Through the Dismal Swamp to Elizabeth City
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
26
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Elizabeth City,
North Carolina,
United States
Thursday, October 25, 2001
We past the ICW Mile 0 marker, and started on our way to the next thousand miles of our journey. There are two ways to start the trip and we chose the slower and less traveled Dismal Swamp Canal. After locking through the first lock, we tied up for free alongside the town docks of Deep Creek with one other boat named Seaquel. We soon discovered that George and Julie were a delightful couple who had completed a circumnavigation of the world in their previous boat and were now on their way to the Caribbean and Cuba. It made our little 3 month voyage seem quite small by comparison.
Oct. 23
Leaving in the quiet of the early morning we found ourselves ghosting through an eerie fog. The canal is only about 80 feet wide and the trees that line it are over 100 feet tall so they towered over our boat. We soon lost Seaquel in the fog and so were left alone to traverse the canal.
With the vines on the trees dripping down into the water, it looked as if we were passing through a dense jungle far from civilization. The fog finally lifted and we cruised through some beautiful forest with leaves just starting to change their colours.
It has been a nice easy day today as we crossed into North Carolina and stopped at their attractive Visitor Center docks. There is only room for 3 boats to tie to the dock but in a couple of hours we soon had 7 boats there with 2 rafted off Mystic Loon.
Out of the seven boats, four are heading south for the first time and the others have been there several times with one boat having cruised the Caribbean and Mexico areas. This year they hope to go to Cuba which does create some problems for them as US citizens. Anyway we have had an interesting time listening to everyone's different adventures.
In the early evening, more boats joined us and by nightfall we had 14 boats in total rafted off a dock for 3 boats. We had four boats, all larger than us, rafted off Mystic Loon. I tried to get a final picture but it was too dark by then and we started leaving in the early dawn light in the morning to be in time for the 9 a.m. opening of the last lock of the Canal.
Oct. 24
Our 14 boat flotilla was joined by three more boats which had anchored at the entrance to the last lock. The lock tender did a magnificent job of jamming all of us in so no one was left behind. To maintain the water level in this low water year, the Canal locks are only opened twice, at day 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. so no one wanted to be left behind.
Of the 14 boats, 10 of us looked forward to enjoying the famous hospitality of Elizabeth City. The city offers 48-hour free dockage at Mariner's Wharf, right in the downtown area. There is no electrical or washroom facilities but there are the "Rose Buddies". Twenty some years ago two gentlemen started a tradition which continues to this day. Every lady is presented with a rose and welcomed to the community. If there are five or more boats that evening, they are invited to a wine and cheese party.
When we arrived they were out of roses so Margaret and the other ladies received North Carolina cotton balls and were invited to have a "cotton pickin good time while in our town". That evening we enjoyed a wine, beer and cheese party. The funding for this comes from the local Chamber of Commerce and donations from the merchants of the town. We were particularly lucky that evening in so far as Mulligan's, the restaurant which donates part of their waterfront area for the "Rose Buddy" party, was the center of a thank you party for the area merchants and Chamber members who did so much to prepare for the 200th Anniversary celebrations which would take place the next evening. The owner of the restaurant came over and invited all twenty of us to join them and stay as long as "food and beer holds out". Boy did we arrive at the right time.
Oct. 25
A lazy day of sightseeing, shopping, using the town library's internet connection to work on email and in general enjoying the beautiful day. For the last five days, we had been in shorts and T-shirts with temperatures in the mid 70's (22-25C). When I phoned my father that morning, I was told that snow had arrived in Sudbury and out west there was so much snow the plows were out.
In the evening, we all attended the party on main street and then at 9:30 watched from the front row seats of our boats an excellent fireworks display in the harbour. It certainly reminded us of the super displays put on each year by the Lions Club in Little Current only this time we were about three times closer to the action than we have ever been back home.
This is a wonderful town and a must stop for any boat going down the ICW. While walking down the street, we saw a wide variety of signs welcoming boaters, and the merchants and the people of the town all were so warm and gracious with their southern hospitality. This is another place we would regret leaving.
