Seabbatical Adventures: Day 326 Wednesday, May 14th

Day 326, Wednesday May 14^th

Fuelling marina

We set out after a leisurely breakfast and a run for Dawson from Elizabeth City which is about 50 miles south of Norfolk. There is not much to the town to justify us staying for a second night even though they have free dockage. We decide we will head into the Dismal Swamp and spend a night there instead. The Dismal swamp is not named very well. It is absolutely beautiful and pristine. The reflections on the water and the sweet smell of flowers permeate the air. It is a beautiful ride as we cruise along using the iron genny.

The channel called the Dismal swamp

The first stop however before we get into the swamp is at Lamb’s marina for some diesel fuel. We pull into a creek and see the marina, but no one is answering the radio and we don’t see where the fuel docks are. Since there is no wind and current, we just sit at the entrance way and Dawson stands on the deck yelling to shore asking where we should go. We don’t want to go down a narrow fairway (channel between docked boats) and get to a shallow, narrow dead end. Someone yells a direction to go and assures us there is lots of water depth so we proceed forward. We have no choice, we need fuel and this is the only spot. Makes us wonder why we did not get fuel at an easy spot. Oh well, so far so good. We go about 400 meters and see the end of the fairway and yes it is a tight fit to turn around and get situated at the docks, but we manage like pros. It really helps with no wind, as we just nose up the bow and throw a midship line and they pull us over.

Looking over the stern

Once fuelled we head off, the take off goes well as Dawson pushes out the bow, jumps on the stern and Julie manoeuvres the vessel off the dock and in the right direction.

First lock in a long time

Shortly after leaving the fuel docks, we encounter our first set of locks (there are 2 in this canal). It is scheduled to open in about 20 minutes so we mill about. The lock tender comes over to tell us he will lower the water level so he can open the doors and we will get a bit of turbulence that will just "push us back". Well, since he was so calm about it we figured this was status quo and waited to be "pushed back". Sure enough a current of water came and started pushing us but we headed for the shore. By the time we realized corrective action was required we were angled 45 degrees and heading for shore. Julie guns the boat and tries to straighten her out, but is still heading for shore.

leaves and branches on dodger and bimini

We hear the noise of branches scraping overhead as we gain control and angle away from shore, but not before a bunch of small branches and leaves have laid a layer of brush on the deck, in the cockpit, on the bimini and doger. No damage as it was the backstay that moved the branches that shed on us. A bit annoying though. Had the lock tender not indicated we would just "float back" we would have backed up and been more ready. Lesson learned!

We spend the next 4 hours enjoying the ride. When we arrive to our destination at the Dismal Swamp visitor centre there is no room at the seawall, but another boat has rafted so it looks like the order of the day. We hail “Field Trip” and they welcome us to raft along. Bob and Martha are very welcoming in allowing us to cross over their boat to shore.

Julie on the bike trail

It is now 15:00 and we want to see some of the State Park so we head across the canal to the museum and are able to rent bikes for an hour. It is 15:30 by the time are bums are in the seats so we have only 1 hour until the bikes need to be returned. We giv’er, as they say. The path is mainly hardpack, but with some potholes and sandy spots. We manage to bike 9.5 miles round trip. We see a racoon on the path, 5 turkeys (2 sightings), lots of greenery, some birds, a still, some kind of historical skiff, some still green water, and that is about it. The biking is fun, feels good to get the cardio going. This is only our 3^rd time on bikes the whole trip. Last time was last November at Hope Town in the Abacos. Next time for sure we will bring bikes with us, even though they will become rust buckets in a year of use.