Travelling the Swamp
We left the Poquoson River Virginia area in the lower Chesapeake Bay and then spent a couple days in Norfolk, VA at the Waterside Marina. We watched the Orioles battle the Yankees in the American League Divisional Play-offs. We also spent a day grocery shopping in Norfolk and visiting the main attraction, the USS Wisconsin which is permanently docked in Norfolk.
We left Norfolk with a caravan of boats to start down the southern leg of the Intra-Coastal Waterway (ICW) a few days ago. There is a choice of two routes for the Virginia leg of the ICW. One route is called the “Virginia Cut.” It is the main commercial route down the ICW. This route is wide enough to accommodate large commercial vessels. Most powerboats take this route because it can be travelled at a higher speed. The second route is the “Great Dismal Swamp.” Both routes of the Virginia section of the ICW are man-made waterways that connect the Chesapeake Bay with the Albemarle Sound in NC. These routes allow vessels to avoid travelling offshore to move between the two bodies of water.
Boaters leaving Norfolk, VA at ICW Mile 0
We elected to take the road less travelled – The Great Dismal Swamp. This waterway is actually a canal dug by hand from 1793 to 1805. Talk about a nasty job. The swamp is about the same distance as the VA cut but the swamp only accommodates small vessels as much of the swamp is only about 60 to 80 feet wide. The swamp is also shallow (mostly about 6 to 8 feet deep). It is very scenic and a unique section of the ICW. The swamp is mainly used by sailboats because the top travel speed is 5 knots.
Traversing the Swamp
Traversing the swamp requires passing through two locks. These locks raise the water level of the tributaries feeding the Chesapeake Bay and the Albemarle Sound so as to keep water in the man-made section of the swamp. That is, without the two locks all the water in the swamp would drain out into the two larger bodies of water making the swamp impassable.
Lock Doors shutting
Travelling the swamp can be a bit treacherous. In the thinner sections, the trees on each shoreline hang over the waterway. A couple times our mast brushed through tree branches, but fortunately we did not sustain any damage. Another problem is large floating logs. We managed to avoid all these floating obstacles, but we later found out from the lock keeper that some of these floating logs are actually the remains of old day markers that have been abandoned. These markers are still implanted in the seabed. If we had hit one of these logs, it could have punctured the vessel. That would have put a real damper on our trip.
Tieing-off the Boats Getting Ready to Flood the Lock
We spent the one night in the swamp at the NC Welcome Center which has a free dock for all the passing vessels to raft up to and stay the night. We were rafted up with two of the biggest Catamaran’s I have ever seen. They were about 50 feet long and 24 feet wide. When tied off at the dock, these vessels blocked almost half the width of the swamp. The two Cat owners were from England and for the last 18 months had participated in an around the world rally.
Boats Docked at the NC Welcome Center
At this stop we saw the first vessel that was smaller than ours. A couple had an older 33-foot ketch that they sailed down from Nova Scotia on their way to the “Ragged Islands.” The Ragged Islands are south of the Exuma chain of islands in the Bahamas. These islands are very remote where almost no one lives. They go there each winter and go back to Canada for the summer months.
The ICW is where you start meeting other people in the “Cruising Community.” This is a very close knit group of boaters that will help you with any boating problem you may have. This is good for us as we are always in need of help.
Now This is a Real Swamp
The first stop past the Dismal Swamp is Elizabeth City, NC. This small town is a regular stop for cruisers going south. There is not much happening in Elizabeth City, but the town provides free docking and free WIFI. At this stop I decided it might be a good idea to check my raw water strainer. My strainer was almost completely filled with a green substance (green pollen, algae, slime?) that I had never seen before, however I am sure if you ate it, it would be very good for you.
From Elizabeth City, NC we had a very calm and serene day crossing the Albemarle Sound. Unfortunately, the day was so calm; we could not sail across the sound. Tonight we are at a marina at the base of the Alligator River Bridge in NC. We are at mile marker 84 on the ICW.
We only have 930 more miles to go.
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