The Dismal Swamp Canal and further reaches of the Intracoastal Waterway

The Dismal Swamp Canal and further reaches of the Intracoastal Waterway; we have pictures but will add them in the next installment. Soon, I hope!!


November 10
We got up early and took a walk before the lock that takes you into the Canal was operating. We ended up talking to the lock operator, Bob, and he was helpful with tips and information about what was coming up on the Canal. He also has a conch shell collection at his office and we found out later, as we entered the lock with 3 other boats, and Bob helped adjust our lines to the sides of the lock, that he would play a conch (like a horn) while the lock emptied. Since I had asked about the shells, I got a quick lesson in blowing one and added to the noise.
Later that day after a slow trip down the Canal we passed the North Carolina state line and were invited to a free night at the NC Welcome Center docks on the Canal. The next day we continued to the end of the 16 mile canal. The whole way we have had some late foliage colors and not too many other boats, and it’s very peaceful. We now have some new friends that we met at the Welcome Center, several from Canada, and some from Virginia and Maryland. There is also a couple on a boat from Germany that decided not to leave with us and they will ride the bike trails in the area (they have two full-size bikes on their boat; we have one folding bike we are carrying). Fourteen miles of river after the canal brought us to Elizabeth City, NC and another free dock for the night.
Several cruisers talking in a group, including Ken, were greeted after docking by a friendly gentleman who mentioned some of the highlights in town. As he left he introduced himself as the Mayor of Elizabeth City. We took his recommendation and attended the evening movie a few blocks away. The movie theater also had dinners before the show and the line was fairly long waiting to get in. The tables for the restaurant were in the back half of the theater, which had been reconfigured into three levels for about 12 tables on each level. Each table had a phone and orders were called in to the kitchen, then delivered by wait staff. The movie was “Secret Life of Bees“ and we enjoyed it.


November 12
Our next day we sailed by a large Coast Guard Air Training base. This day they were launching a blimp and “sailing” it around the point of land that the base is on. Later in the day as we entered the Alligator River we hit bottom (mud or sand) as we tried to avoid another boat that seemed to be stuck on the bottom. The first boat eventually got off and sailed on but we were really stuck. In the end we had to call a tow boat (we were warned about the frequent danger of grounding out and had bought insurance coverage for towing) and we were towed into deeper water. A nearby marina had reasonable rates, so to calm down after this experience we stopped there for the night, and added another night when the weather got rainy and windy the next day.
The boats that arrived at the marina the second day of our stay told wild tales of the wind on the bay that day. We had dinner at the small restaurant at the fuel dock at the marina as did 3 of the crews of these new boats. We met people from Padanarum,MA, Camden, ME, and Jemez Pueblo, NM (which is about 50 miles from where Tammy lives).


November 14
We needed to leave, even though it was foggy. That day we traveled 12 miles of foggy canals and rivers, including passing through a bridge that opened for us, until it cleared up. After another canal that was fairly easy to travel on, although it did start raining, we again met up with fog. We needed to get to a good anchorage so proceeded carefully into the harbor at Belhaven, NC. Our chart plotter that we use to navigate is extremely helpful and especially in fog or new areas it is proving to be invaluable. Belhaven is another location where we spent two days due to weather, also due to high winds. Oh, yeah, they did have tornado warnings in this area our first morning and then they were extended to the rest of the day (tragically we heard that 2 people died in the next county).
The weather was warm for our stay, in the 70s during the days, but the forecast was for a cold front approaching.


November 16
Wanting to cover some ground this day we left at 8 am and sailed on the Pamlico River, Pamlico Sound, more of the protected waterway, and then the Neuse River. The Neuse was good for us and we motor-sailed with just our jib at over 7 knots, enough to adjust our arrival to Oriental, NC, a few miles after Broad Creek where we had expected to anchor. We anchored just off of the Oriental Marina and the shrimp boat docks. Several boats we were familiar with were at the marina, so we joined them (GUST O’WIND from Canada and NECESSITY whose owner is from New Mexico) for dinner that night at the marina restaurant. It’s fun to compare notes with other cruisers and to find out where they’ve come from and where they’re headed.
The next day we walked to the post office where we picked up mail that our son Pete forwarded for us. We also stopped in a marine consignment shop (used guide books, boat parts, etc.) and a coffee shop back at the marina area.
Before we left we figured out that we have been 800 miles so far, from Cohasset, MA, and about 175 of those miles, so far, have been in North Carolina. Then we set sail and headed for our next destination, which turned out to be Beaufort, NC. We anchored off of Town Marina with several other boats. Artic cold is predicted and it was a cold night.


November 18
We stayed in our heated cabin longer than usual this morning, taking time to start this blog and send it out, along with other chores. The day promised to be cold and windy and it was. We only went about 8 miles and found a small creek entering the channel --Spooners Creek -- which had space to anchor and also was within walking distance from a large mall. We encountered one other boat anchored in the creek, Eric from Rhode Island (originally from Georgia), a young man who is sailing a 29’ boat alone down to Savannah and maybe to Fort Lauderdale. He was happy for company and we talked engines, families, trip experiences, etc. for a while in the afternoon and again in the early evening. It snowed today, fine blowing snow, for about 15 minutes. The next day we made up for the short miles of Tuesday by going through to New River Marina in Snead’s Ferry, NC. Every day is an adventure and today there were announcements of Navy ships, including an aircraft carrier and helicopters, off the coast that were conducting exercises, and we traveled through Camp Lejeune, a Marine base, where we watched several boats of trainees practicing their small boat handling including pulling up to the river banks and rooster-tail turns. We saw really good wildlife in this area as well, probably because there are no houses or other development here.
We were the only sailboat at the marina; there were showers here (the water was hot but not the room) and we fueled up and got water for our tanks. There is also a fairly well stocked marine store there. If you are curious about how we keep clean, we have a shower on our boat and the water is heated by our engine when it is running. We do our laundry ashore when we can find laundromats.