Day 352 June 7, 2023

 Day 352 Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Dismal Swamp Welcome Center North Carolina MM 28 to Portsmouth, Virginia MM 0

Today was grey and cool with temps in the 60's.  The scenery was lush and green with mostly Red Maples.  Years ago Cypress, Gum trees and Mistletoe dominated the landscape.   We passed the Lake Drummond feeder ditch that helps maintain water levels in the canal.  

  25 miles to Norfolk

 

A major highway runs along the Canal; we passed homes, docks, farms and lots of "Posted, No Trespassing" signs.  We even passed a farmer's "bridge" on pontoons, allowing him to cross the creek.

We saw some wildlife, mostly turtles and a bird that seemed to be leading us along the way.  We left the Welcome Center at 7:30am hoping to make the 11am bridge and lock opening at Deep Creek.  There was less reflection on the water making it a bit easier to watch for debris.  I  had to stand to stand on the bow in the rain and drizzle for better visibility.  We managed to avoid the big logs and visible debris but did experience a few disarming thumps along the way.  

 Hard to see from inside through the rain 

We reached the Deep Creek Bridge at 10:15, early for the 11 am opening so we docked along the bulkhead to wait.  The tender notified us that there was no southbound boat traffic so he would open the bridge and lock early for us.   Raining again.

   

Once out of the lock we were back in civilization.  Interstate 64  was parallel to us with lots of traffic.  We joined a 3 boat caravan as we turned to go under the bridge.  The boats were all Loopers and must have done the "Virginia Cut" route instead of the Dismal Canal.    

 

They were bigger boats so probably avoided the Canal and it's shallow water.  They were requesting a bridge opening so we hurried to make it through the Glimmerton Bridge with them.  Big mistake, since it was high enough for us and the 3ft Railroad Bridge doesn't really close...trying to rush, our starboard engine died.....  It restarted several moments later (4.5 miles from Norfolk) but something else to look into.

We traveled on to Norfolk through a very busy harbor filled with freighters, Navy ships and shipyards.  Norfolk is Mile Zero of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway!

    Tow boats are ready to assist the big ships in the harbors.

We headed to Portsmouth Boating Center in Portsmouth Virginia, across the channel from Norfolk, where we had scheduled service.  The Boating Center is more of a boatyard rather than a marina.  They would do a battery change and hopefully that will fix our starting issues. 

Shortly after we arrived the battery change was underway.  Connecting wires were changed, corrosion addressed and we still had decreased voltage.  Next plan - check the alternator/starter.  Could it be a bad solenoid?  More tomorrow.