October 20th- Hampton, VA

Not much to report on here. We had torrential downpours most of the day. The remnants of the tropical storm. It would let up a little just to get us out of the boat, then we’d get soaked. Virginia needs the rain. Catalpa got a good wash down.

Lynne and Ollie going for a row.

October 21st- Hampton, VA to Deep Creek Lock/ Dismal Swamp Canal, VA

This day was like two sides of a coin. We crossed Hampton Roads to Norfolk.

Naval ship of some sort.

I think this ship wanted to be called Smile.

More ships shipping stuff. (We’re no where near done with ship pictures yet).

The Navy base at Norfolk is massive. I believe it has the most industrial shoreline I’ve ever seen. Parts of it look to be all Navy ships. Other sections for unloading goods, making cement, and unloading coal. I really wanted to get up close to the Navy ships but this would have resulted in our imprisonment. They are patrolled by Naval police boats.

There was a line of aircraft carriers, each with a destroyer escort.

This one was going somewhere.

A SUBMARINE. Man the torpedoes! You can barely see it. I was excited anyway. I was tempted to get a little closer but that nagging fear of imprisonment brought me to reason. I recently read that the standard naval imprisonment sentence used to be 75 years.

A little further up the Elizabeth River is the Norfolk International Terminal.

Artistic crane deployment?

We were dodging ships for a while. We mostly just stayed out of the channel.

The battleship Wisconsin. I was able to get close to this one as the Navy no longer uses battleships. It’s an Iowa class ship and 4 were built during WW2.

Some other Norfolk sites.

I’m not sure how big the Norfolk Naval Shipyard is but there were a lot of ships, in various states, up the river.

I was so mesmerized by the industrial shoreline that I forgot to make the starboard turn off the Elizabeth River into Deep Creek. We made a U turn and got back on track.And here is the flip side of the coin.

Deep Creek.

We made it up to Deep Creek lock. The lock is the entrance into The Dismal Swamp.

The Lock

It only opens at certain times so we anchored in the Creek for a while. Eventually, we got the radio call to enter the lock. We motored in with fenders tied to the side along with another southbound cruiser . The lock tender took our lines and closed the big doors. He then pumped water into the lock and in a few minutes our elevation increased by 8 feet. The lock tender is a credit to The Army Corps of Engineers (who are in charge). He gave us some important news on what is going on in the Dismal Canal (the other lock is having issues) and gave us some of the history of the canal. He also let us know that our original destination (the Dismal Swamp welcome center), is full of boats. Right after the lock is Elizabeth’s Dock. It was built and maintained by a man in honor of his wife. It’s nestled between the lock and a drawbridge. The lock tender also raises the bridge. The dock is quiet and it’s in a park. It’s free. Paradise. We’ve been looking forward to the Dismal Swamp since I read about it back in Massachusetts.

We’re tied up to the pier with one other boat from Connecticut (also snowbirds). The draw bridge opens at 8:30 sharp, so we have to be up and ready if we want to move on.

The lock tender’s shack. They have 3 banana trees. One tree produces bananas each year. They dig up the trees and bring them inside for the winter. I assume the conch shells are donated.

The view off the back porch and Catalpa at her spot on Elizabeth’s dock. Ollie loves it. The park is about 25′ away.

October 22nd- The Great Dismal Swamp

After locking through a few more boats the tender opened the bridge and we proceeded into the canal. We were last in a line of 6 boats. I was told that following other boats closely is a bad idea as the lead boats can kick up logs off of the bottom. The Dismal Swamp was heavily logged and many of the cedar logs are still sitting on the bottom. We slowed way down and enjoyed the scenery. The water is a dark tea color from tannic acid. I believe this is due to oak trees.

Off the stern.

Mrs Quequeg getting ready to harpoon a log.

It was calm enough that Oliver spent the day on deck.

Eventually we crossed into North Carolina.

This farmer has his own bridge that he puts across the river to move live stock and equipment. He waited until we passed.

Later what I thought was algae, I found out is knotweed. The person in the visitors center explained to me that they have been having a real problem with it for the past three years. The northern portion of the canal is brackish so it doesn’t grow as thick. The southern portion is fresh water so it gets thicker. The canal is fed from Lake Drummond (a fresh water lake).

Our engine takes in water to keep it cool. I have emptied knotweed from the sea water strainer twice and will keep checking it. I’m glad I installed a strainer.

We tied up on a pier at the North Carolina welcome center. The canal is on one side and a highway on the other. People stop in cars and visit the boats. The people at the center gave us a bunch of literature on the area. The parks department also has a Dismal museum and a boardwalk swamp trail that we enjoyed.

Lynne and Ollie on the Dismal boardwalk

Catalpa at the pier.

We have another lock and bridge to go through tomorrow morning. We are big fans of The Great Dismal Swamp!