10/29/15  Thursday (I think)

We DID it! We made it through the Dismal Swamp! Celebrate, celebrate, dance to some mu-zic. What excitement. Not nearly as interesting as my romantic notion of it. Not the Dismal Swamp of the Princess Bride. But, hey! It was the Dismal Swamp. We left the Route #64 Bridge with a full moon overhead and winded our way to the FIRST LOCK! Oh, my dear. I didn't know anything about locks. What a hoot!

Follow that full moon

Going into the Deep Creek Lock, the First lock on our route

The lock master who was also the bridge master - he had the keys to everything - was terrific. Full of information and fun - he played a short concert on a conch shell for us and told us how to do it for when we had conch shells. And we talked to folks who where standing "above" us and who's boats were waiting at the other end for the bridge (same bridge master above) to open. The man, Bob, I think, really could only be in one place at a time.

Getting "Locked in" - David, of course, is talking to someone. Surprise!?
Those big doors are closing!

Waiting for the water to rise 8'

Lock office on the North end. Note the palm tree which is really a bananna tree.

A history lesson - this whole Dismal Swamp Canal idea was hatched by George Washington, the very one, thinking he would sell the lumber (cyprus knees are great for boats, in the olden days not so much now), then drain the swamp and farm the land. Didn't work out so well. During the Civil War the Yankees tried to blow up the locks. Those/we Confederates Stopped them. Thus, the canal still works for us pleasure boaters. TaDa!

The water DID rise 8' so you can see the bananna tree and conch shells.

So, we're IN. Narrow! Shallow! How can we get used to being comfortable with 6' of water when we've just been in 42' of water yesterday? And have grown very comfortable with 30'? Okay, our draft is only 4.8' or something but ...oh, look! We have 8' of water! After awhile 7' becomes comfortable, just like those 4' seas. Some of it was so very lovely. Bird calls I don't even recognize except that it is singing. The smell of warm, fetid, swamp growth..and death. Warmth. I was hot in my jeans even though barefoot. And the trees of my youth - pin oaks, yellow pine, post oaks.

following closely but NO passing.

Fall even in VA/NC

The water is dark brown from the tanin. It is impossible to see through it so noticing submerged logs and branches is sometimes problematic. We lined up at the bridge for the 2nd lock. That lock master wasn't nearly as clear w/his instructions or as much fun. And this time there were so many boats that we had to raft up with another sail boat.  I think there were 8 or 9 boats in the lock. Two catamarans, 3 sail boats and 3 or 4 big power boats. Through the South Mill Lock we were in a much broader, much deeper body of water that became the Pasquotank River, twisty, turny, but deep...25' in some places! How did we become comfortable w/ only 15' of water?

So what both David and I think is that we don't have to do this again...the Dismal Swamp. Glad to have kind of scratched that itch but the stress of shallow water, things to sun into, narrowness and shoaling. Of course, it would be less stressful the 2nd time but the reported beauty didn't live up to reports. Ho humm. I'm so excited with the adventure of going through the Dismal Swamp, though. David thinks he has already done a bunch of his time in purgatory so he'll need fewer prayers after he dies in order to get out. For me, not so bad and I could hear the birds singing.