gift to him after we tied up at the lock. He was thrilled and immediately added our conch shell to his garden collection. We were quite lucky as today was his day off. We only got to meet him because he locked through with us in the pontoon boat shown in the above pictures.

Robert Peek and his conch shell garden at the Deep Creek Lock
on the Dismal Swamp Canal

Historic Marker
Dismal Swamp Canal c. 1805

Distance Chart from the lock
Philly - 297 miles
NYC - 451 miles
(NJ - somewhere in between)

Although the water was marked quite clearly "Slow Speed No Wake", as soon as we exited the lock, we came upon a bunch of boaters zipping along including some on water skis. Suddenly our private little world was populated by folks with no consideration for others. We got hit by one wake that sent us over sideways and forced Clark to struggle to keep us on course. Welcome back to civilization! The good news ... no more biting flies!

Fun hiding hole for the fast boaters, PWC users,
and water ski enthusiasts to hang out

What a shocking transformation ... from nothing but trees to bridges and industry everywhere!

Bridges

Freighters

Industrial Structures

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

Naval Warships

We left Lamb's Marina at 8:30 this morning and tied up at the docks at Waterside Marina in Norfolk at 5:30. What a long day on the water! After tying up, we checked in and then took a walk to a local restaurant for dinner. Part of our walk put us on the Historic Cannonball Trail through Norfolk.

New fixed dock at Waterside Marina

Methodist Episcopal Church c. 1894

Freemason Abby Restaurant
(where we ate dinner)
built c. 1873
Originally First Presbyterian Church

After a delicious fish dinner we walked back to the docks to check out the naval warships. Besides the USS Wisconsin battleship, the USS Arleigh Burke is also in port and open for tours for the holiday weekend.

Battleship - USS Wisconsin in
Norfolk, VA

USS Arleigh Burke in Norfolk, VA

We walked back to the boat with expectations of fireworks being shown this evening. As the hour got later and later, we thought that they would not occur, but finally shortly after 10:30, Clark heard something and went out to investigate. Yay - he got his fireworks show.

Just another amazing day on the Great Loop!