Elizabeth Dock to Elizabeth City, NC
Before leaving the Goose Poop Dock, we were up early to
get breakfast to-go at Waffle House, go to the Auto Parts store and the Dollar
Store (total spent in this tiny place of about 8 stores: $400), and be
ready for the Deep Creek lock to open and then the subsequent bridge to go up
at 9am. (The dockmaster opens the lock and then jumps in his car to get down to
the bridge and open it just in time for the boats to get under.)
The lock opened right on time, with plenty of
instructions issued by the fabulous lockmaster (Robert), disgorged two ‘sails’
and a trawler. The trawler took the lead (which turned out to be good as he
pushed the duckweed and debris aside, and radioed back obstacle warnings to the
group. We were a merry band of two
trawlers (us and Maca Hanu-nice older couple) and 4 sails (Sailitude, Villa
Blanca, Queen of Hearts (a French family) and Grace – run by a female pro). I was really taken with how the group looked
out for each other and stayed in touch on channel 71, at the lockmaster’s
suggestion.
And with that, we were set loose in the long, shallow,
narrow, hand-dug (1805) channel of the Dismal Swamp. We couldn’t see much swamp, being hemmed in
by trees, but it was a lovely day and we enjoyed what we could see. The duckweed (it’s a seasonal thing) was an
incredible bright green, and in places looked like snow/solid thru the
binocs. But when it parted it broke into
tiny pieces, almost like the most minute of lily pads, and floated away from
the boat as though it weighed nothing. The water is an amazing dark brown, like
amber coffee. Apparently, the tannin in
the water from the trees is the cause of this.
We eventually came to the Swamp Visitors Center, which I
wanted to visit, but Rick was worried about a noise the engine is making so we
pressed on for Elizabeth City. Right
after the Visitors Center we passed through a bridge and shortly after to the
South Mill Lock, where we dropped 8 feet into the Pasquotank River. This lockmaster was NOT a chatty fellow…
The twisting, winding Pasquotank almost doubles back on
itself. One of our guide books said that the Pasquotank
River from the South Mill Lock in to Elizabeth City was ‘the most picturesque
of the ICW’, but we were underwhelmed and found it super average. Eventually we left the duckweed behind, the
river opened up and we came around a corner and spotted the Elizabeth City
bridge.
Coming into Elizabeth City we were nervous that there
might not be dock space at the ‘famed’ downtown Mariners’ Wharf. We called ahead – the woman who answered said
‘I’m looking out the window to see’! Not
very confident in her vision we were lurking about waiting for the bridge to go
up when a man on the dock at the Mid Atlantic Christian U dock (which we had read
was free) hailed us and offered us a free dock for as long as we wanted (no
water, power, etc). Uncertainly we
decided to go for it and made a sloppy landing on the second try. Dan, the dockmaster/maritime ministry/general
guy, added a fender board and large ball fender which, along with all our
sloppy lines, makes us really look like the Trawler Trash we are. Our trainers
would be so disappointed/ashamed by all the junk hanging from our boat.
Dan
and wife Cathy, plus their friend Will & German Shepard, plus the couple on
the boat in front of us made us feel welcomed.
I have been feeling anxious about stretching my legs, so after hosing
the boat down we took a walk through town. And were completely
underwhelmed. This city has quite a
reputation for boater hospitality, but the town itself looks to be still deep
in the recession. We walked through some
really sketchy areas of town and felt uncomfortable enough that we returned to
the boat. There are some lovely old
buildings, just waiting for a reason to be renovated. We were tired from a long day and too much
sun, so it was off to bed.
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