I was really looking forward to the calm waters of the Dismal Swamp. I’d had multiple challenges over the past couple of weeks and I wanted just one day without waves, aircraft carriers, leaks, or frickin storms. North Carolina hadn’t been very good to Infinity and me so we were ready for Virginia!! BTW, North Carolina is an awesome state with really nice folks so it’s mainly the weather I’m complaining about…😁.
We departed Lambs Marina around 6:15 in the morning to make the 12 mile trip up to the South Mills Locks at the south end of the Dismal Swamp canal. I was following the catareman thru the twist and turns of the Pasquotank River and the day was clear with no wind and flat water so I was happy!! I figured I was on a roll so I checked to see if the leak was acting up and…it was but I didn’t care at that point. As we got closer to the lock, I started to notice that we were cutting it really close to making the 8:30 opening so we kicked up the speed a tick and got to the lock at 8:29!! Lucky for me that I have the VHF antenna at the top of my 50′ mast so I was able to call the lock while we were still a couple of miles away and request the opening…phew….😮💨.
We were the only boats to lock in so things were really easy. We chatted with the lockmaster as she started letting water into the lock. She said the canal was in great shape and we’d have a great ride to Deep Creek Lock on the north end of the canal. The doors of the lock swung open and off we went!!
When I had come thru the canal heading southbound about 8 months earlier, we took our time and stopped at 3 places along the way (remember the Waffle House, the dark dock, and the Visitor Center in previous posts?) but this time it was going to be a one day event and it was a perfect day to do it.
We made great time all the way to the Deep Creek Lock and along the way, we passed from North Carolina into Virginia!!
The end goal for the day was to get to Hospital Point in Norfolk VA and anchor there before heading out into the Chesapeake Bay the next day so I was timing the run up the canal to catch the 1:30 pm opening of the Deep Creek Lock. This would then allow me to get to the Gilmerton Bridge (the final bridge that I’d have to deal with…😁) with more than enough time to request an opening before the 3:30 traffic restriction of the bridge.
So you gotta remember that this is still part of the overall trip and I don’t think I had a day, so far, that didn’t have something happen that would raise my blood pressure. Was today going to be the first day of the trip???
NOPE….😮💨😖😞
We (the catareman and Infinity) got to the bridge before the lock about 30 minutes before the 1:30 opening so I throttled back and slow crawled the last mile before the bridge and the cat tied up to the facedocks just before the bridge. We both called for the opening and got acknowledgement back from the lockmaster. At 1:30, the lockmaster called us on the VHF to let us know that he was locking thru a southbound sailboat and once it was thru, he would drive the .5 miles down to the bridge to open it. This would allow the southbound sailboat to pass thru the bridge and we’d pass thru heading north to the lock after he was gone. Cool I thought!! Around 1:50, there was still no sign of the southbound sailboat…🤔. At 2:00, the lockmaster called us on the VHF to let us know that he was waiting for the southbound sailboat to get to the lock…😳. At about 2:15, the lockmaster called again to let us know the sailboat was in the lock and they’d be at the bridge about 2:30. Much to my surprise, the bridge opened at 2:30, the southbound sailboat came thru, and we headed towards to lock as far as we could go.
We got to the lock, let the lockmaster know that we were trying to get to the Gilmerton Bridge before the 3:30 restriction, and things went into overdrive!! We had about 4 miles to get to the bridge thru a tiny, winding bit of creek so seconds were starting to matter. It had to be the fastest locking that the guy had ever done cos we were heading out of the lock at 2:50 pm with the lockmaster assuring is we’d make it in time “if we hurried”…🙄.
We were running with the current so the speed over ground was quick. I had Infinity running at the fastest rpms I could safely have on the engine and our little flotilla came around the corner with about 10 minutes to spare!! We made it!! Or so we thought…
The Gilmerton Bridge is actually a combination of two bridges; a car bridge and a railroad bridge. Both have to open to go thru unless you’re in a canoe. When we came around the corner, both bridges were closed. A call was made for a bridge opening and the nice lady that was running the car bridge said she would open the car bridge once the railroad bridge opened (the railroad bridge is operated remotely). About that time, a train started crossing the bridge. It was a long train. So we waited for what seemed like forever…
After just a few minutes, the train has crossed the bridge but the bridge hadn’t opened yet. At about 3:27, a call from the remote train bridge operator came over the VHF that the bridge was opening. Immediately, a call to the car bridge operator was made for an opening and she called back at 3:29 saying that the bridge was opening!! Well hot damn, didn’t the bridge start to open!! By then, a whole bunch of boats were waiting to go thru but I can officially say that Infinity’s bow crossed the line at exactly 3:30…yay Infinity!!!
About 30 minutes later, I was dropping the anchor at Hospital Point at the official mile marker 0 of the ICW. I was now finished with the ICW and it was bittersweet but a good feeling!! At least I wasn’t trying to dry out a mattress cover, blankets, and my pillow like I had to do heading south (yes, all the hatches were closed this time…lol). I was psyched that the next day would be the first day of being back in the Chesapeake Bay and I was excited!!
Next up…more excitement with Naval vessels, crab pots, and Day 1 of the Chesapeake!!
❤️❤️❤️
Sailing Infinity 