GL: Sanderling - Cruise North - October 5, 2006 - Dismal Swamp Canal Route

[Bob McLeran]

We had a great stay in Solomons, seeing friends and reprovisioning for
the rest of our trip south. We stayed thru Monday, using that day to get
the leaking stuffing box repacked (luckily, Washburns Boat Yard had a
couple of boats that didn't show up as scheduled over the weekend), turn
in the rental car, do laundry, clean up the boat, fill the water tanks,
and eat another meal ashore. We walked to a small BBQ place across the
highway from the Navy Recreation Center and on the way back after dark
saw a huge fox sniffing around the camp ground - it ran away after
looking at us for a few seconds.

We departed the marina about 0830 on Tuesday morning hoping to beat some
forecast bad weather down the bay. We stopped at Deltaville, on the
Piankatank River that night, and anchored for the night in a nicely
protected harbor along with about eight sail boats.


We left the next morning (Wednesday) at 0800 for the York River and
Yorktown to tour the battlefield. We arrived there in the early
afternoon and tied up to a relatively new marina dock just east of the
bridge over the river. After finally contacting the dockmaster and
paying our $5.00 to tie up for the afternoon, we stopped at Ben & Jerrys
for a late lunch, then walked to the visitors center and saw a bit of
the battlefield. Without a car it was impossible to see the entire area,
but we got a good idea about the battle. We commented that we'd been in
the area where the Revolutionary War started (Boston) and where it ended
(Yorktown) on this trip! After we walked back to the boat, we motored
across the river and into a little creek where we anchored for the night.

The marina at Yorktown - Riverwalk Landing - has great potential, but
may not be there quite yet. Docks look great, and the price isn't bad -
$1.75 per foot for overnight; $5.00 for a 3-4 hour tie-up; $25.00 for a
mooring. It's in a great spot right in the newly renovated waterfront
area of Yorktown (a number of little shops - did I mention Ben &
Jerrys), and an easy walk to the battlefield park. We had problems
finding anyone to talk with about tieing up, despite hailing them on the
VHF for over an hour and calling the telephone number after we did tie
up. The crew of the three-masted schooner using their dock for
day-tripper tours was very helpful, but commented that the marina was
supposed to have someone on the dock to meet them when they came in to
handle lines, and the person didn't show up (they docked about 1/2 hour
before we did). There was no electricity or water at the docks.

The forecast for Thursday (today) on Wednesday suggested that the Bay
would be a bit rough with small craft warnings, but we decided to give
it a try anyway and get as far as we could, stopping in the Norfolk area
if need be. As it turned out, the waves never did get much over two
feet, although we had an opposing current most of the way which slowed
our progress. We got to Norfolk early enough that we were able to make
it through the bridges without too much delay and into the lock at Deep
Creek on the north end of the Dismal Swamp Canal for the last
lock-through - in fact I called the lock at about 1625 to tell them that
we were peddling as fast as we could and asked if he could hold the lock
for us for 2-3 minutes beyond the normal 1630 lock time. He did, and we
made it.

There is a storm out there in the Atlantic off Cape Hatteras which is
going to be kicking up some wind the next couple of days, so we're going
to stay in the canal and the Elizabeth River until it passes. We're
currently tied to a dock used by a small cruise ship/boat which will be
here tomorrow afternoon at 1330, so we might have to move; there may be
room for all of us - we'll see tomorrow. There is a trimaran tied up at
the very far end of the dock, and we're tucked in next to the tri, so
the cruise boat has plenty of dock space (we think). If we do have to
move, we'll try the visitor's center about seven miles south, and if
there's no room there, we'll head out the south end of the canal and
find an anchorage in the Elizabeth River. All the boats in this area are
staying put until the winds pass - that means all the free docks are
probably full, and the anchorages might be a little crowded! No matter
what, we won't be heading out onto the Albermarle Sound (south of
Elizabeth City and the Elizabeth River) until the wind dies down!
-- 
<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>Mozilla Thunderbird<><><><><><><><><><><><>
Bob McLeran and Judy Young                       M/V Sanderling
Hampton 35 Trawler                        Cruising the Atlantic Coast
Currently: Deep Creek Lock, Dismal Swamp Canal