It’s Wednesday morning and we just had the most amazing sunrise.  I have to open with a shot of what the sky looked like from behind Pandora. 

The last two days took us from Newport News where we entered the Dismal Swamp Canal for what was one of the most lovely stretches of water that Brenda and I have ever experienced.  The 22 canal, or cut, was dug completely using hand labor, mostly by slaves.  It took 12 years to dig and finally opened in 1805.    Clearly there were excellent surveyors involved as it is amazingly straight with only a single bend in it’s entire length.

Pandora’s draft of 6′ is nearly to the limit of the canal and we had heard horror stories of boats hitting submerged logs, sometimes hard hits, as they passed through.   We had also heard that it was the most beautiful part of the ICW so we ignored the nay-sayers and decided to go anyway.  WHAT AN AMAZING TRIP!!!.    So amazing that Brenda claimed that it was the pinacle of her boating life.  Hmm…  Perhaps it was the still waters and utter lack of wind in the canal.  And about those logs,  I am happy to report that we didn’t hit one beyond a few very light bumps (if you could even detect them at all) along the entire stretch.   We just loved it.   We were told that the Army Corps had recently dragged for logs over a several week period and had taken out tons of stumps and logs from the water.  I think that the lady at the visitor’s center said 180 tons but am not sure.   One way or the other, it was a lot and we could see ample evidence of their work at various points where there were piles of muddy stumps and trees piled up on the sides of the canal.

At one point we even had a turkey fly in front of the boat from one side to the other.  Oh yea, did I mention that the entire width of the canal is only 50′.  It’s really narrow and you have to stay in the very center of the cut to avoid hitting the mast on overhanging trees.

It was amazing to see how the vegetation changed from Newport News to the southern end of the canal in Elizabeth City where we are now.   Here is much more “southern” looking with much more Bald Cypress trees and a lot less of the deciduous trees like maple that we are used to.  Actually, Bald Cypress are called that because they loose their needles in the winter.    These trees are the type of swamp trees that seem to typify the south in movies.  They are the ones with the knees that stick up out of the water all around the main trunk.  It seems that the knees help the roots get oxygen.   This photo shows the enlarged trunk base that is so typical of the tree types here. It’s hard to describe just how narrow the canal is, and how completely straight.  It’s amazing just how rail straight it really is.   Actually, this photo makes it look wider than it really is. In order to keep the water level at a reasonable level in the swamp and canal, you have to be raised up in a lock at each end about 5-8 feet, it might have been more, to the level of the swamp to make the trip.

