Saturday October 11th, 2008
Well the Dismal Swamp is beautiful. It was one of our favourite areas since we left Canada. They just need some marketing people to come up with a new name as it is not dismal at all. It is a narrow channel that is lined with thick brush and tall trees covered with vines. The vines hanging from the trees are reminisent of those seen in old Tarzan movies where he swung from tree to tree. Robert, the lockmaster at the lock leading into the channel was great. He invited us in for a coffee and on the way to his lock house he stopped and picked up a conch and played it. He didn’t just blow it and make noise he actually played a tune. He also had banana trees growing outside which I’m sure take a lot of care this far north. When we went in for coffee, he had fresh donuts for all of us. He was a wealth of knowledge re: the swamp. What a great “welcome to the swamp” greeting. We stayed one night in the swamp at the North Carolina Visitors Centre. The women running the visitors centre were also full of southern hospitality. From the centre, we were able to take a long hike/walk into the swamp up a well marked trail. We saw 5 deer as we ventured into the bush. Then we borrowed bicycles from the visitors centre and rode on a beautiful trail beside the canal. North Carolina certainly knows how to make tourists feel welcome. Our next stop was Elizabeth City, where the town hosts a wine and cheese for visiting boaters. The pictures are both sun rises. One is of our sailing friends leaving Elizabeth city and another the following morning. Sunsets have been equally beautiful. From there we traveled to Beaufort and now we are anchored in Carolina Beach. We arrived here on Thursday afternoon and will probably stay until Monday or Tuesday as another North Easterly wind has started and is forecast to blow until at least Sunday night. We have met some wonderful sailors (the picture)
on this leg of the trip. The gang consists of Theo and Marion from Double Dutch, Ellen and Randy on Kwanesum and Lonnie single-handling Smoooth Move. We are an eclectic group with diverse backgrounds but a common goal “GET SOUTH”. Actually Ellen and Randy as well as Theo and Marion hope to eventually go through the Panama Canal and back up the western seaboard. Lonnie has already traveled to the far reaches including sailing in the Indian Ocean and near Africa. We really have been enjoying our evening Skipper’s meetings with the gang. Lots of commiserating on the day’s run and tales of past voyages. Unfortunately we will need to say goodbye soon as they all plan to go on the outside (Ocean water) from here to Charleston and Al and don’t have the inclination to do a 30-hour overnight run so we will stick to the ICW. We really hope to meet up with them again somewhere along the way. We will have to get used to meeting great people with diverse and interesting backgrounds and then saying good bye
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