Dismal Swamp, NC - We're Down With EYC

This morning we got an early start in order to make the 8:30 am lock opening. There were only two boats going through the lock so it went fairly smoothly. We were up at the front and the water came gushing in at a pretty good rate. I shot some video of it, but it doesn't do it justice because the water started coming too fast to keep filming and my attention was required elsewhere. After the lock it was only four miles to the Visitors' Center. Last fall when we went through the canal we didn't stop over, but the free dock at the visitors' center was packed with boats so it looked like it was the place to be.

Now we have three guidebooks that all talk about the Visitors' Center as though it is some kind of Dismal Swamp interpretive center. After we tied up and went in to check it out, we discovered that it was merely a rest stop for the highway that runs alongside the canal. Granted, a very NICE rest stop that catered to transient boats (free dock, free internet, book exchange, loaner bicycles) as well as welcoming car traffic to North Carolina. I guess the "interpretive" part is that they have a ten minute video that you can watch that talks about the history of the canal. That and about a thousand brochures about what there is to see and do in North Carolina (too bad we are on our way out.) We opted not to "interpret" the video but did love talking to the little old ladies who worked there who were very excited to have us staying the night and went out of their way to make us feel welcome. For most of the morning, it was just us and one other boat tied up at the dock. We seemed to be the highlight of the day for most of the folks traveling in cars. They all stopped by to check out the boat and chat. I guess if I pulled in to take a pit stop and there was a big ol' catamaran 50 feet from the parking lot, I'd want to check it out too.


Around 2:30 the fleet arrived -- six powerboats traveling together. The dock is only 150' feet long, so those boats that couldn't get dock space rafted onto (tied up to) the boats docked here. It was quite a circus, but we managed. Turns out they were all from the Eastport Yacht Club, and very friendly. (Eastport is right next to Annapolis). We got to know our "raftees", Jay and Patty, pretty well and for dinner all the boaters got together on shore and had an impromptu barbecue. It was nice to hear lots of advice about cruising the Chesapeake Bay and Annapolis area from some locals, although we repeated our life history so many times that I got sick of saying the phrases: "both computer programmers", "saved up our money", and "figured we'd do it now while we're young". We are thinking of concocting some crazy backstory instead -- like we won the boat in the Publishers' Clearinghouse Sweepstakes or something. At the very least you'd see an increase in the number of magazine subscriptions.