Brenda was totally anxious about going through the two locks as she was imagining the swirling water entering the lock and slamming us against the sides as the some one million gallons of water came in and filled the lock.   Happily, Brenda actually enjoyed the locking process.  Perhaps it was the “nurturing” lockmaster Robert who talked us through the entire process that made it so enjoyable.  Robert is a very nice guy and he asked us to bring him a conch shell on our trip back north in the spring.  Actually by the look of the pile of shells on the side of the lock, Robert has plenty already but we will certainly bring him one when we return.  When we rose up in the lock here is the little garden that we were able to see, complete with conch shells.   Actually, this photo doesn’t begin to show the dozens, if not hundreds that have been given to him by passing boaters.  Doesn’t Robert look the part of the nurturing  lock master?   The guy at the south lock was nice enough but he was no Robert.  No conch shells for him. Notice how high the water is in the lock in the above picture compared to this one.  It’s a pretty good rise.  The water really swirls in quickly and Robert said that he was being easy on us by not letting the water in even faster. About half way through the canal you leave Virginia and enter North Carolina.  It was funny to see this sign driven into the canal bottom.  The other side says “welcome to Virginia”.  Funny thing.
Another aspect of the ICW is that distances are listed in statute or land miles as opposed to nautical miles.  A statute mile is a bit shorter by about 10% compared to a nautical mile.  As you head south you see mile markers so you can keep track of where you are.  Otherwise, as much of it looks the same, you might get confused.  There was one of these every mile in the canal. An interesting feature of the canal is that there is a large farm that straddles both sides and in order to get livestock from one side to the other, there is a manually operated bridge that the farmer uses to get his charges across to the other fields.   The guide book says that you need to be patient if it’s closed as it takes time to get cows to the other side.   This has to be a one of a kind bridge for sure.
The surrounding trees leach tannins into the water and color it a rich brown.  It’s not muddy, just brown.  Some say that it looks like strong tea but to me it’s more like strong coffee but without milk.  To see this dark stuff run up around the bow  was fun to watch.  Boats on the ICW end up with a distinctive “moustache” from the discoloration near the waterline from the tannins.  After exiting the south lock we entered a winding river that lead to Elizabeth City, our destination for the day.   This portion of the trip was nearly as narrow as the canal but even more scenic, if that was possible.  Around each curve, and there were plenty of curves, the view was more beautiful.  The water was still except for our wake and the river were covered with duck weed which parted in swirls as we passed.
Elizabeth City saw it’s heyday when the canal was in full swing as a shipping center for lumber cut in the swamp.  Cedar shingles were the major export.  Now it’s boaters that bring cash to the city as some 1,800 of them stop here on their trips north or south each year.  In order to encourage visitors, the city offers free dockage for two nights if you want to stop.   The city is also known for their “Rosebuddies” a group of retired men who greet visitors each evening and host a wine and cheese reception at any time that there are 5 or more boats on the docks.   They even, and this is the best part, hand out a rose to each female visitor that arrives by boat.  Now that the founder of this tradition has passed away, the visitor’s bureau continues the tradition.
The gentleman, and a real southern gentleman at that, on the left is one of the “rosebuddies” and he continues to participate as he is able.  The guy on the right is the past mayor of Elizabeth City.  It seems that he quit the mayor thing to go cruising.  Good choice.  He made a very nice “pitch” for the city and why we should come here again.  What a fun event.  This will not be our last visit.   Actually, this may be the very first recommendation on where to stop that we heard about when we began asking folks about the trip south.  They all said that we had to visit so Brenda could get a rose.   The heyday of he canal must have been pretty amazing judging by the local homes.   How about this one?  I hear that there is a women in her 90s that lives here alone.   She is the daughter (granddaughter) of the first owner.   It’s probably the best home in the area.  This home has been turned into a spa but it’s still well maintained. This morning, if I ever finish this post, we are headed to the local museum, the Museum of the Alermarle which chronicles the history of the area.  The building is really large for such a small city.  I am looking forward to seeing what’s there.   After that, who knows, perhaps off to the Alligator River, perhaps another night on the dock.  Alligator River?  That sounds really southern doesn’t it?  They say that there aren’t any alligators there these days but there are bears.   I can’t wait.

Yesterday afternoon we passed mile marker “0” on the Intra Costal Waterway.  Awesome!!!

Although “entering” the ICW was done with more of a whimper than a roar (ie: non-event as you just pass a bouy), we did pass mile marker #0 (Red 36) on Sunday afternoon in Norfolk and began our trip down what is known affectionately “the ditch” by many who take this route every year. 

We had a great weekend with our friends Harris and Barbara who treated us a trip down “memory lane” at their home in Williamsburg as we reminisced about old times when we were raising our families aboard and enjoying each other’s company so many years ago.  It’s ironic that we ended up naming our boat Pandora as they too have a boat with the same name although a somewhat diminutive Pandora as it’s a Cape Cod catboat that’s 20′ long.

On Friday morning Brenda and I were lucky to have our new friend Kate lend us a car so we could explore the area so we visited Fort Monroe which was a few miles from Hampton Harbor where Pandora was anchored.   This fort has been there since the Revolution and is still actively in use, although now more for residential purposes.  The fort is quite large and even has a mote surrounding it.   I expect that the viewing tower is a newer addition.  I can’t see guys with muskets shooting from the top of that.

We parked outside and walked in through one of the bridges over the mote and were treated to a stroll back in history as we toured the grounds.   There were stately old live oaks everywhere and lovely paths.  It seemed like a very compact community or perhaps a camp ground.   In the middle of the grounds was a large open field and you could almost imagine solders marching in formation in preparation for battle. 

In New England we are accustomed to seeing signs stating that “George Washington slept here” but at Fort Monroe we saw this house where Abraham Lincoln slept and did something important.  I can’t recall what it was but the sign said that it was more than a nap.  There was a really interesting museum inside of the main fortification, surrounding the grounds.   I am not sure what it would be called but the entire fort was ringed with a massive dirt “wall” that included living quarters inside.   Part of this had been made into museum with samples of what the quarters looked like when the fort was actively protecting Hampton Roads.  Love these guys standing around in this exhibit.  I think that they might be taxidermy soldiers from the Revolutionary period.    Their hair looked at least that old.  All of this old stuff stands in stark contrast to the massive naval presence in Newport News which we passed yesterday on our way south.

Ship after ship were lined up, most undergoing refitting.  A few were under construction too.  We even saw a few submarines.  These guys are buying a lot of grey paint.

