First of all, you need to google this area as there is a LOT of history here. It was started during George Washington's administration and the colonial term for swamp was "dismal", so it is redundant to say the Dismal Swamp - it's just The Dismal. However - it is a long way from dismal. Probably of one of the prettiest areas we have ever seen. There are locks at each end of The Swamp, and that was going to be a new experience for us!! We followed a beautiful river to the first lock. The locks have specific times they open and you best not miss it, or you wait for the next 2-3 hrs. There were 7 boats entering the lock with us, most of them sailboats. You line up against either wall, the lock master comes by and attaches your bow and stern lines to stanchions on the side of the lock and you wait, watching your lines, as the water goes up - about 8 ft. You then remove the lines and take your turn exciting the lock. About midway thru The Swamp was the visitors center (there is a highway along one side, past the trees) and they have a short dock there for overnite boaters. We had planned to spend the night there and it was a good thing as they said a tree had fallen over the canal just past the Visitor Center and nobody was leaving that night!! As it turns out, there were 11 boats that night!! The dock is long enough for 3, so you raft up with the other boats. One of the boats that had tried to leave the dock that am had engine problems and had to return to the dock so they rafted up as well. There were 3 along the dock, at one point there were 2 rows of four boats across - almost to the other side of the canal. That meant that they had to walk over 3 other boats to get to shore. Luckily we rafted up to a good sized sail boat who was already at the dock and it was easy getting the boys to shore. None of the other smaller boats wanted to raft on our other side as we were too high and they wouldn't not have been able to board in order to get to shore. Worked for us!! The canal is very narrow with thick forest on either side. Often the trees are over the canal and it runs about 5 ft deep, if you are lucky!! Absolutely beautiful - so lush and serene! They have bobcat, black bear, snakes etc. but we didn't see anything. There is no electricity there, so it was a pretty warm night as we usually run a fan. We awoke in the am to fog, but the canal is so narrow it is pretty hard to get into trouble, just need to keep track of the boat in front of you. We wanted to make the 10 am opening as we were heading to Hampton, VA - our first day in the Chesapeake!! There were 5 boats that left together and we ended up with 11 in the lock at the end of the canal. The lock master was a super nice guy, very helpful getting you set up in the lock, loves to share the history of The Swamp, and once everyone is ready to leave the lock he plays a tune on a conch shell!! It was a very fun day!! The next portion of the trip was up the Elizabeth River and thru the port of Norfolk, across the channel to Hampton VA. We were dreading Norfolk as it is a HUGE military port - the largest Navy facility in the US - both active and dry docked ships. It went on for miles and was absolutely amazing! I am not usually impressed by that sort of thing, but it blew me away!! The pix won't do it justice. As it turns out, it was a very quiet day and our only "occurence" was to meet/pass a Navy destroyer as we were leaving port. It passed us probably 100 yds away - a lot of the guys on dock, probably returning after several months at sea. There are military "police" boats all over making sure you don't get too close to any of the facilities/ships. After a very long, fun day we arrived at Hampton, VA - we have ARRIVED at the Chesapeake!!!! Almost hard to believe - we are so thankful for a safe trip with a wonderful boat. Next project is to find a home port for the summer and to arrange for a boat yard to do some work on Panacea and also to find a place to leave her come winter. More fun to come!!!
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