(Not) Dismal Swamp Route

When taking the ICW between Norfolk, VA, and Beaufort, NC, you’ve got 2 options, both of which involve locks and bridges. The more commonly-used eastern route is called Virginia Cut; the western route is called The Dismal Swamp.

The Virginia Cut route is deeper and wider, allowing for much faster traffic and those boats that require more water to stay afloat. The Dismal Swamp route, though, requires vigilance both overhead as well as under the keel - and is worth every single, beautiful, quiet, majestic, turtle-lined moment.

*Turtles, reducing controlling width since 10 am*

A few details:

Depth matters. If your boat draws more than 5.5’, I’d be wary of taking this route though controlling depth is 6’. It’s not very deep and trees have fallen in places; bumping is common.
Height matters. Trees overhang the canal, making it the only place we’ve sailed where you need to keep track of where you are in the sky.
Width matters. We have friends on a catamaran who have done this route; at 50 feet controlling width that’s for practical purposes a lot less wide, I’d be holding my breath nobody was coming the other direction. That opposing traffic is highly unlikely is another point to consider.
Season matters. There are times when the Dismal Swamp Canal is closed to navigation due to excess rain or lack thereof, lock maintenance or other such niceties. Worth making sure it’s open if you’re planning to go that way.
Timing matters. The locks open 4 times a day; 8:30 am, 11 am, 1:30 pm, and 3:30 pm. With 12 miles or so between the locks, you may well find yourself needing to spend the night within the canal (there are a couple of places to tie up for free inside the canal, one being at the Visitor’s Center itself.)

There are 2 main attractions to the Dismal Swamp route. One is the canal itself, with its lack of traffic and exquisite beauty. Within the canal you’ve got the 2 locks with incredibly helpful and friendly lock keepers; there’s also the added attraction of the Visitor’s Center and associated walking trails and even kayak rentals. The other is the town of Elizabeth City, NC, at the southern terminus of this route. Free docks, friendly people, a fabulous (free) museum, and a bustling waterfront array of breweries and restaurants - it’s hard not to gush about Elizabeth City even if by depth you can’t go through the canal.

We’d gone the Virginia Cut route on our way south, worried a bit about possible closure and also needing the more flexible timing of the bridges and lock on that side. Heading north, we decided to go the other way, reasoning that the adverse wind and accompanying waves should be less in the more protected area of the canal. Our timing into Elizabeth City meant that we’d miss the last lock opening of the night. Still, we planned only to stay a few hours, long enough to get a shower and maybe grab a beer at the waterfront brewery we’d read about. We’d anchor somewhere closer to the lock for the night.

*Going through the bridge in Elizabeth City*

Well. We got sucked in in Elizabeth City, is all I can say. Passing the town free docks (finger piers shorter than our bowsprit would make getting on and off the boat challenging) and then the packing house free docks (rumors of gates being locked after hours making town access challenging), we opted for the free dock at the small college just north of the bridge, where a side tie spot in between 2 trawlers was the perfect size for us followed by an easy walk into town. Yes, you read that right - 3 different options for FREE dockage in one small town. Nice.

Next up we went in search of showers, choosing to hit the visitors center which we thought was inside the Museum of the Albemarle at the southern end of town. The visitor’s center had relocated, but we spent a happy couple of hours exploring the museum itself, a gorgeous building that showcases life past and present on the Albemarle Sound. Then we found access to the showers (shower shoes highly recommended, and maybe a way of locking yourself into the shower too) before finding the brewery.

One brewery? No, there are at least 2 in this town! Excellent beer, a lovely view right on the river, and a friendly bartender to help us decide on what beer to drink and what separate beer to buy. She even gave us walking directions to the local BBQ spot, where we went to pick up dinner before coming back to the brewery for some fun conversation and another beer.

By this time we’d pretty much figured out we weren’t going anywhere for the evening, instead setting the alarm for 4 am to make the first lock opening. (Side note: transiting the ICW in the dark, by way of using radar and other senses, is NOT a good idea. We did a lot of it this way in our quest to make tracks both southbound and then northbound. We still don’t recommend it.)

We lit a fire in the fire pit at the dock, invited our neighbors to join in the warmth, and when it was over we walked back to town to check out the rest of the evening scene. An alley bristled with open doorways, each offering a different spot. Bars, restaurants, another brewery . . . we shared a beverage with the Mayor of the town and another drink with the town manager. We traded sailing stories with one of the lock keepers from the Virginia Cut route and just missed last call at the brewery we’d found earlier in the day. Happy sailors tumbled into bed that night, and the early alarm was a fine price to pay for that unexpectedly excellent evening.

*BBQ and salad by the firepit (with the river and the boat just to our left!)*

And then there was the canal itself. We glided along the flat water, trying to capture the perfect reflection of the boat in the water with the trees overhead. A beaver swam across our bow. Turtles sunned themselves on fallen trees; a heron kept trying to get out of our way. The VHF crackled constantly with calls on the Virginia Cut route: “I’ll go by you slow if you slow down.” “Port to port, please.” “NICE WAKE YOU JERK.” Meanwhile we saw exactly one other boat the whole time, a vessel southbound at the Deep Creek lock. We did a quick tour of the compact Visitor’s Center and lamented that we didn’t have time to check out any of the walking trails. We exited the ICW at mile marker 0, almost immediately back into boat traffic coming from the other route.

*Compact and informative Dismal Swamp Visitor’s Center*

*The shock of re-entry into a busy waterway after the peace of the Dismal Swamp*

The Dismal Swamp is a magical experience by boat. You can get a glimpse of it by land by heading to the visitors center. If you see Calypso (or Mischief!) tied up at the free dock there, say hello.