Atlantic ICW, 1250 miles from Key West to Norfolk...Check!

Well, we left Oriental at first light to be ahead of the winds that were forecast to pick up later in the morning. After a very short time in the Neuse river we were looking for a bail out marina and were tied up again by 8 am....forecasters are just as good here as in the mid-west. Another lesson learned. Other boats that left when we did and kept going said the ride was miserable until they got back into protected waters. The short video below was taken a couple of days later as we crossed the Albemarle Sound and was not half as bad as the Neuse.

Across the Albemarle we headed up the Pasquotank river to Elizabeth City NC for 2 nights. Our timing was great since we got there in time for their annual North Carolina Potato Festival!! Didn't know NC was big on potatoes but we enjoyed the party anyway. Before getting to the city we passed an interesting complex where they build blimps. Apparently the only place like it in the US.

Blimp "factory"

Sunday morning we got moving early to make the 11:00 lock opening for the Dismal Swamp Canal. It's a very interesting trip through the oldest canal in the US. The 2 locks only open 4 times a day so you have to plan your trip to make one. We were not going all the way through and tied up to a free dock along the route. This was our first lock since leaving the Ten-Tom in November.

After lifting you up the lockmaster drives up the road and opens the bridge for you also.

After the bridge you just idle along for the next few hours and try to stay exactly in the center. We felt a few "bumps" along the way but nothing major. The view doesn't change much...

It does get a bit "interesting" when you meet a boat going the other way. You just slide as close to the side as possible and hold your breath...our tall antenna twanged off the trees as this guy went by.

The water in the canal is a very dark coffee color much like the rest of North Carolina. It leaves a tan "mustache" on the bow of the boat that takes some work to remove.

We were tied up early and went for a walk along the bike path that lines the canal here. Shortly after leaving the boat we saw this sign and headed back...

Once back on the boat we were sitting on the flybridge and noticed something odd in the trees behind the boat. It was pretty eerie and quite when the sun went down.

Dream Catcher??

We were moving again about 9:30 the next morning for the 11:00 lock down and would be in the busy seaport of Norfolk VA by 1:30 that afternoon. It is amazing the difference a few miles makes along these waters. Norfolk marks the end of the AICW. We traveled the 1250 miles from Key West to here in about 2 months. I'm sure we covered a bit more ground with the side trips.

We passed through Norfolk and went across the bay to the town of Hampton for a couple of nights before starting up the Chesapeake Bay. The weather was perfect for the 2 travel days we have had on the bay so far. We first stopped in Deltaville VA for a night before coming to Solomons MD where we are spending a week. The work we had planned to have done in Annapolis fell through since the marina couldn't ensure us a slip for the Memorial Day weekend. We ended up having parts sent here to Solomons and did the work myself. Saved us a ton of money...hope it keeps working!

The Chesapeake has interesting lighthouses marking shoals well offshore so you are typically running several miles from land but trying to stay out of the way of the big container ships that run much faster than we do. Another interesting sight was a ghost ship that is used for military target practice. It was pretty cool in the hazy daylight, glad to not pass it at night.

While here we also had our first return visitor of the trip. Our friend Gretchen visited us with my sister back in Marathon but this time husband Mike was able to make the trip too. We really enjoy these visits and look forward to seeing them again soon. As much as we are enjoying what we're doing these days we really miss our great friends from back home. Sis Kathy is joining us later this week and spending some real travel time with us. That will be a blast too.

Gretchen & Mike

One last picture is one taken on a beautiful travel day on the Chesapeake. Not as exciting as the opening video....just the way we like it!!