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!

NC: Elizabeth City

Day 343
NM today 1: 30
NM today 2: 3
NM To Date: 5522

Our plan for today set our departure time at 9:00, and low and behold, at 9:00, we were pulling away from the slip at Alligator Creek Marina.

Lighthouse at Alligator Creek Marina

Our cruising guide told us to be on the lookout for the Blimp Hangar at ICW MM 58. We found it. The description said that all blimps except the Goodyear Blimp are made here including those for Fuji Film and MetLife.

Weeksville Blimp Hangar

Because we have a long day planned traversing the Dismal Swamp tomorrow, we decided to stop in Elizabeth City for a look-see but continue further along the ICW for our night's stay.

Free Docks at Elizabeth City, NC
(no electric = no air conditioning)

In New Bern we had Pepsi, here we have coke

Water Street in Elizabeth City, NC

Elizabeth City is proud to claim an association with Wilbur Wright. Per the historical markers in town, he stayed at the Arlington Hotel here while scoping out the North Carolina area to find a place for a manned flight. Then on a later visit, and I do not know how this is known, he bought a barrel of gasoline here in 1902 and again in 1903. The latter being needed to fuel the first powered flight on December 17th, 1903. Perhaps Wilbur kept a journal.

We walked up and down Water, Main, and Ehringhaus Streets and did not find a single ice cream store or a place to buy deli meat. When we asked some locals about the ice cream, we were told where we could find great hot dogs instead. Somehow that just did not seem to be the same thing.

Before leaving Water Street we walked down to the Pasquotank River Bridge for a quick picture. This bridge is the main reason we decided not to stay at the free docks in town tonight. The bridge has very restricted openings during the morning rush hour. We thought this might preclude us from reaching the lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal at the designated opening time there. By staying after this bridge, we can head straight for the lock in the morning without delay.

We visited the Pool Street Park with a Civil War Monument on one side of Main Street and a Fountain on the other.

Civil War Memorial
remembering "Our Heroes" of the town

Pool Street Park Fountain

We passed the very modern federal courthouse on our walk

United States Courthouse
in Elizabeth City, NC

 and the very old, c. 1882, county courthouse. The original county courthouse was built of wood c. 1799. This building was burned by Federal occupation in 1862. The records dating back to 1700 were saved, however, by Arthur Jones who took them and hid them in a local barn.

County Courthouse c. 1882
Elizabeth City, NC

After wandering the streets of Elizabeth City, we decided that we needed to find the Albemarle Museum so we had time to see the exhibits before heading out to our next port-of-call.

The museum charged no admission price and had four exhibits - "Tiffany", "Our Story", "I Do", and "Elizabeth City University". When we entered the museum, we were greeted by a life-sized "Shad" boat complete with crew.

Shad Boat

 The fist exhibit we visited presented the art of Louis C. Tiffany including several window displays and hand-crafted lamps.

"Lilies" in Tiffany Glass

The second exhibit, "Our Story", told the story of the area from the time of Indians through the late1900s.  For this exhibit, the museum had a huge number of artifacts and displays including a full-size, furnished two-room house and a smokehouse. They also had a full-size Farmsall Tractor on show. A couple of the displays that caught my eye are shown below.

Stills!

 Yesterday I complained about my messed up laundry. At least I did not have to use the machine shown below to do it. Like modern machines it displayed a warning to make sure the machine had stopped before opening to remove clothes.

Old-time Washing Machine

The other two displays, "I Do" about the history of weddings and Elizabeth City University, did not hold my interest. I walked through both of them at a much quicker pace than the other two exhibits.

History of Weddings
"I Do" Exhibit at Albemarle Museum

I reminded Clark to watch his time in the museum because it is so easy to lose track while exploring the exhibits. We left there at 3:00 and walked across the street to the Visitor's Center and then the Waterfront Park. Since we found the visitor's center at the end of our time in town, they could not tell us much we had not figured out for ourselves.

Waterfront Park in Elizabeth City, NC

At the park I made a new friend. I was surprised to see an exotic bird climbing all over her owner. I mentioned my surprise and learned from the owner that the bird was a Cockatoo aka a "Velcro Bird" since they stick to their owners like velcro. She was happy to come visit me and literally say "Hi". She also seemed to know how to give a "high five", i.e. wave, when she did it.

Cockatoo Saying "Hi"

The "scotty" dog that was with the bird owner got his nose out of joint since he got no attention from us at all - the bird got it all.

After my close encounter with a cockatoo, we left the park to get back to the town docks in time to leave by 3:30 to make the bridge opening before the restricted hours starting at 4:00. We made the bridge well before 4:00, but Clark had to "station keep" on the windy waters by the bridge while we waited for the bridge tender to decide to open for us.

Before we reached Lambs Marina for the night, we had one more bridge to pass through. This one, fortunately, is generally kept in the open position. As we approached this bridge we had a difficult time seeing if it was indeed in the open position. We had to get at the correct angle to see that it was open but very narrow making it appear closed.

