10/25/2018
Depart: Calvert Marina in Solomons, MD 7:35
Arrive: Hampton City, VA anchorage 5:30
Distance: 92 nm
We rose with
the alarm at 7:00 a.m. and prepared to leave.
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| Early Morning Moon |
By skipping
breakfast, we managed to be underway 30 minutes after waking up. I planned to
clean up the lines in the cockpit as per usual when I heard a grumbled, “I need
your help on the flybridge”. The zipper had stuck on the front panel of the
full enclosure, and Clark could not open it. We tried together to open it, but
it was not willing to budge even a fraction of an inch.
I determined
that part of the enclosure plastic had gotten under the edge of the zipper.
Given the cold temperatures, it was stiff and unbendable. Clark went below for
a screwdriver and a pair of needle-nose pliers to attempt to free it.
We had
already left the dock when Clark discovered the problem. He had me pilot the
boat while he went to tackle the problematic zipper. To get to the outside of
the enclosure to work on the stuck plastic, Clark inched his way along the
narrow ledge running beside the flybridge – 6 or 8” wide and 15’ in the air.
I generally
find myself holding my breath whenever he steps out there even when we are not
underway! Today I was truly horrified to see him out there and praying mightily
hard that no boat came by and “waked” us as he clung to the hardtop with his
fingertips. My gut told me to maintain a
slow speed while this activity was taking place, but as soon as Clark got to
the panel to work, he said, “You should speed up.”
Clark worked
at the zipper for a while and decided that the tools he brought out with him
were insufficient to do the job, so he edged his way back along the side of the
flybridge and climbed back inside the boat to add to his arsenal of “weapons”
for his attack on the panel. When he went out the second time, he decided he
could climb out the side window and save a few treacherous steps.
He worked on
the zipper for a while, and after a lot of muttering, poking and prodding, he
told me to try pulling on the zipper from my side. Thankfully it gave way and I
could open the panel. Clark then climbed back into the flybridge through the
now open panel and took over the helm. I
left to clean up the lines in the cockpit.
Once again
we had a long, cold day on the water. We did not see much other boat traffic.
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| Lighthouse on Chesapeake Bay |
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| Tug & Container Ship on the Bay |
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| Ev wrapped in a blanket for the Chilly Day |
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| Sunset at Hampton City, VA |
10/26/2018
Depart: Hampton City, VA anchorage 7:30
Arrive: Dismal Swamp Visitor Center 2:45
Distance: 37 nm
Locks: 1
Once again,
we were up before the sun, so I got to see the sunrise. Not being a morning
person, I rarely see the sunrise. I was glad to see today’s as it was
spectacular.
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| Sunrise in Hampton City, VA (Ev Cellphone) |
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| Sunrise in Hampton City, VA (Clark Cellphone) |
When we went
to drop our anchor last night, the chain got jammed in the winch. I could not
budge it to let the chain drop, so Clark had to leave the helm and fight with
it. It stuck multiple times, but he finally got the anchor dropped in the
water. This morning before he tried to pull up the anchor he took some wrenches
out and tightened the mechanism. That seems to have fixed the issue.
Norfolk is a
busy area for boating. Today, however, we got to see a warship being towed out
to begin its travels. The upper deck had sailors all along the railing as the
ship headed out. As the ship came out of the channel, he gave 5 short blasts on
his horn – the warning of danger.
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| Warship 116 being towed out of port by two tugs |
We saw a
40-or-so foot pleasure craft that looked like it would be in the way of Warship
116, and sure enough, the tug operator called him on the radio.
Tug
Operator: “Pleasure craft. Do you see the warship in front of you?”
Pleasure
Craft: “Which one? There are warships everywhere?”
Granted, in
Norfolk, there are warships everywhere. It sounded funny to hear him respond
that way though. I lost sight of the pleasure craft. I can only assume he
managed to get out of the way.
Clark
decided that we needed to get fuel before heading into the Dismal Swamp. We
stopped at Tidewater Yacht. When asked, the attendant said, “Oh yeah, it’s a
fast pump.” Wrong! It took over 30 minutes to fuel up, so we lost precious time
on today’s trip.
Later, as
per usual, we got caught at the Glimmerton Bridge waiting for the #7 Railroad
bridge to be opened. By the time a very long freight train had passed, we saw
little to no hope of making the 11:00 lock opening on the Dismal Swamp. With
the next opening scheduled for 1:30, and the rains of the N’oreaster soon to be
hitting us, it did not look promising to be a pleasant day on the water.
We arrived
at the lock around 11:20. Much to our surprise and delight, the lock master told
us he would set the lock up for us to pass through. Clark had called ahead to
tell him we were coming and trying to make his 11:00. I guess he liked the
heads up because he happily let us enter the lock. Sadly, for the sailboat
coming behind us, neither we nor the lock tender knew they were on their way.
They arrived just after he shut the gates and started the locking process for
us.
Clark
apologized for not giving the lock tender a heads up, but we did not know he had
followed us. The lock tender seemed to have little sympathy for their plight.
He said, “Well they should have called to let me know!”
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| Dismal Swamp Canal c. 1805 |
The lock
master at this lock likes folks coming back from the islands to bring him a
conch shell. We brought one for him in 2016, so I expect it is somewhere on the
grounds.
