Week 3 May 29, 2011

0630 May 29, 2011; Well I can’t say the first part of my evening was very nice.  The wave action kept rocking the boat from side to side and it was like trying to sleep in a swaying hammock.  Around midnight it started to calm down and then the mosquitoes and no seems came out!  At 0130 I put up the mosquito netting and off to sleep until 0530 when Chase licked me in the face.  Must be time to do his thing.  The morning sun rise was just one of the very best and the rough sound I passed through last night was now super calm. 

On our morning walk, Chase met another Lab and I met his owner Tom a retired Coast Guard member and he took me to get gas and we also stopped for coffee.  At the gas pumps in town I paid $1.25 less than the marinas price.  Tom gave me his brother’s number in Cape May and told me to call if I needed anything. 

We shoved off at 0730 and headed into the Dismal Swamp waterway to Norfolk, VA.  I was amazed at how calm the water was as compared to yesterday.  About 5 miles up the waterway I came to a RR crossing but from my angle I couldn’t see the passage through.  I slowed down to a crawl and inspected the barrier in front of me and all it was, was an optical elusion for the opening was there but it looked like it all run together.

The Dismal Swamp canal has to be seen up close and personal for anyone to understand what an out of this world nature paradise this is.  I have seen several places on this trip that compare to this natural wonder but each is a spectacular green world of is own.  The trees and bank foliage come right down to the rivers edge and reflect upon themselves and give you a double image.

I came to the 1^st of two locks at around 0930 and they wouldn’t open the lock until 1100.  However, at 1000 the lock master opened the doors and let us in so five other boats that were coming up behind us could get locked in and now we wait. Oh well, this gave me a chance to re-rig my antenna that came loose in the rough waves I experienced crossing Albemarie Sound.

Once through the lock it was like floating through a never – never ending land of green coming down to the waters edge with twin reflections.  It’s like sailing through a green tunnel and the reflection of the water and vegetation is breathless.  I hope the pictures come out.  The Dismal Canal is as straight as one can draw a line on paper and only 50 feet wide in most places with a no wake speed limit.  I can make 8 mph with no wake.

We made the last set of locks and draw bridge around 1500 and had to wait again for the bridge to open and then travel another mile to the lock.  There were four trawlers and two sail boats in our group.  Two of the couples had just purchased their trawler in St Petersburg, FL and were taking them back north to Toronto. Once in the lock it took another fifteen minutes for the water to let down.  At 1630 I was on the way once again to Norfolk.

Ten miles down the canal I made a left turn into the Elizabeth River that took me to Norfolk and past the Navy yards.  There were only three cruisers in dock repair yards and each one had a large Zodiacs rubber guard boat patrolling around the ship. What a boring way to spend the day.  However, I was most impressed the barges tied up along the water way.  I mean large enough to play football on!  HUGE! And all full with something like scrape metal, cement, grain, and who knows what else.     

I pulled into the Tidewater Yacht Marina around 1800, fueled up and got into my slip.  I must admit, I am a wee bit tired.  I sat around with a couple of very nice older sailors and we discussed the Chesapeake and how to cruse on her.  The chart book I have shows me the way north 20 miles per page and I hope to make 3 pages a day.  They showed me several marinas along the way.  Their advice is to start out early and end up early.  This means shove off by 0630 and arrive in my new port of call by 1400 and I should cover 50-60 miles on average per day.  It may take me 3-4 days to go up the Chesapeake to the C&D canal over to the Delaware and then a day down to Cape May.