What A Time In The Dismal Swamp

On Tuesday, November 10, just after exiting the lock at Deep Creek and entering the Dismal Swamp Canal, we stopped at the free Elizabeth Dock. Severe weather was forecast and we knew Elizabeth Dock would be our best option having waited on weather there last year. As forecast the southern Virginia and northern North Carolina area along the coast got beaten up pretty badly with a nasty Nor'easter. Remnants of hurricane Ida combined with a strong coastal low, all of which was blocked by a high pressure system to the north. We had around eight inches of rain and wind gust were in the 60 - 70 mph range. We could not have been in a better spot since the locks somewhat protect the canal from coastal flooding. We saw the water level in the canal at our end go up about 6 inches and they did open the flood gates to drain the excess. At the other end of the canal the water had threatened to breech the lock. The bad news is the winds toppled some trees across the canal. After the storm passed we had to wait on the Army Corp of Engineers to clear the canal before we could move on. Finally on Sunday the canal was reopened. The current was still pretty strong in the very narrow canal and we had to watch carefully for floating debris. While waiting on the 1:30 bridge at the far end of the canal it was quite a challenge to handle the boat with extra strong current from the receding flood waters flowing toward the bridge. We managed to get turned around with our bow facing the current which gave us much better control. Windsong was not so fortunate and got pulled over to the side. They snagged their mizzen mast on a tree limb, which is a hazard on this route, and unfortunately they were dismasted. They were able to come through the bridge with the toppled mast hanging over the side and tree limb trailing. We all tied to a bulkhead between the bridge and the lock. We had made friends with Debra, her husband David and her brother Scott on Ling Ling back at Deep Creek so they also stopped to help out. Between all of us and several people from the neighborhood that turned out, we managed to recover the mast, strip it of all hardware and get everything stowed on deck. We finished before dark and we were all pretty worn out, but enjoyed going out for pizza before turning in for the night.