On our way down the ICW in the fall we had hoped to run the Dismal Swamp route, but timing didn’t work out so we ended up taking the Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal. We were excited to take a different route home and experience the Dismal Swamp for ourselves.
We were up early to be sure of making the lock, and the river was like a mirror. The Waterway Guide said that the section of the Pasquotank between Elizabeth City and Turner Cut is one of the most beautiful sections of the ICW, and they were not wrong. Giant cedars fringed the still banks and birdsong was the only sound as a reluctant sun rose through the clouds. We made the South Mills lock, which would raise us 8 feet, with plenty of time (too much time, actually – we had to hold on station for almost a half hour, although it was pretty easy with no current and very little wind). Two other boats locked through with us. The lock tender helped get our lines onto the bollards, and then it was up to us to handle our lines as the lock flooded. I’m not sure why I was nervous – probably because the Great Bridge lock on the way down is the only other lock I’d done. It was easy, and as soon as the gates were open, the lock tender hopped in his car to open the draw bridge a short distance past the lock.
With that behind us, we had plenty of time to enjoy the canal. It’s narrow and there are snags to each side, along with submerged logs throughout, but at slow speed and with a little vigilance, it’s not bad at all. We bumped a log a couple of times, but it certainly wasn’t a big deal. There was a bit of duckweed, but except for just before the South Mill lock, it wasn’t bad (although we did clean the sea strainer later).
We debated whether to spend the night at one of the free docks along the route (there are I think three) but decided it was better to make progress in case the weekend weather took a turn for the worst. We were bummed to have to skip stopping at the visitor center and taking a side-trip in Squall to Lake Drummond, and we hope we’re able to make another trip someday. We were surprised at the lack of traffic in the canal – other than the boats that locked through with us, we only saw one other boat that was tied up for the night, and there was no southbound traffic at all. I had feared with it being Memorial Day weekend, we’d have much more traffic to contend with.
We originally thought the Deep Creek lock opening was at 1:00, and our arrival looked like it would be just a few minutes shy, so we bumped up the speed a bit… but when I checked the Waterway Guide, we saw it was actually a 1:30 opening. We slowed down but still ended up arriving far too early. The bridge opened right around 1:30 (the bridge coordinates with the lock) and we took it slow on the other side to give the bridge tender time to get back to the lock. Again we got help getting our lines on the bollards and tended our lines through the roughly 10 foot drop. Dealing with the locks was much easier than I’d worried it would be, and the only real issue was some severe shoaling just past the Deep Creek lock, which the lock tender coached us all through.
The Dismal Swamp Canal was a great experience, and it was fun to do something off the beaten path. Getting to explore places like that was part of what I had hoped to experience on this trip, and I’m glad we have a boat with a shallow enough draft to be able to do it. If you ever get the chance, definitely “do the dismal!” You can learn about the swamp’s history and ecological importance HERE.
