The ICW technically runs from Miami to Boston, but is conventionally thought of as Miami to Norfolk, VA. As we left our slip (with an all female shove off from Judy of P. in P. above, and Pat from Two for the Road) we were hailed almost immediately by a sailboat ahead of us asking our destination and course. Roger from “ReBoot” confirmed he was leading the way to THE DISMAL SWAMP and he’d be happy to have us just tuck in line behind the boat H2OBO in between us. And so, our easy-peasy adventure began like little ducks in a row. We made the Gilmerton Bridge in easy time, and slowed our pace once through to delay our arrival at the first of the two locks. At Gilmerton Bridge we met up with Two for the Road travelling with Antares, and by the time we made it to the lock we had another IP, Freedom from New Orleans [who we actually met at the Jackson Creek anchorage in Deltaville] in the lineup. Quite a fleet we were.
The Deep Creek Lock is the first “lift” on the Dismal. Manned by “Robbie” who has twice been named “best lockmaster on the ICW” by Sail magazine. Robbie has a wonderful and friendly manner that assures everyone that we are in safe hands and are in for a good time. As we lifted, he played a couple of “tunes” on a Bahamian conch shell. One of many in his extensive collection, displayed under palm trees in front of the Lockmaster’s station. Robbie implored his Southbound charges to bring back a conch for his collection. In any event, he is likely to be one of this trip’s best remembered characters.
THE DISMAL SWAMP is anything but dismal. An economic boon project funded by George Washington, this 50 mile “ditch” (canal) was hand dug by slaves from neighboring plantations. The original intent was to drain it and use the acreage for agriculture, but as that proved unprofitable, the ditch was used as a transportation highway for lumbering operations and white cedar shingles to be shipped up to Norfolk and from thence, everywhere. Washington sounded a bit like Cheney in the first analysis, but the passage way is in fact, a beautiful, wooded wetland making the Cape Cod Canal seem banal in comparison. It is wide enough in concept for a barge to pass through; we were able to have northbound boats pass us with reasonable ease, but the canal is literally about as wide as Gorham Pond Road, and hence, we drive in the middle. We ran through a live oak overhanging branch only once, spraying the deck and cockpit with leaves and acorns, but we had a few “bumps in the bottom” from who-knows-what under the dark-tea colored water. We tied up for the night alongside the Visitors Station on Highway 7, saying adieu to our travelling team, and meeting new friends and travelling companions for the next day.
Tony went straight down to work in “the office”; I set off to explore the nature trail and information center explaining THE DISMAL SWAMP. We settled in later with cocktails and a delicious dinner, had one power boat rafted up beside us on a run from NYC to Miami (why they chose the inside path rather than the Virginia Canal we never asked, but I’m guessing that boat’s name – Peachy Keen - will be changed within a week!), and listened to the birds and the night animals, the passing cars on the highway, and the gentle trickle of the canal water as we drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow brings another tightly timed bridge and lock schedule (they only open 3-4 times a day and there’s no anchoring or “opting out” once in).
Tomorrow, we go South ….
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