Revisiting Some Favorite Spots

Revisiting Some Favorite Spots – October 10 to 22, 2010

Hampton, The Dismal Swamp, Elizabeth City and River Dunes. Four places on the Intracoastal Waterway that are on our list of favorites.

This was our third stop at Hampton and we timed it right for Open Mic Night at Goodfellas blues club. Tom spread the word to every boat on the dock at Hampton Public Piers. We had lots of company but it wasn’t quite the same without Iron Genny.

  The Cruisin’ Crowd At Goodfellas.

 The music was every bit as good as last year with another appearance from “Red”. 

 Red in action.

This group probably did not get as much respect as they deserved.

Passing through Norfolk. No – we did not transport to the other side of the continent.

These are the guys who try to keep us safe with the weather broadcasts.

Warship #51 in dry dock.

The summer drought in the region caused the locks at either end of the Dismal Swamp to reduce their openings to twice per day due to low water levels. This caused a number of boaters to opt for the Virginia Cut route to the Alligator River. Good for us that they had sixteen inches  of rain in a matter of days prior to our arrival and they were back to four openings per day. With the higher water there was also less risk of scraping the bottom of the canal and dislodging any more logs.

If a tree falls in the Dismal Swamp will anybody care? Absolutely! There was barely enough room to get around this one and one boat that went through shortly after us transferred some of its instruments  from the top of the mast to the top of the trees. The Army Corps of Engineers removed it later that same day.

A raised walking trail through Dismal Swamp Park.

 The raft of boats at the Visitors Welcome Center was a little smaller than last year. We spent two peaceful nights there…

 …and left in the morning with mist rising around us.

In the lock.

 Polar Pacer in the Dismal Swamp. Thanks to Anna Livia for the photo.

There have been some unfortunate changes to our favorite places in the year that has passed. We had hoped to repeat one of the highlights of last year when we stopped in Elizabeth City. The Rose Buddies are still holding their wine and cheese welcome reception for cruisers but the Carolina Theatre and Grill has closed its doors. No dinner and a movie this time around.  Hopefully it will re-open someday soon. The economic recovery is not very apparent in the waterfront area of Elizabeth City. There seem to be more empty stores and other commercial properties than I remember from last year. All the more reason for boaters out there to make Elizabeth City a destination. Special places like this will only survive if we support them with our business in return for them supporting us with free docking and a warm reception.

The blimp station was another location that saw a turn of bad luck since last year. We saw three blimps tethered in the yard when we went by last time, this time there were none.  In a strong wind one of the blimps broke free from its tether and collided with another blimp. Both were destroyed.

That was not the only catastrophe in the blimp station’s history. According to David, our Rose Buddy host at the cruisers’ reception, the original blimp factory was destroyed by fire one night after some welding work had been done. The fire started two hours after the fire watch went off duty. The building was too high for the fire department to reach and all they could do was stand back and watch it burn to the ground.

The original blimp factory was a huge wooden structure supported by these four concrete frames.

 The new blimp factory. The small door on the end is used to bring in tractor trailer loads of supplies.

We anchored in the Alligator River in almost the exact spot as last time and had a peaceful and warm night on the hook. We were treated to a small private air show as several military fighter jets circled overhead and demonstrated high altitude climbs and loops.

Fog started to roll in the next morning as we headed for the entrance to the Alligator-Pungo Canal. As it got thicker we had to turn on our radar in order to navigate. We could still dimly see the sides of the canal but not what was ahead or behind us.

 Barbara was only about two hundred feet ahead of us.

At one point the radar screen showed an object quickly approaching from behind. We tried to peer through the fog to see what it was but could only see a dim shadow in the distance that looked like it might be another boat. Soon the radar showed the object moving alongside us then pulling ahead.  We still saw nothing. We eventually came to the conclusion that there must be a road paralleling the canal and the phantom boat being picked up by the radar was probably a car.

River Dunes, near Oriental, North Carolina, is another gem that deserved a repeat visit. This upscale marina, attached to a equally upscale planned community, still has very competitive prices and a courtesy car. Unfortunately the dryers in the laundry are near the end of their useful lives. Dinner In the elegant  second floor restaurant of the Harbor Club was formal enough to feel special but casual enough that we didn’t feel too out of place having a few wrinkles in our ‘going ashore clothes”. The chef did wonderful things with the tuna that had just come in from the ocean earlier in the day.

River Dunes also had its share of bad luck this year. During an exceptionally bad electrical storm towards the end of June, the development fell victim to several damaging lightening strikes. One building was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. It was uninhabited at the time.

This photo was taken a year ago.

 A patch of bare ground has replaced the space where this house previously stood.

There is a new lady on board Polar pacer. Her name is Sylvia. Sylvia Cilantro. Sylvia joined us on board at Elizabeth City. She is a quiet guest who does not have a lot of needs. She is quite happy to sit in a sunny corner of the cockpit and only asks for the occasional drink. No salt on the rim please. Her previous landlord, Mark, who manages the Ace Hardware store in Elizabeth City , opened a fresh bag of potting soil and sent a few cupfuls with her as a parting gift. Her sister has also taken up life on the water and is currently on board Serena and is en route to Cocoa, Florida. Sylvia will travel south with us and would like to make it to the Bahamas as well.

Meet Sylvia.