Railroad Swing Bridge
on the Pasquotank River

Entrance to Lambs Marina
in Camden, NC

The owner told us to dock in front of the "flag" boat.

We tied up at the very low-to-the-ground fixed dock (basically bulkhead). The drop from the side of the boat to the ground required that we put a step out to help with getting off the boat. We do not normally need to do this.

Sea Moss docked at Lamb's Marina with
Dockside Restaurant and Convenience Store

We used the courtesy car and drove into Elizabeth City to the Fresh Market to pick up some essentials. When we got back, we ate on board and then took our showers. Although we had no rain, we noticed the unusual look of the sky as we prepared to walk over to the washroom.

Dark Clouds with a Single Spot of Bright Sun in the Clouds
(an interesting change from the usual sunset picture)

Later in the day, around 10:00, while I worked on this blog entry, we did get hit with a freaky storm. The wind came up suddenly and we had lightening flashes. With one flash, we lost the internet. The boat got tossed about and bumped into the bulkhead. As suddenly as the storm came, it left. Shortly after the storm began, all was calm once more.

NC: Alligator Creek Marina

Day 342
NM Today: 43
NM To Date: 5489

We said farewell to the folks at Dowry Creek Marina and left the docks shortly after 9:00 this morning.

Last view of Dowry Creek Marina

As we made our way along the ICW, we got a call on the VHF radio from another boater requesting a "slow pass" which means that we slowed down so that he could pass us at a slower speed to reduce the wake effect. As we watched him pass, we both noticed his "root beer" / "strong tea" colored splash. I noticed this morning that our boat has changed color recently due to the stain from the tannin. We had a bit of a stain, but now it is much more pronounced -- our badge of honor as a looper on the ICW!

Tea!  No, Tannin! 

To pass some time on the trip and learn about the area, I read sections of the cruise guide to Clark related to the current area specifically the Pungo River Canal and the Alligator River portions of the ICW waters. In doing so, we learned a bit about nature. First of all we learned that alligators have not been seen in Alligator River since the 1930s as they moved south to warmer waters. We also learned how to tell if a bald eagle is lurking in the local area - look for agitated crows and ospreys. The eagles like to hang out on dead trees to get a good view of the area.

No bald eagles here - we'll have to keep looking.
(We did see one lone hawk circling above us.)

We also read about the "belted kingfisher" that populates this area with a full description of its colors and overall appearance.

Last, but certainly not least we read about the red wolves that live here. Red wolves were extinct in the wild until 1987 when a pair of red wolves from a zoo were reintroduced near the Alligator River due to its remoteness. Over 60 pups have been born in the wild since then. We listened to a recording of the haunting sound of red wolves  in case we get to hear one at night. It sounded just like the noises I hear when I visit haunted houses at Halloween.

So far we have seen none of the described birds or beasts. I gather chances are rather slim that we will but one can always hope.

Clark told me that two phrases summed up today's travel ...

a "straight and narrow canal" (Using the binoculars Clark said the canal was so straight that he could see all the way back the 20 miles to the beginning of the canal.)

Pungo River Canal - straight and narrow

and a "wide open river".

Swing Bridge on the Alligator River

Just over five very boring and extremely hot hours (I truly thought I might melt), we arrived at the Alligator Creek Marina. We had been sweltering in the heat with no breeze (we were traveling the same direction as the wind) for what felt like forever. We turned after exiting the bridge and got the most wonderful breeze. It was short-lived, however, as we only had a few hundred feet to go to get to our marina where again we had little to no breeze. I suggested to Clark that we hang out in the open for a while to catch the breeze, but he ignored my suggestion and pulled into the marina instead.

Coming into Alligator River Marina
near Columbia, NC

Just as we were tying our lines and connecting our electric, we noticed a strange cloud formation in the sky. The cloud was swirling and moving across the sky rather rapidly towards us. As we watched it slowly disappeared.

Swirling "Water Spot" over
Alligator River Marina

Video of water spot ...

Although there was not much to see here, we did walk around the area. A service station with a mini-mart services both cars and trucks on the highway and boats at the marina. We went into the market to explore, and Clark bought himself an ice cream cone.

Afterwards we walked over to the boater's lounge building where we watched some television while I did a load of wash. I would have been better off if I had passed on this opportunity. All my white clothes, including some favorite t-shirts and a lot of my socks, came out stained orange. It looks like the high heat from the dryer reacted with sunscreen that had gotten onto the fabric and cooked it in. I am hoping that the staining is not permanent and that I can redo the affected clothes. I did not want to tackle it here, however, using the same machine that ruined my clothes. I decided to save that "fun" for another day.

I called my son in Boise today to talk with him about the fire out there near his house. We were on the phone together for well over an hour. How scary it must be to wake up to the smell of smoke, look out your window, and see a bright red and orange horizon!