We finished locking through the Dismal Swamp canal first thing this morning in the company of about 10 boats. It was a full load, with some boats having to raft 3 across. Murphy enjoyed the rather unique experience of having another Irish Terrier in the lock with him. Our Lancaster neighbors were also in the lock with Puka, a little girl terrier. The two roo-rooed back and forth to each other in that ever distinctive IT yodel.
After motoring down the Pasquotank into increasing head winds, we arrived at Elizabeth City mid-day and were able to get one of the last open spots on the concrete bulkhead. Thank goodness for big fenders and for winds mostly blowing us off the dock.
Halloween evening brought out all the ghouls and goblins for trick-or-treating. The picture shows some well-dressed Canadian boat parents and their children. EC closes off Main Street and with homes decorated to the hilt, the locals and visitors alike enjoy the booty. Murphy even scored a few dog biscuits as we wandered along with the kids.
| ICW 2009 |
|
Comments [2]
Today was one of those almost perfect fall days. Cool and crisp with blue skies all morning. We meandered uneventfully down the canal with several of the boats from last evening and a few new ones from the first locking of the day. Murphy played deck ball with Dad and Tali and Mom birded from the deck. Lots of bird sound, but few sightings in the dense brush. Doesn't matter, it was still a relaxing and beautiful day.
We reached the Visitor's Center just after noon and decided to stay put. The weather for crossing the Albemarle won't be good until Sunday so it made sense not to push on.
Murph got a nice walk over to the park and enjoyed playing with some of the other boat dogs. We are now sitting 3 deep in the raft with two 47 foot boats outboard from us. We're kind of dwarfed by the big girls but that's the way it goes when you get there first.
Tomorrow we're all leaving early to make the 1st lock, it should be pretty full since there are a good dozen boats rafted together here.
|
- Chuck
We started the day fueling up at Bluewater Yachts. Sailboats are such a pain. You take 1/2 hour at the fuel pump trying to slowly feed in the diesel and only end up buying 50gals or less. Fortunately it was early in the morning and the dock boys weren't quite awake or in a hurry.
We crossed Hampton Roads on a nice beam reach, passed the Navy ships, and soon reached the quiet backwaters of the Dismal Swamp. We decided to make it a short and easy day and stayed at the first lock. Besides, the lockmaster is such a trip that it's hard to go on from there. Robert plays the conch horn, brings breakfast the next day, and keeps a running patter of stories the whole time.
We spent the night at Elizabeth's Dock which is between the lock and bridge and in the typical small world we find boating, one of the boats on the dock was the same boat we had spent the night with in the spring, on the same dock. Go figure.
|
