Dismal Swamp

 11/1- The wind on the bay was honking so we decided to sit tight. We were in a comfortable spot and we could get some chores done. The marina where we were staying is being renovated as it was apparently quite the dump previously. The only real problem was no showers. So we called up the municipal dock and they were very accommodating and let us take showers there. 

   On the way back we stopped at the Virginia Air and Space museum. This is quite the spot. They have real fighter jets hanging from the ceiling and they have the actual Apollo 14 capsule. It was very impressive and we spent several hours there. This was a cold night. We buttoned up the boat and turned on the Buddy heater. It turned the place toasty in no time  

   11/2- It was cold again this morning but Mr Perkins fired right up and we took off for Norfolk. Now this is a busy harbor. There were boats of all sizes from super large freighters to tugs and barges to runabouts plying the same channel. Then throw in an air craft carrier and all the attendant patrol boats and you have a somewhat organized chaos. We had the wind at our back and the current with us today as we broke speed limits down the harbor. It was very industrialized and chaotic. We finally got out a ways and had to wait for our first lift bridge at Gilmerton. 

    As headed down to the next bridge which was a fixed height I thought I would follow this catamaran who had a taller mast. The published bridge height was 65 feet and our mast is only 50 feet high so it shouldn’t be a problem. The only thing was there was a group of men working from a basket on the underside of the bridge. The catamaran kind of freaked out and slowed while the guys in the basket were frantically raising it. That put us along side the catamaran and when I looked up there was another basket that my mast was heading for and he was trying to raise it up as fast as he could. I’m not sure how much we cleared by but it wasn’t a lot. 

    While we were trying to calm down we turned into the entrance of the Great Dismal Swamp canal. This a relatively narrow and very shallow canal that George Washington had built back in the day. We came on the first lock in no time and had to anchor in the channel to wait for the lock to open. In about an hour the doors opened and four of us boaters entered the lock. After exiting the lock we had to wait for the lock tender to drive down to the small lift bridge that was about a half mile away.

After clearing that we were in the canal which is a straight shot for about 20 miles. It is kind of pretty with these huge overhanging trees and thick woods. It might have been a better experience if not for the highway that ran just on the other side of the bank. It was also barely 6 feet deep in a lot of places and we bumped things on the bottom several times. And then we had to balance staying in the channel with keeping the mast out of the overhanging trees. We were fortunately the only one on the canal. We pulled up to the wall at the visitor center and we were the only boat here. I had heard this place could be quite busy. It is supposed to get into the 30’s tonight so we zipped up the boat and turned on the heater. Good night!

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