I was so excited to finally be starting the ICW, but today was not without its challenges. The wind was up, and it made getting off the dock and getting fuel difficult. That delayed us enough that we didn’t think we could make the 1100 lock for the Dismal Swamp, and missing that meant we wouldn’t be able to make the 1530 lock on the other end. While there are anchorages in the Dismal Swamp, it would have thrown off our timing/distances for the next couple days, so we begrudgingly decided to take the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal route. We had both really been looking forward to the Dismal Swamp, so we were disappointed.
As much as I find the grit of industrial areas photographically interesting, I was glad that it transitioned to marshy swamp and forest relatively quickly and it turned out to be a far more scenic trip than I’d feared. The Great Bridge lock was easier than I expected between the big rubber fenders they have on the south side and having the lock attendant there to take our lines, and before we knew it, we were through. There were several bridges, but we really only had to wait for one opening.
Eventually the canal opened up onto Currituck Sound, which looks like a wide open body of water. But looks are deceiving – the sound is super shallow outside the channel. It was getting late in the day, but with no safe anchorages until after Coinjock, our only choice was to press on. We did get to see an eagle up close, sitting on one of the channel marks.
Our arrival time had slowed to 1945 thanks to a stiff breeze on the nose, but we figured we’d be fine between the afterglow of sunset and an almost full moon. Nature had other plans. Just after we passed through Coinjock, the storm clouds filled in and dark came on in an instant. A massive gust came out of nowhere and heeled us bare-poled. Sh*t got real, real fast. With that first blast of wind, the temperature and pressure plummeted. I could feel us being pushed to port, and this was NOT the place to leave the channel. I’d be lying if I said I was anything but the other side of terrified, and we had at least another hour to go.
