October 24 Hampton to Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center

This morning was chilly but not too bad, we toughed it out! And a bit windy this morning. Here is a photo of the anchorage here.
The pink and blue hues were pretty as we looked over the Hampton Roads-Bridge Tunnel. I tried to get a photo of the full moon as it was going down over the highway but I came out too late.. It was beautiful and went down too fast.

 

And five minutes later, we had this beautiful sight.

Mike had the anchor lifted and we were away at 07:15 We headed to Norfolk and Portsmouth through and Naval Ship yard and the loading terminal yards. Unfortunately because of the early morning bright sun, there wasn’t a great opportunity for good photos. But here is what we did see:

Aircraft Carriers

Paperbird being dwarfed by this container ship

And fuel storage facilities

So many loading docks

Norfolk Southern Railroad, for all our railroad friends

 

And lots of coal cars there

 

So many loading docks everywhere

Naval Ships

 

Lots and lots of Naval ships

The USS Wisconsin BB-64 which is part of the Nauticus Maritime Museum that is almost hidden by the back of the cruise ship

Cruise ship from Germany

Dagny (name of this sailboat) We met these owners on our last day in Annapolis. They are from South Lancaster, ON and sail out of Lake Champlain

Another sailboat in the anchorage from Canada. We found out later that it is Soulmates, from Ingleside, ON

Dagny is anchored where we anchored last time in Portsmouth and we used the laundry facilities here at this marina

Looking across the River to Norfolk from Portsmouth

An Aircraft Carrier Ship

Norfolk Naval Shipyard

With strict orders to keep out

 

And lots of ships in the shipyard. Here’s one of them

Bridges to go under

 

And another railway bridge and a lift bridge

 

And then we can make a choice on which route to take on the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway (ICW)

We chose the Dismal Swamp and the next lock opening was at 11:00. So we idled along down and noticed this mermaid. We thought of our grandaughters, Margie and Elle. They love mermaids.

Then we head into the Deep Creek Lock.

There is a 6 foot lift here and lots of conch shells.

 

We start through the canal. Note the boats going through the green duck weed.

Once we are out of the lock and into the canal, the lockmaster drives around and lifts the bridge.

 

Apparently the word Dismal was given to it in 1728 by Colonel William Byrd II of Virginia. He proposed making a channel to transport good from the Abermarle Sound into the Nansemond and Elizabeth Rivers. He had returned from making a survey of the Virginia-North Carolina border for the English Crown. He and his men had to struggle through the dense forests of the great swamp. Byrd found it repulsive and added the word Dismal to the name. In May, 1763, George Washington made his first visit to the Great Dismal Swamp and suggested draining it and digging a north-south canal through it to connect the waters of the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia and Abermarle Sound in North Carolina. In 1784, the Dismal Swamp Canal Company was created. Virginia authorized canal construction in 1787 and North Carolina gave authorization in 1790. Work on the canal was started in 1793. The canal was dug by hand and was slow. Most of the labor was done by slaves from nearby landowners. Because the slaves were familiar with the swamp, it became a haven for runaways. The canal opened in 1805. It has been upgraded and rebuilt many times since then. It is the oldest operating man-made canal in the United States and the Dismal Canal is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. It is also part of the National Underground Railroad Network to Freedom, an escape route used by numerous slaves in antebellum North Carolina. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers are responsible for the locks and the Dismal Swamp Canal.

This commemorative plaque was at the Deep Creek Lock.

The Dismal Swamp looked a bit different to us as we motored along than when we took this canal route home in 2015. Then remembering it was because it was rainy and in late April. Looking back at the photos, all the trees were newly budded and everything was so green and fresh. However, it was still a nice peaceful and beautiful meander through the canal. The canal is 22 miles long and 6 feet deep at centerline. Here’s some of our sightings today:

Some colour change on the trees

Green on both sides and straight down

A little turtle basking in the sun

Beautiful trees

And more

Follow the leader

Had to be careful along here. Hurricane Matthew in 2016 did a lot of damage to this canal and it was closed for a year and a half. It had to be cleaned up and re-dredged. Had to be sure to stay between these

Lots of lily pads for our grandson Easton

The swamp is also a National Wildlife Refuge

Pretty

And here is our Welcome sign. Yep, in North Carolina

And bet you can guess what it says on the other side when you re heading north

Boats docking at the free dock at the Visitor Center

We tied up beside a trawler here at 14:40. The Dismal Swamp Visitor Center is located right up from the dock and off the highway. They are most welcoming. By the end of the day, there were 9 boats rafted in here. More about our days in the Dismal Swamp in the next blog.

Today we travelled 34.72 nm.