ICW Mile Marker Zero

Day #65: We're off the Elizabeth City dock at 0520hrs. Ahead is 18nm before the first of the Dismal Swamp's two locks. Miss the 0830hrs lock opening and the Army Corps gives you three hours to contemplate your navel. And so it went all day--travel a bunch of miles, arrive before a set time or pay a time tax. Most cruisers take several days for this leg, but timed right it can be done in one. We were the only boat up-locked at South Mills which meant we'd have the 20nm long, narrow, shallow, log infested, tree lined canal to ourselves. That is until we crossed paths with any south bound cruisers who had locked-up in Deep Creek. Clearly the Dismal Swamp wasn't named by a real estate developer. Perhaps it was named by those that hand-dug the canal or more likely by the scheme's investors. In fact the length of the canal is very pretty. Occasionally the dense picket fence of hardwoods lining the canal part, giving a glimpse of fertile farm fields or small, grassy meadows.

Approaching the northern terminus of the Swamp we're hailed on the VHF by a sailboat. She's moored in the only available spot and invites us to raft up. There's about an hour wait to lock-down and so we're grateful for the offer. Thus we meet Bliz: a father, waterman, tool and die maker, engineer and published author. If any of his characters are as expansive as he is, his books are certain best sellers.

From the quiet, peaceful cocoon that is the Dismal Swamp, you're dumped, without adequate decompression and little warning into the navigational pressure cooker that is Norfolk. We love it. The tugs and tows, the Navy ships everywhere, the noise and lights of a large metropolis. It's like eye candy. Today's picture shows Nellie safely ensconced at the end of Water Street in the heart of Portsmouth, Va. Yet another free dock. The ketch ahead of us is the Do Littles. Wally and Lori are just returning from an eight year trek to Europe. They did the Grand Tour cruiser style: about every canal in Europe including three winters in Paris. They said their mast was unstepped for so long that coming back across the Atlantic was like learning to sail for the first time. They're heading back home to the north end of Lake Huron and pondering what to do next.

It was a very regimented, but enjoyable, 43nm from Elizabeth City, NC to Portsmouth, VA. This is the ICW's mile marker 0 and the beginning of the Chesapeake Bay. It only took 1453nm to get here. DBH.