The Pasquotank River is another of the prettiest sections of the ICW. The river winds it way up from Elizabeth City to South Miles where you enter the Dismal Swamp Canal.
An interesting observer watching the boats go by on the Piankatank. Fits right in with the Cypress swamp lands.
Entering South Mills Lock. Got here about 30mins early and they finally opened the gates 8 mins before scheduled time.
Wow, they really packed us in tight and the two lines holding us to the wall were not ideally placed so the boat could surge forward and back. We had about 3ft of space in front but only 1ft astern.
Then the water came boiling in from the front gate rocking all us pretty extensively. It was a rough rise of 8 feet.
But, all turned out ok with no contact with the wall or other boats. A bit nerve racking though.
After a long delay getting the front gate open, they finally decided tha only one gate was going to open. We carefully made our way over to the other side of the lock and proceeded out slowly.
Clear of the locks and heading up the Dismal Swamp Canal. Turned out to be a nice day although on the cool side. Sue is up on the bow sitting on our pulpit seat.
Here's the view of the canal from the front of Tides Inn.
The main thing to watch for in the canal is the overhanging trees. There are some places where you have to maneuver a bit to avoid hitting the branches with the mast - which could take off the $500 wind instruments up there. We made it through with no incidents.
We did hit one log with the keel, a typical event in the canal. The solid full length keel and protected prop and rudder on the Island Packet is perfect for canal running.
Sue, trying some artistic photos of the sky reflected in the water from the bow. Not a breath of wind down here beneath the trees.
Three hours later and we are in the Deep Creek lock being lowered back down about 8 ft. Its a much smoother ride going down. We also had a lot more room with only 3 of us in the lock.
One of our few Bald Eagle sightings this trip north. This guy hangs out at the Deep Creek Lock most every day they told us.
We got through the lock at the 4pm opening, then went up to Top Rack Marina to top off the fuel tank, at about $1/gal less than most other places in the Chesapeake.
We were then ready to head through the Gilmerton Bridge at 1730 after the rush hour closure period. However, the railroad folks had other plans. Fortunately we only had to wait 30mins, the tug and barge ahead of us and others were waiting for 60mins.
Finally at 6pm the bridge opened and we were on our way.
The Portsmouth basins were full so we proceeded up to the anchorage off of Hospital Point. It was relatively empty, except for the buoy in use for the Monday night racing club. We got to watch the racers round the course in some fairly light but gusty winds.
It was a quiet night and we were on our way for Fort Monroe the next morning.
