CruiseNews #4
Date:  6/14/99
Port of call:  Hampton, VA
Subject:  The (not so) Dismal Swamp

We spent our last few days in Elizabeth City doing normal cruising chores:  carrying our laundry to the laundromat and washing it, buying groceries, and renting a car to take our dinghy to a repair shop in Norfolk.  The things which were simple tasks when we had a car and knew where all the stores were now take a day or more in an unfamiliar place.  But we are starting to get back in shape with all the walking, and we are adjusting to the slower pace.

We left Elizabeth City on Saturday, June 12, and motored up the Pasquotank River.  This area is quite possibly the most beautiful part of the whole Intra-coastal Waterway, from Norfolk to Key West.  The upper part of the Pasquotank is a narrow but deep channel that winds its way through a thickly forested cypress swamp.  The water is as dark as a strong pot of tea, and is fresh, if not exactly clear.  Wildlife abounds.  We watched as osprey swooped down and skimmed their talons through the water's surface.  We saw beautiful warblers with canary-yellow breasts flit among the branches at waters edge.  Turtles sunned themselves on logs that float at the edge of the channel.

Mirror-smooth waters of the Dismal Swamp
About 20 miles up the river from Elizabeth City we went through the lock at South Mills.  After raising 8 feet in the lock, we entered the Dismal Swamp Canal.  The canal is very much like the upper Pasquotank in flora and fauna, but it runs straight as a laser beam instead of winding to and fro.

We spent Saturday night at the North Carolina Welcome Center, the only place on the ICW where both automobile and vessel traffic can stop for a rest.  We greatly appreciated the free dockage, water, and book swap that they provide to boaters.

Locks on the Dismal Swamp Canal
Sunday we motored the rest of the way through the Dismal Swamp and locked back down 8 feet at the Deep Creek lock.  We then motored through Norfolk, marveling at the huge naval vessels.  We saw the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise enter the channel, and we suspect that she even stopped to wait for us to pass before crossing the channel to enter her berth.

After almost two hours trying to anchor in crowded Hampton Creek, we finally settled in for the night.

We hoped to stay only one day in Hampton to pick up some boat parts and send some mail, but the weather may have other plans.  We wanted to leave offshore for Block Island, RI, but a stationary front and low pressure off the coast are making us consider going up the Chesapeake Bay instead.

We only have 30 minutes here at the library, so we won't have time to answer any recent individual e-mails.  Maybe next time...

Smooth sailing,

Jim and Cathy