Dismal Swamp, NC to Portsmouth, VA

 May 23 – July 8, 2010

 

After Elizabeth City, we were on our last stretch of the Intracoastal.  Our next big decision was which fork in the road (or rather waterway) do we take to get to the Norfolk area at Mile Marker 0:  the Virginia Cut or the Dismal Swamp.  The Virginia Cut is much deeper at 12 feet (hey, it’s all relative!) and wider, but there is more commercial traffic and the go-fast boats that rocked us further south prefer that route.  The Dismal Swamp is narrower, shallower at 6 feet, and more winding, but there is no big-boat traffic.  

 

Roger and Danny, never timid about an imminent adventure, made the decision to take the Dismal Swamp.  Susan and I were torn because we didn’t like the big boat traffic that we’d have on the Virginia Cut, but even the name – Dismal Swamp – doesn’t sound inviting, does it?  I envisioned a bug-infested, mucky swamp with alligators lining the shore or maybe traversing the waterway in front of us.  Well, there was none of that after all!  Other than a couple of locks to ride down a few feet and a couple of bridges to wait for an opening, the only other act of nature we encountered was a bad thunderstorm while we were underway.  

 

The Dismal Swamp is also a rest area on Virginia Highway 17.  When people pull off the highway to stop at a rest area, they don’t expect to see boats there!  We tied up along with several other boats at the free docks behind the rest area for a night.  There was a feeling of accomplishment (it sounds kind of silly to say that now) because frankly the Dismal Swamp conjures up all kinds of negative connotations.  And I get myself worked up into such a frenzy about these “unknowns”, expecting the worst and wondering how I’m going to handle it.  Then I realize that I’m silently congratulating myself for “making it through” yet “another adventure” on this Great Loop!  Poor Roger, see what he has to put up with on a daily basis?

 

Out of the Dismal Swamp, we parted ways with Potest Fieri and Monk’s Vineyard and headed into Tidewater Marina in Portsmouth, VA on May 24^th, where we have been since then.  Two days after we arrived here, Roger, Louie and I flew to Tampa for 8 days.  It was Louie’s first plane trip and he behaved perfectly.   We looked at a lot of properties and we settled on a townhouse in Clearwater, with a pretty view of the Gulf Coast Intracoastal Waterway across the street.  It’s time to have a land-base that we can call “home”.  Travis came down to Florida for Memorial Day weekend and he and Heath helped us with the home search.  By the time we left to return to Virginia, all of us were excited and knew we’d made the right decision!

 

We rented a car for two weeks back in Portsmouth, so I had some independence while Roger took an 8-day trip back to Indianapolis.  While he was gone, I worked on getting things we needed to close on our new home.  I polished the stainless steel stanchions on the boat – it was a dirty job, but worth the effort.  I also went to Harbor Fest in Norfolk with some of our dock neighbors.   Every time he leaves me on the boat by myself, I manage to keep very busy and I’m never bored.  (I also sleep with my pepper spray next to my bed!)

 

When Roger came back, we took the rental car to Cape Hatteras and the Outer Banks on Father’s Day.  I really wanted to visit the Outer Banks after looking at the area from the Intracoastal.  We had a great day – climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse and went to the beach.

 

A few days later, we invited Michael and Elizabeth Barton, parents of Heath’s girlfriend Kara, to the boat for dinner.  Even though the temperature was still hot, we enjoyed our time with them, getting to know them a little bit better.

 

The next weekend was the Cock Island Sailboat Race and there were bands and activities all weekend in Portsmouth.  Between Portsmouth and Norfolk, there is something going on almost every weekend.  Ferries run between the 2 cities across the Elizabeth River every ½ hour and the ride only takes 10 minutes and $3.00 round trip.  The following weekend was the Bayou Boogaloo and Cajun Food Fest in Norfolk.  Roger was in heaven – he loves Cajun music and food!  We took the ferry to Norfolk and listened to the nationally-known bands each day.  Roger was determined to make it a 3-day fest, but I couldn’t go on Sunday because it was 102 degrees with a heat index of 112 degrees!!  

 

Last week, we left the boat again for an unexpected trip to Rochester.  We lost my Aunt Peg (my 2^nd Mom), at 71-years-old, to ovarian cancer.  In spite of our shock and grief, it was good to be with all of my family.

 

We drove back to Virginia on 4^th of July and stopped off at Gettysburg, PA to tour the battlefield, an interesting side trip.  The fireworks were just about to start when we pulled into the marina, and it’s still so hot here.  Yesterday was 104 degrees and neither of us wants to leave the dock in this kind of heat.  We’d like to cut loose from the dock and head up to the Chesapeake Bay.  If we anchor out, we have limited use of our air conditioner, so the heat is a big factor for me.  We’ll keep you posted and hopefully I will write more often now.  We’ll stay on the boat until the end of July, when we have to go back to Indy again. We’ll move to Florida mid-August and plan to return to the boat at the beginning of September.