June 24th- Douglas Landing, Great Dismal Swamp to Hampton River, VA

We enjoyed our evening at Douglas Landing. There were biting insects but not as severe as the Alligator River. Ollie enjoyed the easy land access.

Another long walk before departure.

One more picture from the Alligator River.

Both of us are still fascinated by the Dismal Swamp Canal. Today proved to be a fun and educational day.

After a couple hours of motoring along we made it up to the northern extent of the canal. There is a drawbridge and Deep Creek Lock. The lock keeper operates both. We had about an hour and a half until the lock would open. We tied up to a bulkhead at the bridge.

The lock keeper at the South Mills Lock was a man of few words. Deep Creek lock is another story. Part of the whole Dismal Swamp experience is meeting Robert, the Deep Creek lock-keeper. Upon tieing to the bridge bulkhead, he informed us of the lock schedule and the location of a Food Lion (grocery) about 100 yards from the dock. Steak and ravioli marinara for dinner tonight!

Deep Creek Lock

Tieing to the bulkhead. The water is up. We have to “lock down” around six feet.

Going down.

Lock keeper’s shack. Conch shells everywhere. We’ll bring one back someday.

We were the only boat in the lock and not in any kind of rush. Robert has been working as the lock keeper for over 25 years. He gave us some ice cold bottled water. We talked about the conchs for a while along with the finer points of making a horn. Not only is he a very skilled conch horn player but he is a knowledgeable historian of the canal. I didn’t even know you can get different notes from a conch horn.

Robert: “Ask me anything about this canal.”

Normally the lock takes about 10 minutes. I believe we were in there for an hour. We learned about the history of the canal and the Dismal Swamp. The swamp was much larger and there were multiple canals criss-crossing the area. The canal had six locks before it was deepened. He gave Lynne a book about the old stone mileposts they’ve been finding. Eventually we had to depart but we have a list of questions for our next locking. We hope to see Robert again.

Our next portion of the trip was through Norfolk and the Navy shipyard.

Last drawbridge for a while.

This big ship went by. It had Moldova on the stern but it’s registered to Liberia.

More mothballed cruise ships. These were all Norwegian.

USNS Comfort. Mercy class hospital ship. Recently in NYC due to covid-19.

Next we crossed over Hampton Roads, then up the Hampton River to our anchorage. It’s good to be back in the Chesapeake. We’re going to get some R&R in Hampton for a day or two. It’s much quieter here compared to the Fall migration.

Catalpa anchored on the Hampton River.

Hampton Maritime Center