The frost is on the pumpkin

 


We were greeted this morning by this— ice on deck. There was a significant frost last night that left everything covered in ice. Fortunately we had to wait for the 11:00 lock opening so we were in no hurry to take off. We left around 9:45 to traverse the 4 miles to the lock and we got there in plenty of time. I am glad we did this canal but I would probably never do it again. It was kind of nerve wracking dodging hanging trees as well as logs in the canal. Anyway we survived with only 6-7 bumps and we did trim a couple of trees with the rigging. 

   The next section was the Pasquotank River. This is what I imagined the Dismal swamp to be like. It was 10-15 feet deep and wide enough you could avoid the trees. It twisted and turned so you were always wondering what was around the next corner. Plus this actually looked like a swamp. The cypress trees had dropped their leaves so you could see into the forest a ways. We scared up a golden eagle along the way also. There were no roads and very few houses along this stretch. 

   We were trying to decide what to do when we got to Elizabeth City. We tried pulling up to a bulkhead but there just wasn’t enough space and we got all tangled up with a tree again. It dropped all kinds of debris including acorns on the boat. We said the heck with this and headed past the bridge and were going to just anchor when Dave from the dock called us on the radio and directed us into a slip. The slips are free and these guys are old sailors who volunteer to manage the slips. They were very good about directing us into the slip and helping us tie up correctly. They also gave us a welcome bag with cookies and other goodie’s. It turns out that tonight is a First Friday art walk.

One of the things I was looking forward to on this trip is meeting people and making some new friends. Sadly we have not had much chance to do that. We have either been anchored out or tied up in out of the way places. Even the Dismal canal welcome center was supposed to be a place where people congregated but we were the only one there last night. Today however after tying up we met people on either side of us. In fact it was a little overwhelming as the people on both boats were talking to us as Dave was briefing us on the town and we hadn’t even shut off the motor yet. Lee and Wendy were on Furthur a 40 foot Caliber and Sam and Sarah on a 38 Pearson. 

    We got together with Sam and Sarah and went to the art walk and eventually had dinner. They are a young couple headed for the Keys. They were fun to hang with and we enjoyed their company. This such a nice city that we may stay another day. Besides it’s a free slip and the weather promises to be warmer tomorrow. 

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