Everybody told us that you have to do the Dismal Swamp at least once. The Great Dismal Swamp Canal was started in the 1790s using slaves with shovels and wagons. The first portion opened in 1805. Being a history buff, I was already interested. To travel through the Dismal Swamp you go through two locks (at the beginning and the end, obviously.)
Our first lock was educational to say the least. We were the first boat in and went to the front of the lock. This lock was going up, so I handed up our line to the nice man and he wrapped it around a bollard and handed it back. We were to hold our lines so that we could tighten them as we went up. The man said to be aware that the boat would want to move around as the water came in. OK. That made sense. I wanted to take pictures of the boats behind us, so Steve and I traded places - he went to the bow and I was at the stern. As the water came in, the boat did indeed want to move around. It was all we could do to hold on - and I would not have been able to hold on if I had remained at the bow. As we left the nice man said that when you are going up, you don't really want to be the first boat. Lesson learned.
It sounds like a straight shot through a swamp would be kind of boring. Not really. The trees were lush and green, honeysuckle and pepperbush were everywhere and filled the swamp with a wonderful fragrance. There were turtles, swimming snakes, cranes, geese, ducks and hawks. I was enchanted by the play of the light on the water and the reflections of the trees. I got a bit carried away with the photos.
There is a Visitor's Center at the half-way point that is accessible by water or highway. We spent the night there, tied up to other boats. In the morning, we welcomed Steve Bluhm (our nephew) and his son Kyle. They cruised the second half of the canal with us and rode on into Norfolk. The lock leaving the canal was fairly uneventful except for two things... the nice man at this lock let Steve B. press the button to let the water out of the lock and then serenaded us with a song on his conch shell! We were impressed.
We got into Norfolk last night but will be here for a few days, so we'll let Norfolk be another story.
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| On the way to Dismal Swamp |
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| Lots of turtles |
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| The waterway was curvy until we reached the canal |
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| The water looked like coffee or tea |
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| Not sure what this was about |
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| Getting close to the lock |
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| Our first lock |
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| They released the water before we went in |
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| The escaping water made a whirlpool |
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| The water starts coming in |
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| It gets harder - Steve is on the deck now |
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| Note the placement of Steve's feet! |
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| Whew! We made it! |
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| Our friends made it too |
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| In the canal |
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| A pair of mallards |
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| We scared them! |
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| The boys headed to the Visitor's Center |
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| Where we docked for the night |
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| Kyle liked the wildlife exhibit |
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| Finally made it to Virginia! |
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| Kyle had a good day on the boat |
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| LOTS of honeysuckle - it smelled so good! |
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| The sweet bay was blooming too |
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| The Superintendent's House - that's what it says! |
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| I know it's blurry, but it's so cool! |
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| A bridge before the lock - we had to wait here for a while |
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| This is where we waited - in the back parking lot of a Mexican restaurant |
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| In the lock |
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| Steve got to push the button! |
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| Going down is much easier |
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| This guy was awesome! He could blow louder than our horn! |
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| Off we go! |
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| Logs in the water - we had to be careful |
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