A Boat Delivery

Boaters often use normal words in odd ways, and the word "delivery" is just one example. To landlubbers it might mean having a baby, but boaters understand it as a fast, non-stop trip to move a boat from Point A to Point B.

And that's pretty much what we've done.

We've moved Thistle to Annapolis to put her up for sale.

Good weather windows are scarce during East Coast summers, but we saw a gap in the thunderstorms and went for it. We left Brunswick, Georgia on Saturday, August 4th, at 7:00am and dropped anchor here in Annapolis, Maryland Friday at 7:00am.

Our first leg was a fifty-one hour ocean passage from Brunswick to Beaufort, North Carolina. We decided to go up the ICW from there, and after a quick stop at the fuel dock, we headed north towards the Neuse River. By 6:30pm Monday evening we were anchored in Goose Creek, poised for Pamlico Sound the next day.

Tuesday's run took us across the Pamlico and up into the Pungo-Alligator Canal. This man-made canal is bordered by nature preserves, giving boaters a chance to see deer, bears, ospreys, and eagles. We saw deer, lots of birds, and hundreds of dragonflies, but no other boats.

After a rainy trip across the Albermarle, we anchored near Elizabeth City for the night. Leaving Elizabeth City Wednesday morning, we went through my favorite part of the ICW: the upper Pasqoutank River. Its narrow twists and turns between old growth forests of bald cypress, tupelo, maple, and pine trees is almost primeval. Again, we saw no other boats along the way.

Eventually the Pasquotank turns into the Dismal Canal. You know you've arrived when you see the lock gates blocking your way.

First you contact the lockkeeper on VHF 13 and let him know you'll be there for one of the four opening times: 8:30am, 11:00am, 1:30pm, or 3:30pm. We were early so we just touched the bottom with our anchor to hold us in position.

After opening the gates and waiting for you to enter, the lockkeeper takes your lines and loops them around the yellow bollards. Then he closes the lock gates, opens the upper doors to flood the chamber, and watches you raise about 8'. Then he opens the upper gates and you motor into the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. No need to hurry, the lockkeeper still has to drive 2000' to a bridge and open that for you too.

The water level in the canal had been inadvertantly lowered by almost a foot, so we banged and bumped along for almost four hours, hitting numerous submerged logs and branches. Then we did the whole bridge/lock thing again, lowering Thistle 8' down into Deep Creek.

Deep Creek connects to the Elizabeth River and ultimately Norfolk Harbor and Mile Zero of the ICW. We anchored for the night at Hospital Cove.

Early Thursday morning we lifted the anchor, washed off the mud of Norfolk, and headed north up the Chesapeake Bay. We saw plenty of boat traffic all day and night; mainly tugs pushing barges and anchored cargo ships. Thanks to modern electronics we know the speed and heading of these commercial vessels, but more importantly, we know their names so we can call them on VHF 13 if there's a conflict. Only two required a small course change, but they sure appreciated our co-operation.

Here's a shot of our chartplotter coming into Annapolis in the dark Friday morning. You can see five ships, but four of them are anchored, so we wove our way between them and into the channel, finally dropping our anchor in Back Creek just before 7am.

Six days, 577 nautical miles, three anchorages, two locks, five bridges to contact for opening, and 200 dead Chesapeake biting flies in the cockpit; all things considered, it was a pretty easy delivery.