There is a stark contrast between the older ships and the newer design.  The older ones are bristling with stuff. These new ships are a lot less “messy” looking.  I guess that these are some of the new “stealth warships” if it’s possible to make something that’s 1000’ long not show up on radar.

Look at the huge bulb on the front of this baby.  I wonder if they really think that the tarp will help hide the ship.  “Quick, quick, get that F*&%#%$ tarp on her.  There’s a spy plane headed this way.”  Hmm…

This cruise ship docked in the center of Norfolk was just a bit different than the Navy ships.  We even spied a boat from Norwalk Yacht Club where we were a member for many years.  Adventure is a big wooden schooner that was in Norfolk participating in a schooner rendezvous.   It’s a really great boat.  I spoke with the owner via the VHF and he told me that he was headed to south to participate in, among other events including the Antigua antique boat regatta, I think.

After passing all of these naval ships and the city of Norfolk, we continued down the waterway through a very industrialized area toward our destination for the day, the northern lock at the Dismal Swamp Canal.   Unfortunately, and I hope not an omen for our trip south, I misread the guidebook and was late for the opening of the Glimerton drawbridge, arriving about 10 minutes late for the opening.  That made us miss the last opening of the lock.

I liked this new bridge that we went under.  Not likely to hit the mast on this.

However, being late for the lock wasn’t the end of the world as we just anchored in front of the lock and had a lovely dinner of grilled steak filet, salad and home baked, no make that boat baked, bread to celebrate entering the Dismal Swamp and ICW.   It was particularly nice to toast the beginning of this milestone with some red wine supplied by our friend Rodney from Essex.   A glass seemed a fitting way to recognize such an important milestone.  Rodney had left this particular bottle when he spent some time aboard Pandora earlier in the season.

The Dismal swamp is a very rural area and it’s amazing that it is so close to such an industrialized city like Newport News.   As the sun set over the swamp, this cormorant came to perch on a dead tree seeming to watch over us or perhaps make sure that we didn’t mess up his home during our visit. Today we caught he 08:30 opening of the canal and really entered the canal.  We are now at the visitors center about 15 miles into the swamp to enjoy the museum and meet other cruisers that will be tied up for the night.

I’ll write about the lovely trip through the canal soon.  Next stop, Elizabeth City NC.

It’s Friday morning and happily we have another wonderful sunny day in store.  The plan is to do some errands here in Hampton, including a visit to pick up some marine supplies.  We also plan another visit to the Air and Space Museum for an IMAX film on flying. Here’s the trailer, you can watch.  But, don’t tell me about it as I don’t want to have it spoiled for me.  Hope we can fit that in.

Happily, our SSCA Cruising Station Host, Kate, has offered us the use of her car (how nice is that?) and though things are really close, it will be a lot better with a car.  We also hope to fit in a visit to a local historic fort.  Should be a fun day.

Yesterday we walked around town and visited to the Virginia Air and Space Museum which, it turns out, is primarily a repository for some of NASA’s best stuff.  Here you can see prototypes of many of NASA’s planes and a lot of space related items.  One of the best displays was of the Apollo 12 capsule, post re-entry in all of it’s charred glory.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of it.  Perhaps today.

Oh yea, our friends Harris and Barbara are coming down to have lunch with us aboard Pandora prior to sweeping us off to their home in Williamsburg for the weekend.  We have known them for about 25 years and when we get together we act like we did when we first met.  Yes, that would be us in our Not always a pretty picture but loads of fun.  Best not to take a lot of photos of us late in the evening.  Hmm…That would be us in our 20s.

However, here are some shots of some items/planes that I particularly enjoyed.  I am sure that my Dad, a plane nut, would know the names of all of them.  Me, only some.

