It’s Wednesday morning and we left Elizabeth City around 07:30 to make the run to Belhaven, about 70 miles south on the ICW. We had a very nice visit in EC last night and enjoyed a terrific dinner of boiled spicy shrimp that we peeled and ate in the cockpit and washed down with a few beers. We also had some terrific crabcakes, dusted with Old Bay seasoning and coleslaw on a bed of lettuce. Mmmm…
As we were preparing to head out today, we were treated to a wonderful sunrise over the waterfront park in Elizabeth City. Pandora’s on the right. Nice place.
This morning Ken left Pandora to drive home as our run was taking more time than he had to commit to the trip. As his schedule was really tighter than we both realized, it was unlikely that he’d be able to do the whole trip anyway.
However, my other crew member, Jim knows the boat pretty well now having sailed with me from Nassau to Essex last year. Actually, by the time we get to St Mary’s GA next week, he will have been aboard Pandora for more miles than anyone else who has crewed with me in to date. He’s a pleasure to have on board.
So, we decided to make a long day today on our run to Belhaven and will be underway till early evening.
A nice view of downtown Elizabeth City as we left this morning. The water was glass smooth. 
As we head south, we are making a good 7kts which is good. Interestingly, when I left LI Sound Pandora’s bottom had not been cleaned for about a month and the best speed that I was able to get with 2,000 RPM was only about 6.4kts. Now that I have gone all the way to Annapolis and now down to North Carolina, we are doing a bit over 7kts with the same RPM. That suggests that the light slime that had built up on the bottom has been worn off by the passing water.
Speaking of speed, I am particularly pleased with my new Autoprop as I am getting nearly 1.5kts better speed at the same RPM. I checked the fuel economy the other day and determined that we are now getting better fuel economy at about .77GPH versed just under a gallon per hour, and going the same speed. That translates into a MPG of about 8.5 as opposed to something like 6.5 with my old prop. I’ll need a bit more time to confirm that number, but it seems about right. I was told that I would see about a 15% improvement in fuel economy with the new prop, and this seems to confirm that.
Yesterday was a wonderful day as we made our way through the Dismal Swamp Canal from Newport News. The canal is an impressive engineering feat dug by slave labor during George Washington’s time. Slavery is indeed an unfortunate part of our history and the canal is one example of the hardships that these people endured. I am pleased that the canal has been kept up for all of these years as a reminder of our past.
Here’s the sunrise just below the lock. Beautiful and very peaceful.
On a positive note, one of my favorite parts of the trip is seeing the Lock Tender Robert, as we enter the north lock of the canal. Robert is always good for a smile and warm greeting. And this time, he even shared a Danish and cup of coffee with us. What a great guy. As if that wasn’t enough, he even agreed to do a “short” conch concert. I hope to upload the clip soon but don’t have the bandwidth to do it right now. You go Robert!!!
Transiting the lock to the canal is a wonderful experience as we were lifted the 8’ to the swamp and then dropped down again at the other end. Doesn’t Pandora look right at home in the lock?Ken enjoying a cup of Robert’s coffee. Note the wall above Pandora. 
Now, in the full position, 8’ higher. An impressive rise in only a few minutes.
Pandora looking good in the lock and ready to go.
On our way down the canal. So smooth and peaceful. 
I guess that I’d better focus on where Pandora’s going and less on where she’s been. Don’t want to run aground. No wait, Jim’s at the helm. Whew…
Oh yeah, I spoke with Chris Parker today and it looks like we will get some favorable winds to jump out of Beaufort for the 2 day sail to St Mary’s, perhaps on Saturday. Fingers crossed. I’ll talk to him again on Friday morning. Wish us luck.
That’s all for now.