Tues, Oct 29 - In which we stand still for a minute

Elizabeth City, NC

Stayed at dock/nice day – slightly overcast

Look!  Great avo toast - even on a boat...

Mel worked 10-11, then we went to Walmart, did laundry at Wash House, stocked up on liquor and a few groceries (Food Lion), lunch was left over pizza at the laundromat.  We were able to do all that because Dan/Cathy loaned us their Mini Cooper to run errands!  

 

Mel's Office

 The rest of the day we nested and caught up on paperwork, etc. Docktails at 5pm, and a nice Cesar salad for dinner.  Rick tested out the oven, and we did not catch on fire.  The good news is we can cross Elizabeth City off our retirement possibilities list.

Mon, Oct 28th - In which we discover the community spirit of boaters

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.

Sun, Oct 27 - In which we rock the lock

Portsmouth/Norfolk, VA to Elizabeth Dock

Our last day with our handlers. Scott went off to pick up their rental car while Rick and I biked BACK to the Dollar Store (where, again, nothing is a dollar).   But this boat needs some things, I’m not going to lie.  You should see the shopping list Karen made us. (And most of them cost WAY more than a dollar)…

Before we left Rick discovered that the AC wasn’t working, and he and Scott brainstormed and crawled around in the tiny engine area, until they came up with a solution.  While they were down there, they tested the fire suppression system.  When all came up golden, they were happy as pigs in mud.  (huge eye roll, but also appreciation).

We left the Tidewater Marina (Karen left in the car to meet us by the Dismal Swamp Lock) much more gracefully than we entered.  Nary a swim platform was grazed, and no one was watching.  Isn’t that just how it goes….

Just on the outside of the Port we had to wait for a railroad bridge to go up.  They can’t raise a bridge once the train is a certain distance away, so we had to wait quite a while.  We are supposed to eschew a schedule whilst on the boat, but we had hoped to get to the Dismal Swamp Lock before Scott was picked up by Karen.  But that was not to be…  Right after the bridge we took a hard right (starboard) into the beginning of the Dismal Swamp Canal and docked at some random deserted old ship yard dock to drop Scott off.  Karen arrived shortly in the rental car, dispensed Subway sandwiches – and we all said sad/relieved goodbyes.  Rick and I had to kill time so as not to get to the lock too early, so we spent some time breathing in the peace of just the two of us on OUR BOAT! 

We made the 3:30pm opening of the Dismal Swamp (I’m just going to say that as often as possible because…. Dismal…) Lock and were the only boat present, coming or going.  I find that, as a woman, if I completely overplay my newness in a situation, people jump to help – so I told John (the relief lockmaster) that it was our first time and plied him for information as he helped us tie up.  I’m so glad we didn’t have to jostle for a place with lots of boats for in our first lock. 

We rose 8 feet to the DS canal, (WHAT – I can’t even wrap my mind around bodies of water being at different levels and the mechanics required to move a boat between them…) and right after the lock found the free Elizabeth Dock to the starboard.  As seems to be the custom, fellow boaters already tied up ran to help us as we approached – what a lovely community…  I went to toss one fellow my bow line and said to him in my best Karen-trainer-voice ‘hold your arm out to the side so I don’t hit you in the face’ as though I had been boating all my life and knew what I was doing.  Sadly, he was French and unimpressed by all that gibberish and so I hit him in the face and then he tied us up.  The dock was nothing to write home about – small, dank and covered with goose poop.  But we felt so happy to have locked and docked on our own none of that mattered.  Of course, then we remembered we weren’t allowed, for insurance reasons, to be operating a boat without the trainers on board until our insurance had come through – so the fact that we were tied up unscathed called for champagne and we took a walk to find some, and a pizza. By 7pm (which felt like 11pm) we were bushed and ready for bed.Thank goodness for the spiders - we had to 'screen up' or be eaten by bugs at the Goose Poop Dock.