Reunion Voyage: Alligator River to the Dismal Swamp

By going all the way to Alligator River Marina last night, we were well poised to cross the Albemarle Sound today. Turned out our weather was great and the water was calm – quite a treat since the Albemarle is known to be choppy and cantankerous. The Sound opens straight east to the Atlantic and gets all the wind and waves, but because it is very shallow, the waves are choppy and close together. We were often advised to watch for a good weather window and we found it.

Elizabeth City Potato Festival

After that we turned into the Pasquotank River and went through Elizabeth City, a charming little town that was celebrating the Potato Festival. We decided not to stop as the city docks are very small and rickety and we wanted to proceed on to the Dismal Swamp.

Despite its depressing name, this is actually one of the most beautiful spots on the ICW. It’s a long straight canal, but lined on both sides with 50’ trees and beautiful flowering bushes. It is also a State Park and is home to a lot of wildlife. We could hear birds all afternoon, but the foliage is so thick it’s hard to spot them. The banks are abundant with a flowering plant that smells like wild lilacs. A week ago, there would have been cascades of huge magnolias – that would have been a wonderful sight. The water is the color of strong tea, or root beer; kind of a dark, glowing, copper color. It is from the tannin, released from the roots and decaying leaves of the cypress and juniper that line the canal.

South Mills Lock, entrance to the Dismal Swamp Canal

The Dismal Swamp has a rich history, swamps were called "Dismals" back in the day. The idea was originally conceived in 1728, by George Washington and other Virginia planters; It was hand dug, primarily by slaves. It opened in 1805 and today is the oldest operating artificial waterway in the U.S. It figured heavily in opening up trade along the east coast and was a primary target in the Civil War.

We stopped this evening at the Dismal Swamp visitor center for a night at their free dock. The last lock opening to get into the DS was at 3:30 and we were in it. After that they close the lock and the bridge and allow no more traffic until morning. This is fortunate because at this dock there is only room for 4 or 5 boats to tie up. After that, you just tie up to the boat furthest out – and the next boat ties on to you. So there are 8 boats here tonight, and we are right in the middle. If one more boat tied on, we would be covering the canal shore to shore. To get to shore, the people tied to us crawl over our boat and then the next boat and then off onto the dock.