The great lock gates close behind us and the sun comes out. I don't think the two incidents were connected in any way but it certainly made an immediate difference to the day.

The Great Dismal Swamp is one of only two inshore routes by which cruisers can work their way north other than to fast-track on the offshore route. All about what we do is not seeing how many miles we can cover in a day but taking time to see places just like this.

It is a very special. A major National Wildlife Refuge in the region of 150,000 acres. Everything from black bears to mosquitos, giant white cedars to waterlilies. It's worth reading up on its history since its inception as a major logging transport channel in 1763.

Try just entering 'History of the Great Dismal Swamp' in your search engine and you'll be amazed at the return. If you have time look up Longfellow's 'The Slave in the Dismal Swamp' a moving poem of days gone by.