The building itself is quite interesting.  I took this shot a few minutes in the early morning light from aboard Pandora.  Yes, we are really that close.  They say that it evokes flying with it’s two wings.  I agree.  There are many great planes suspended from the ceiling and there is a central staircase that allows you to get to eye level with everything.  (Note to management.  GET SOMEONE TO DUST THE PLANES!!!)”  I tried to give a feel for how much there is in a relatively small space.   A lot of stuff crammed inside here. It looks like these birds are moving fast even when they are just sitting, our should I say hanging there. This is a full size model of the Mars Rover that is up there right now.   There is a video of how they landed it.  Quite interesting.  A number of videos of the mission here. This is a favorite of my Dad, the Pitt Special acrobatic plane.  It seems that every one of these that I have seen is always some version of red.  Good color.  My son Rob should give up on his desire for a Shelby Cobra and just buy one of these.  They are a lot less expensive.  However, his mother (my wife Brenda) would regard that as way worse than his Harley.  Here’s a bit of history.  That’s history of the plane, not Rob.  They have been making Pitts since the 40s.  And, on top of that, they are still the plane that all acrobatic aircraft are judged against.Of course, the Boeing, Stearman Navy trainer is always fun to see. And the Piper Cub, the first really popular personal airplane.  Not quite as fast as the Pitt.More to see than I can describe.And more, more…
When you get to the top observation level you can go outside under one of the roof “wings” and get a commanding view of the harbor.  If you look carefully, you can see Pandora out in the harbor at anchor.  Why pay for a slip when you can just anchor all by yourself?   My friend Chris Blossom commented the other day that when he visited this museum years ago when he was aboard his boat that he was impressed that he visited on one of the worlds slowest forms of transportation to see some of the worlds fastest.   That dramatic blue glass building in the right background is the new $20+M dining hall for Hampton University.A view out toward Hampton Roads, the main drag.There’s also this neat little creek that runs into a local residential area.  Quite amazing views in nearly every direction.  It always surprises me how much different things look even if you aren’t that high up off of the ground. Today should be fun but first I have to get moving and stop messing with this stupid blog.

One more thing.  I saw that Essex CT is expecting a freeze tonight.  Bummer for that.   Did I say that we were headed south?  Thought so.  Into the Dismal Swamp Canal on Sunday afternoon I expect.

It’s Thursday morning, the sun is out and we are in Hampton Virginia.   Yesterday we sailed, did I say SAILED?, all the way from the Potomac to Hampton, after sailing nearly all of the way THERE from Annapolis.  That’s over  100 miles under sail in two days.  And, we did it in daylight hours.  Not bad, not bad at all.

When we arrived at the little harbor off of the Potomac River, “The Gleeb” it was too dark to take any photos.  I snapped this one early yesterday as we were leaving.  I was struck that the trees are different here, mostly pine.  It was a very rural and stark place, especially in the early morning haze. 

At one point we were sailing on a broad reach and passed a sailboat that was motoring along on the same course.  Not sure why he was motoring, but he was.  It’s indeed a nice thing to have a boat that passes most other boats under sail.  It’s still novel for me and will probably always be.  Frankly, it bugs the hell out of me if I see a boat and can’t catch them.

Tuesday was sailing with the wind but yesterday was on the wind the entire time. It was a bit of a push, I’ll admit, but I really wanted to get there in two days (most make it a three day trip)  so that we would have a day in Hampton to see the sights prior to heading up to our friends Harris and Barbara’s home in Williamsburg for the weekend.

I suppose that pushing so hard with Brenda on board was one of those “career limiting moves” that our older son Rob talks about.  By the time we got here yesterday, after 11 hours of sailing on our ear, Brenda was a bit peevish.  Happily, an “adult beverage” as my friend Rodney says, softened her a bit.   That combined with roasted potatoes and thick cut lamb chops with one of Brenda’s special sauces, did the trick.

While Tuesday was totally overcast, yesterday began to show signs of life with the sun peaking out more and more as the day progressed.  Today dawned without a cloud to be seen.   Brisk yes, but not as chilly as the past few days have been.

So, what about those “milestones of sorts” y0u say?  Yesterday marked our being further south on Pandora than we have ever been.  It was also marked by our first sighting of pelicans (actually, that was on Tuesday) and our first sea turtle sighting.  The turtle was a big one, perhaps 3′ in diameter and he spotted us too as we raced by under sail, picking his head up to get a good look.   Sadly, I wasn’t quick enough with the camera so you will have to take my word for it.

Interesting, the water temperature is a lot cooler here than in the upper bay as I spied it aS nowthe low 70s.  It was also a lot cooler than we had in Long Island Sound when we left home a monthago.

As there wasn’t much to take pictures of when we were underway yesterday save the occasional 850′ freighter coming by.  “No more pictures of freighters Bob, enough already”.  Perhaps, but I will not be deterred as I haven’t posted any photos of menhaden fishing boats yet.  So here’s one we saw yesterday near Reedville the home of a fish meal processing plant.   I just love ships.

