2/22-23/21 Swamps, Rivers & Canals

By Lois February 24, 2021

A night spent on a boat at a highway rest stop in a swamp: I can cross that off my life bucket list LOL! We were actually very comfy, warm, and the rest stop was quiet. No complaints.

A little history of the Great Dismal Swamp (because our kids always LOVED it when Mom started talking history😉): the planning for the canal began in the mid 1700's as a route to transport white cedar lumber to the cities where it would be turned into boards and shingles. 22 miles of canal were dug by slaves over a span of 12 years, and it was opened to traffic in 1805. George Washington was an enthusiastic backer: he hoped as a side benefit the canal would drain the surrounding land so it could be farmed, but, well, that didn't work out. Later the canal was used by privateers for smuggling, movement of both confederate and union soldiers, the underground railroad as a path to freedom, and bootleggers during prohibition. Today its used by recreational boaters.

We were up early to motor the 5 miles to the southern end of the canal, requested the drawbridge to be opened and passed through the second lock. Now we are navigating the Pasquotank River. This waterway is wider, winding through land that looks much more like what I expected, even in winter: gnarly oak trees with misletoe and spanish moss in the boughs, a few scattered cypress knees (roots). Each time we rounded a bend we'd startle ducks who flew away checking their calendars to see if tourist season was starting early.

I took some video that shows what our morning was like. You can view it using the link HERE

In order to break the trip into managable pieces and have a safe anchorage reachable before sunset, today was a short day- about 15 miles. We found a sheltered shore to drop anchor just short of Elizabeth City, NC. Several friends had recommeded we dock at the city park's concrete face wall, but Brent felt at this time of year the overnight wind & current would be rough there. Good call by the captain!

This severe thunderstom rolled through in late afternoon with 30kt wind gusts. We were watching closely from the helm, but had no problem riding it out. 30 minutes later it was just a light rain.

A few boat chores then a warming curry for dinner finished the day. Tomorrow will be another early morning.

Tuesday 2/23/21

We had a predawn departure to catch the only early morning bridge opening in Elizabeth City. The rush hour car traffic gets priority the rest of the morning. Albemarle Sound was right around the corner, and winds were nice for a lovely sail. I was also looking around imagining all the history that had happened in this area.

Next up we furled sails to fit through the Alligator River Bridge- a highway bridge that pivots on a center axis rather than raising a section into the air- and immediately put sails back up for more good sailing. When the River turned into the Alligator-Pungo Canal we had a long slog directly into the wind down another very very straight ditch. The A-P is wider and deeper than the GDS Canal, but its claim to fame among cruisers is lack of variety of scenery. It all looked like this

We are definitely in the lowlands.

But we finally found the warm! We went from icy decks in the morning to coatless & barefoot in the afternoon. 🥳 We dropped anchor just as the sun was slipping behind the trees and got a beautiful sunset with the moon bright in the sky.