Day 2

November 8, 2014, 7:30AM. [N 36 degrees, 50.800 minutes/W076 degrees, and 18.080 minutes], Norfolk Harbor, Hospital Point: Winds south 5-10 knots. 36 degrees. Partly Cloudy.
This is Mile 0 of the ICW Norfolk Area.

We left our anchorage at 08:30 headed south past lots of commercial docking and industrial activity and sailed under the Belt Line RR and Norfolk and Western RR Lift Bridges (see pic); then under the Gilmerton Bridge, which is a call bridge; that is, you have to call the bridge attendant and ask permission to pass – which is a big deal because he has to stop traffic and open (lift) a hugh bridge span. There is a kind of culture surrounding bridge masters and definitely a protocol for interacting. It pays to be very cordial and present a respectful tone in your “ask to pass” or it just might not happen, I’m told.

So at mile 5, under the Gilmerton Bridge we went, then under Route 64 high span bridge and on to the entrance to the Great Dismal Swamp Canal Route of the ICW – a scenic and less traveled (by commercial vessels) alternative to the eastern Virginia Cut route. 

 

 

These canals travel southward more or less on parallel courses and rejoin in Albemarle Sound.  The Dismal Swamp Canal route is 22 miles long, straight as an arrow for much of that distance, anywhere from 40 – 75 feet wide (which ain’t much) and averages 9 foot depth. Not much room for passing vessels. This time of the year most boats are sail or motor trawlers headed south.

We entered the canal at the Deep Creek Canal Lock. The US Corp of Engineers operates the canals, ditches and locks associated with Lake Drummond, one of the few naturally occurring lakes in Virginia. The Corps main responsibility in managing this complex is to maintain adequate water level in Drummond which in turn establishes the local water table which makes it possible (at least partially) for so many people to live in the Hampton, Chesapeake and Norfolk areas. The locks are a primary tool for regulating water level in the lake. Boaters are just along for the ride.

There was a “lock master” who directed traffic (four boats entering the lock together) and served as tour guide, historian and general duty as a funny man. We entered the lock where the water level was eight feet below water level in the actual canal ahead. Once we were securely tied to the sides of the lock, big gates closed behind us and the master flooded the lock by opening gates in front. It took about 10 minutes for the water level in the lock to rise to canal level, Open go the gates and down the canal we went in perfectly fine weather. Our very first lock negotiation. Thrilling.

 

We traveled thirteen miles down the canal to South Mills North Carolina crossed through the Bascule Bridge and docked just north of the South Mills Canal Lock for the night for a total days run of 33.5 miles. The lock opens at 8:30AM tomorrow.

When we entered the Deep Creek Canal Lock this morning docked there was a very nice CSY 44 (Caribbean Sailing Yacht) named Foot Loose. Foot Looses’ captain was Vince Trovato, a spry gentleman probably in his mid-seventies. He told us he had done the ICW seventy times in his career as a US Coast Guard Ocean Master. He gave us a copy of his own guide to the Atlantic Waterway and some great advice. I’d say he knows what he is talking about.

Tomorrow we are headed to Elizabeth City, NC on the Pasquotank River.

Stay tuned for more exciting adventures.

Steve and Emily