In particular, these ships are purse-seiners as they use the smaller boats on davits to run a large net around a school of menhaden, sometimes called bunker.  After the school is encircled, they pull a rope that closes the bottom of the net, like a purse.  When the net is fully tightened, and the fish are concentrated in a small space, they stick in a big hose and pump them out.  Hmm…  It sucks to be a fish.  Pun intended.   After being unceremoniously sucked into the ship, they are taken ashore to a factory, boiled down to a slurry and separated into fish meal and omega oil.   Yes, it smells plenty good too.  Try visiting Reedville sometime. Think of those little fishies when you next reach for the omega oil pills in Walmart.  Still want to learn more?  I did and found this link that tells the history of the company, Omega Protein, that owns the ships.

I also enjoy watching the water go by the hull when we are under sail, particularly when we are on the wind and pushing hard.   Did I mention that Brenda’s not happy when we are doing that?  Thought so.   Anyway, here’s a few shots of Pandora romping to windward.    Later in the day we were really healing over (way more than in this picture) as I was pushing to be sure we arrived before dark.   Just in time actually, as the sun set (18:30) just as we entered the harbor.   The last two days provided another milestone as I have never sailed for two days straight, in this case over 100 miles, without using the engine except to enter and leave the harbors.   It was great!  Oh yeah.  Now we have been away for a month and have gone over 600 miles on our trip. I am endlessly fascinated by the look of the water coming out from under the transom.   It’s sort of the nautical equivalent of a dog with his head out of the car window on the highway.  I guess you had to be there.  Trust me, it was fun to watch.  Simple pleasures for simple people.Hampton should be fun as this is home to the Virginia air and space museum as well as a Jacques Cousteau society museum and I hope to take them both in.   Here’s the view that greeted me this morning when I came up on deck.  What a pretty place.    This is the air and space museum just up the harbor.Here’s a lovely clock tower that chimes on the hour just off of our beam.

There is a park just off of our beam.  Very scenic.There is a terrific person, Kate, here in Hampton who runs a cruising station for the SSCA (Seven Seas Cruising Association) and she has been just terrific in helping us get a feel for the place.  Recall that I established a new cruising station for SSCA in Essex CT.  Our plans include putting on a gam for SSCA next June in Essex next summer.  That should coincide with the northern migration of the SSCA snowbirds as they head for Maine.

So, lots of milestones.  Furthest south, pelicans and a turtle.  That and sailing further than EVER in two days.   We are on our way, totally.

And, lots to do here in Hampton.  Time to get going.  Yikes, it’s already 09:30.  The day’s a wasting…

At 07:00 Tuesday, today, we left Annapolis to resume our trip south to the Bahamas.   The weather for the last few days has not been particularly cooperative with very cool temperatures along with off and on rain.  Today was no different.  When I got up this AM it was plenty dark and the cabin was in the mid 50s.  Brrrr!!!  Rain was falling and I have to admit that being out on the water didn’t sound appealing to me at all.  Needless to say, Brenda wasn’t too keen on a day of sailing in the rain either.  However, when the wind blows from behind, you go and take advantage of favorable conditions.  Me, I’d rather have rain and good wind than sun and wind on the nose. I expect that most sailors feel the same way.  No, probably all of them.

Happily, the rain mostly stopped by the time we got underway and while it remains totally overcast, the wind is in our favor and we continue to make good time.  For a while the wind was quite gusty with some speeds peaking in the mid 20s,  a bit much wind for the amount of sail that I had up.  Happily, it’s moderated into the mid teens and will likely drop more as the day progresses.  Actually, this isn’t quite enough wind as we are now on a dead run with the sails set wing and wing.  It’s hard to get a shot of this without hanging out  over the dink, something that I wasn’t willing to do, so you will have to use your imagination.  It’s great fun to watch the autopilot click off the miles without my touching anything for hour after hour.  

While it’s still overcast, the sky has brightened a good deal and it’s now warmer.  It’s 14:00 and I am still not sure where we will end up tonight as it really depends on how well the wind keeps up.    There are a few options so we will just have to see how far we get before I have to bail out and head in before it gets dark.

While it’s not raining any longer, I have kept the cockpit enclosure in place, including the netting in the back, as it keeps the wind out and it’s a lot more pleasant on a cold dreary day.  It’s hard to take interesting shots when there isn’t anything around but grey water.  This shot does give a good feel for how level our track is.  The wind isn’t that strong, with less than 10-15 kts apparent, but we are clicking along at around 6-7 kts and even a bit better over the bottom as the tide is with us. The days are really short right now with sunset at 18:30 today so we will have to make a decision soon about where we are going to spend the night.  Happily, the winds are supposed to be from the north (a good thing) for the next few days so we should be able to make miles in the next few days.

Having a flexible schedule is terrific as we can pick our days to be out.  I pick today!!!