SNEAKING UP ON THE ICW!

Authors Note:  Yea, we’ve been underway for over two weeks and I’m finally getting around to writing my blog. For the one or two of you who will actually read it, sorry! I hope to do better the rest of the time, but for now, here’s my first installment.

Diane waxed all 40' of Magic herself!

The last time Diane and I took Magic south for the winter we were on a mission…get to warmer weather as quickly as we could. That was partly because we left in early November (I kind of had to retire first and then there was a slight delay due to Hurricane Sandy) and partly because we were traveling with great friends on two other boats that were on the same mission!

This time around it’s just the two of us…for better or worse, and we’re taking our time. Heck, the first day we made it all of 7 miles to the City of Hampton Town Dock! That was mostly to get away from home and finish stowing the myriad stuff we just couldn’t help put on the boat. If the zombie apocalypse happens on our way south we’re ready with enough food, drink (read wine!) and spare parts to last a really long time!

Great first night dinner!

On day two, after a frustrating hour waiting for a railroad bridge undergoing maintenance to open with literally another 36 southbound boats we truly felt we were underway but wound up only 18 miles from home when we stopped for fuel and to spend the night. There was an ulterial motive here; this marina has the best diesel prices anywhere and if you eat in their superb restaurant, the slip is free for the night! My kind of place. 

On this trip, we decided to take an alternate route down the initial portion of the Atlantic ICW (Intracoastal Waterway), which runs from downtown Norfolk, VA to Key West. Just south of Norfolk, we turned right into the Dismal Swamp canal and were almost immediately transported to a place that time has almost forgot. In fact, an early version of the canal was actually surveyed by a then-young George Washington and parts don’t seem a lot different today! This pretty narrow canal has locks at both

Locking up

ends that raise, then lower boats about 16 feet to the level of the Dismal Swamp. Kind of a mini version of the Panama Canal! In between the locks, the water, which is fresh, takes on a brown almost coffee color from the tannin's in the trees that line the canal. Quick historical note; in the day of sailing ships, crews would barge huge wood water casks to the source of the canal water, Lake Drummond, to fill them with this tannin-laced water. The tannin's kept the water fresh and without slime far longer than well water. So now you know…  Despite the name, this canal  is anything but dismal and is an absolutely beautiful stretch of tree-lined water where navigation is pretty simple (it’s a canal!) and all you have to do is watch out for limbs that overhang the waterway to snag your mast and the inevitable

Foggy in the canal

floating log. This section of the ICW is also the only place in the country where there is a rest area that caters to both cars and boats! That night we tied up to a 120’ dock with 9 other boats (rafted out to the middle of the canal!) and shared this spot with cars and long-haul trucks catching a few winks.

Yum!!

Our next stop was Elizabeth City, NC where we spent two nights at a free dock area provided by the city. Many years ago a couple of local residents saw boaters utilizing these free slips and decided they would welcome them with a small wine tasting party and rose stems from one of their gardens for the ladies. Thus was born the “Rose Buddy” tradition of E. City. It got so much publicity that a few years later, Willard Scott (of Today Show fame) visited the town to check it out. He was so impressed that he purchased a golf cart so the organizers could more easily get to the dock from their homes. Although the original Rose Buddy pair have passed away, the tradition lives on and the local Chamber of Commerce puts on wine and cheese parties a couple times every week in the spring and fall as boaters work their way up and down the ICW. As you can see from the accompanying photo, the appetizers leave a bit to be desired and the wine...well, let's just say that we're glad we brought our own! Still, the comraderie between cruisers is still priceless.

Up next...North Carolina!