Dismal Swamp — Cupcake Afloat

So yesterday’s post was pretty thin on narrative. I’m hoping to make up for it with today’s post.

After our day in Norfolk (which was a glorified laundry run where we took that ferry across the river, walked all over town in the heat and humidity, ate sketchy Chinese food while waiting for our laundry, checked out a railroad museum - the Norfolk and Southern? spent some time in a bookstore, and got back aboard Cupcake to head down the ICW) we rode down the Elizabeth River to the junction where the ICW splits between the Virginia Cut and the Dismal Swamp branches of the Waterway.

That stretch of the river before the split is chock full of hard-core industry. Lots of container ships being loaded and unloaded, military ships being constructed, barges being pushed every which way, gravel and coal and oil and gas being moved all over the place.

The Virginia Cut, one of two options for heading down the ICW in Virginia and North Carolina, is a little shorter but has more commercial traffic (barges) and more powerboats (and their wakes) than the Dismal Swamp route. It also has a more appealing name.

We decided to give the Dismal Swamp route a try. Much of the literature on the topic made it seem like the Dismal Swamp was a better choice for us - because the canal is controlled at either end by a lock (the level of the water in the canal is about 10’ higher than sea level) it winnows out the powerboats in a hurry to cover ground, and it winnows out the big commercial traffic that can’t fit.

Some of the perceived downsides of the Dismal Swamp are its limited depth (we have been seeing between 7’ and 11’ feet but will likely find some 5’ spots tomorrow) and the overhanging tree branches. A few times this morning we came within a few feet of catching branches on our mast. Careful piloting (and luck) make that issue less of a concern. All these issues keep the crowds out of the Dismal Swamp.

Speaking of crowds, we are probably about a month early for the flocks of snowbirds heading south for the winter. On the one hand, we would like to meet up with fellow travelers. On the other hand, we are thrilled that we were literally the only boat we saw on the waterway today. We drove down the center of the canal and did’t give a thought to moving over. We have the dock to ourselves tonight and do not have to worry about finding space in anchorages or dock space in the coming days.

The night before entering the northern end of the Dismal Swamp canal, we anchored in some thick mud just outside the northern lock. At 8:30am, the lock master opened the lock and in we went. He was a wealth of information about the canal. Told us it’s the oldest continually operating canal in the Americas. (Rideau Canal in Canada is 7 years younger.) George Washington came up with the idea for a canal through the Dismal Swamp – he owned much of the land the canal would cross – and much of the digging work was done by slaves.

After a month of hustling along offshore to get to Norfolk and the start of the ICW, we are now taking things really easy. We don’t need to be anywhere until October 16 when we meet my parents in Hilton Head. That distant deadline means we do not need to cover 50 miles each day like many cruisers. So today we had a leisurely 15 mile morning from the lock to the Dismal Swamp Visitor Center where we are tied to a free dock.

The Center has free wifi and is air conditioned. The weather has been incredibly hot and humid. Although I love the heat, this is a bit much, even for me. Ellen does not love the heat but is managing pretty well because she is a tough customer. Moss naps and sweats.

The ride down the canal was smooth and pleasant. Because we are not in a hurry, our days can be short and easy. The canal is about 150’ wide with the depth we need in the center. Today’s trip was a super treat because the tall trees on the east side of the canal sheltered us from the sun until nearly noon. We had our coolest ride in days. In fact, we have never sailed in the shade before, and it was delightful.

The water in our tanks has been pretty nasty smelling lately. Don’t exactly know why*, but we do know the way to fix it. Today I bleach-shocked the forward tank and then took advantage of the dockside water to run 100 gallons through the system to flush out the bleach and all the nasty it killed. Now our water smells and tastes clean and fresh.

I also used the hose to scrub the decks to get rid of a month’s worth of salt and dirt. I do spend a lot of my time thinking about water.

Tonight Ellen made a jambalaya (in honor of the swamp, I think) and we are watching a movie she downloaded with the wifi. It’s an animated film about an orphan ballerina in Paris. As you can probably imagine, I am riveted.

Boat projects update: yesterday I broke a thing and then fixed the thing.

Leaving the portholes open during the rain update: two days ago we remembered to close the porthole over the navigation station and thus did not ruin our paperwork again or our electronics or the three rolls of toilet paper sitting on the desk. But it was close.

*Check out the water maker section for a more thorough explanation.

Swamp view looking still further south. (The canal is straight as an arrow in this section.)

Swamp view looking north. You can see by the wiggle in the wake where Ellen got the hiccups while driving.