We spent 2 nights in Hampton among the hustle and bustle. When you get used to anchoring in quiet, secluded creeks, it’s a big change to be right near a city. At 7am the banging from digging a well started, followed by traffic sounds from the land and boat traffic on the water. It’s a nice change. We had a personal tour of the History of Hampton Museum, by a gentleman who gave us stories and anecdote from it’s original Indians to James Cook, Pocahontas, to the history of Fort Monroe. It was very interesting. We picked up a bit of food from the Dollar Tree and were ready to go Thursday morning.
Thursday morning was a rainy, cool, miserable kind of day. We picked up anchor at 8am and left across Hampton roads, went by Norfolk and into the Intercoastal Waterway (ICW). We passed many huge navy ships along the piers and then the port, with containers pilled high. We wound our way past Norfolk, seeing the Naticus and it’s downtown. Red bouy number ‘36’ is considered mile 0 of the ICW. We waited for a few bridges and then reached a fork. You could take either way, the Virginia cut, or the Dismal Swamp. We chose the Dismal swamp because it is more scenic and has less boat traffic. We motored down a narrow canal and went through an 8 foot lock with about 7 or so other boats. The lock tender entertained us for the 30 minutes it took us to go up 8 feet. We even got to hear him play his conch. We motored 18 more miles and rafted up 3 deep at the visitor’s welcome center. Drenched and cold, we warmed up in Chautauqua with their propane heater. It definitely feels like fall now. Trees are in full change and the days are cool and night cold.
Friday we left early to make the first lock opening at 8:30 am. We continued down the narrow canal lined with trees on either side and it started to widen and meander, snaking its way south. We saw why they named it the dismal swamp. We passed a few boats with deer hunters. They send their dogs into the swamp and then they chase the deer out towards the water. We rounded a few more corners, went under a bridge and arrived at Elizabeth City. Elizabeth City is a known and loved stop by cruises. We tied up to a free dock and were invited to a cocktail party at 4pm. About 15 or so other boats were tied up there and all came to this party where we talked and had one of the rose buddies tell us the history of the river and give us some updated chart information. There were a few assorted beer and some wine and cheese. Then the director of tourism gave us information on the city. It really made us feel welcome and a chance to meet some other cruisers, many of them Canadian. People would also stop by the boat and say hello and ask about our boat, usually give us lots of compliments about second wind and want to know where we were from.
We will be staying in Elizabeth city for 3 nights and Monday morning have an appointment to get our boat lifted out of the water in order to properly repair the rudder and replace the line on the centerboard. We are also getting our motor serviced as it is not running quite right. We wanted to get it checked out as we have quite a bit of motoring ahead of us. A great city to spend the weekend.
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