Cruising Into History

The Dismal Swamp Canal has a long and interesting history, and for cruising boats heading south it offers a peaceful and scenic bit of waterway. Unfortunately it has been closed for a year since Hurricane Matthew because of downed trees and shoaling. We were lucky enough to time our arrival on the very day it reopened (October 31, 2017), so we were the second cruising boat to enter the canal in over a year.Deep Creek is the scenic waterway where you turn west off the ICW to get to the Dismal Swamp Canal.

In about three miles you're at the Deep Creek Lock where the ICW's friendliest and nicest lockmaster, Robert, gives you a warm welcome, clear instructions, and a brief history of the canal.

Then you enter the narrow, shallow, peaceful canal. In some places persistent shoals are marked with stakes and the passage is maybe 50' wide, but generally the going is easy.

About 18 miles from the lock you arrive at the Visitor Center where you can stop overnight. Again, we were warmly greeted by Donna from the Visitor Center. She even took our pictures and posted them on their Facebook page. We spent a very peaceful night there; no wind, no current, no tides....

but plenty of duckweed to clean put of our strainer.

The next morning we made three and a half miles to the 65' tall highway bridge where we got a branch stuck on our rudder. It took a while to push it off with the boat hook, but eventually we got underway again. You can see it circled in the photo.

And then all too soon we were at the South Mills Lock, and on our way to Elizabeth City where we spent the night.

Believe me, there is nothing "dismal" about the Dismal Swamp Canal Route. It was delightful and we're so glad we were able to go that way.