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| Conch Shell Display |
Steady rain
started just as we entered the lock. By the time we exited, my no-longer-waterproof
raincoat was soaked through. We had a dreary rest of the day with continual
rain.
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Looking back at the Dismal Swamp Canal behind us.
(Brownish water from tannin) |
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| Rainy “dismal” day on Dismal Swamp canal |
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Welcome to North Carolina
on the Dismal Swamp |
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| Dismal Swamp Visitor Center |
Before
arriving at the visitor center, Clark called ahead to find out about docking.
He learned that multiple boats already occupied the dock. The practice here is
to raft up. When we arrived, we found 8 boats rafter together and one obvious
opening for us to tie up. Amazingly, the boaters we tied to are fellow Gold
Loopers Pat and Bob on “Velomer”. We last saw them in 2016. I remembered being
docked next to them in New Buffalo, Michigan for a week waiting for a weather
window to cross to Chicago!
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| 9 boats rafted 3x3 (6 S/V and 3 M/V) |
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| Look for the Gold Looper burgee to find our boat. |
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| another view of the 3x3 raft up |
By the time
we had out boat tied to the “Velomer” as well as to the dock, we had one
incredible spider-web of lines going on. It took a full 20+ minutes to tie
lines. We had help from multiple people from multiple boats. Of course the rain
continued to come down in a steady stream. Everyone worried about the report of
expected 40+ knot winds with the passing of the N’oreaster during the night, so
we tied lines to every possible cleat it seemed.
Once we had
everything secure, we had one hour before the visitor center closed and a tad
longer than that until the state park closed. We decided to take a walk and
check out the sights.
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| Foot bridge to Dismal Swamp State Park |
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| Dismal Swamp State Park sign on footbridge to park |
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| Story of the Dismal Swamp marker |
We walked
through the building at the park and saw a large display of stuffed animals
(real ones – not toys).
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| Dismal Swamp Animal Display – Skunk and Mink |
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| Red Fox |
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| River Otter |
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| North American Beaver |
Afterwards,
we walked the boardwalk trail through the swamp. We saw a lot of vegetation.
Having just seen a full display of stuffed animals in the building, it took me
a minute to realize that the face that was looking at me belonged to a living,
breathing deer. Clark had not noticed the deer, and the deer shot off into the
brush when I called Clark back to take a picture. That deer and its mate were
the only non-vegetation objects we spied on our walk.
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Wet Boardwalk Walk
at Dismal Swamp State Park |
We had to be
sure to be back across the bridge by 5:00, or we would be stuck on the wrong
side of the canal with the bridge up in the air until morning. Given the weather, we had no desire to walk
the non-boardwalk trails, so we made it back on time with no worries.
10/27/2018
Depart: Dismal Swamp Visitor Center 7:45
Arrive: Alligator River Tuckahoo Point
Anchorage 4:45
Distance: 67 nm
Locks: 1
On our
wanderings around the area and our stop into the visitor center, we learned
that today would be “Dismal Day” at the Dismal Swamp State Park. Although it
sounded like a great family activity with food vendors and a bouncy house, we
decided to pass. Apparently the other 8 boats rafted at the center planned to
stay. They referred to it as a “party”. Perhaps the still exhibit caught their
interest.
Once again
we rose before the sun and got ourselves ready to leave as soon as possible.
First, we had to untie our lines from shore and unweave the web connecting us
to “Velomer”. Fortunately, the rain stopped overnight. Unfortunately, the boat
was covered end-to-end with downed pine needles and leaves. What a mess!
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| Dismal Swamp |
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| Leaving raftup behind |
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| South Mills Lock |
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| Duck weed in lock |
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| Dismal Swamp |
All along
the Dismal Swamp canal, we hit objects in the water. I winced every time and
often. Some of the “ka-thunks” and “bangs” were quite loud and disconcerting.
The entire length of the canal I wished we had not taken this route. I cannot
imagine what the hull and props might look like.
After
exiting the lock and continuing south, we passed a sailboat that haled us to
tell us about yet another snag in the water. Given the entire length of the
canal looks pretty much the same, it is a wonder he could tell us where to
expect an obstruction in the water. However, his description of a “chair in a
tree” where the water measures 21 feet deep was very precise. Sure enough when
we reached the spot, there sat a “chair in a tree”!
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| Wicker Chair in Tree -- snag marker |
After we
finally exited the Dismal Swamp, we came back to civilization and Elizabeth
City, NC. Here we caught up to and passed Kenny and his friend on “Daybreak”.
They are saner and waiting for better conditions for crossing Albemarle Sound.
Of course, we just kept going. Kenny took a picture of our boat as we passed
by.
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| Sunset Delight passing by Elizabeth City, NC |
We had a wet
and wild crossing of the sound. Texting with Kenny as we made our way across,
we learned that a boat returned to Elizabeth City saying the waves were 5
footers on the sound. As we got further and further along, the waves grew in
height and indeed to reach the 5 foot level along the way. Our stabilizers
helped but even they could not handle some of the back-to-back waves and we
rolled a bit reminiscent of Sea Moss
days.
Being damp
and cold, I excused myself as we approached the end of our crossing and made my
way below for a hot drink and blanket to warm up. I still felt chilled an hour
later when we at last arrived at our chosen anchorage for the night on the
Alligator River.
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| Sunset in yellow on the Alligator River |
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| Sunset in pink on the Alligator River |
