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December, 2009:

Elizabeth City, NC

Dec 2nd, 2009
by Jean.
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The second lock on our route opened at 8 :30 AM today. We followed two boats down the canal, which made it nice for us in that we didn’t have to worry about debris in the water because their wakes pushed it aside as they went through the water ahead of us. SWEET. We also followed their lead as we went into the lock. Much easier than the first time. Life’s experiences are the best teacher; and boating is just like everything else in life, in that the more you do something, the easier it becomes.
 
 
We had five miles of the Canal to navigate before reaching the Pasquotank River. This was a fun river to navigate, with lots of bends and turns. The GPS, as well as the boat in front of us, made it a very easy trip. It wasn’t until we reached the Pasquotank River, that I really felt like I was in a swamp. At the edges, green flotsam could be seen, and to me that’s what made it look like a swamp.
 
Right before entering Elizabeth City, we had to call the bridge-tender on the VHS radio to let him know of our need to go through the bascule bridge; and, he responded immediately with the opening. Up to this point in the day’s journey, the wind was calm. As we entered the harbor at Elizabeth City, and prepared to get a slip at the Mariner’s Wharf, the wind picked up because of the vast openness of the river and the direction of the wind. Fortunately, the town pays to have a man at the wharf to help people get into the slips. I’m not even going to discuss the difficulty we had, but we finally secured the boat, with much relief to us and the wharf-tender. It’s an ADVENTURE! The wind became really fierce accompanied by a torrential downpour. The good news is we were already secure in our slip by the time it hit. Goes back to Gary’s belief “God protects children and idiots.”

Since it was such a yucky time to be on the boat, we attired ourselves in rain gear and toured the historical waterfront part of town. This town was first visited by the English in 1585 and settled in 1793. It’s original name was Reding and later renamed Elizabeth Town, and then it‘s current name of Elizabeth City. “Third time is a charm.” I guess.

The largest Coast Guard command center in our nation is in this city; however, we did not see it.  We visited the Museum of the Albemarle, which is not far from the wharf. It’s hard to explain how nicely done the exhibits in this museum are. The exhibits take the visitors on a journey from the days of the Native American Indians to present day. There also was a wonderful exhibit of waterfowl decoys. If you’ve ever been in our home, you know of our interest in decoys. Needless to say, we enjoyed this part of the museum tremendously. They had a duck shoot game set up in this part of the museum, and I have to admit, for the first time in my life I picked up a gun and tried shooting the inanimate flying ducks. I didn’t do well, so most of the inanimate little duckies lived. Most of Gary’s died.

We went to the Colonial Restaurant and had a southern home cooked dinner. Then we went to the Carolina Theatre & Grill, which was much like the Commodore Theatre in Portsmouth.  The movie“Old Dogs” with Robin Williams and John Travolta gets thumbs up from the Glenns.

THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP

Dec 1st, 2009
by Jean.
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　　We left the Portsmouth/Norfolk area today and headed south down the Elizabeth River only to be challenged by six bridges and the first lock we have ever had to navigate. The only bridges we’ve contended with on the Chesapeake Bay are “bascule” bridges. These are bridges that lift up by a counterbalanced weight that looks like a big hinge.

Just south of Portsmouth is a huge “lift” bridge; the likes of which we have never seen. A whole section of the bridge rises straight up horizontally into the air so the water traffic can navigate under it.

We obviously showed our ignorance while going through the first lock. We were the first boat into it and thereby had no one to observe as to proper procedure. Suffice it to say, we learned. It’s not difficult once you know the routine. We read in the cruising guide to call ahead on the VHF radio and ask the lock-tender which side to have the lines and bumpers ready before entering the lock. We did as instructed. Once inside the lock, the next step was to throw the lines up to the lock-tender. One end of the line is cleated off onto the boat; and we were suppose to hang onto the other end of the line and throw the middle of the line up to the lock-tender. Needless to say, we blew that our first time. It’s an adventure!!!

About the Dismal Swamp Canal:

The canal is actually in the middle of two natural tributaries, Deep Creek and the Pasquotank River. Deep Creek is a three mile stretch that is very pretty with wooded banks and small beaches. The entrance to Deep Creek off the Elizabeth River was a little challenging to figure out, but the GPS helped us and we managed it successfully.

The history of the swamp dates back to George Washington’s days. In the mid 1700’s he and other prominent businessmen purchased 40,000 acres to log the timber. Washington eventually sold his interest in the project to the father of Robert E. Lee. In 1909, a lumbering company purchased the swamp and continued to harvest the rest of the lumber. The Dismal Swamp Canal is the oldest operating artificial waterway in the United States. Since mostly slaves dug the canal by hand, and they were very familiar with it, they eventually used it for their escape to the north. The canal’s construction began in 1793 and was finally completed in 1805, taking 12 years to complete. Today, it is maintained by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. We saw a couple of their vessels and their station as we went down the canal. In 1973 the swamp was donated to what is now the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge. We tied up for the night at the North Carolina Visitors Center where the park for the Wildlife Refuge is, but we did not visit it this time. Hopefully, we’ll have the opportunity another time.

The Dismal Swamp Canal is quite narrow and we had to stay in the center of the channel for fear of running over tree stumps and causing damage to the boat’s prop or hull. We made it through successfully… YEAH!!! SEE PHOTOS IN “PHOTO GALLERY”

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