Day 200 – 4/21/24

Beginning location: Moored at free dock on Mariner’s Warf, Elizabeth City, NC.

Weather: 49 am, 58 pm, overcast, drizzle all day

Ending location: Moored on the free dock at the North Carolina Welcome Center, on the Dismal Swamp. MM 28 AICW.

Statute miles: 22

General summary: Our journey now took us through the ominous sounding Dismal Swamp. Coming from the Pacific Northwest we are used to curious names such as Cape Disappointment, Point No Point, and Useless Bay in Washington. Let’s not forget the town of Boring, in Oregon. The Dismal Swamp is a narrow canal providing protected and shortened passage from Elizabeth City to Norfolk, VA. It appears the name comes from a land surveyor from the early 1700s whose work was bothered by yellow flies, chiggers, and ticks as well as a foul smell. I previously stated we were done with locks until New York, but there are two locks on the Dismal Swamp, so I was mistaken. They each operate four times a day, on schedule, so you must time your arrival for 10 minutes before scheduled opening. The lock operator was very friendly and helpful. The bollards are stationary, so you have to have enough rope to slowly raise or lower yourself. We locked through uneventfully with four other boats. We then tied up to the free dock, with the same boats, at the North Carolina welcome center. Did not do much exploring as it was cold and rainy. Did not note anything otherwise dismal.