Solomon's Maryland to the Dismal Swamp of Virginia and North Carolina

After waiting for the winds to settle and getting our new dinghy onto the davits, we cast off from Solomon’s, MD, to begin our journey south. Seems a fitting way to spend Peter’s birthday. 🎂

The wind had been howling from the north for several days making for a COLD and roly sail down the Chesapeake Bay. We sailed with just the jib (sail at the front of the boat) and kept the engine running as we surfed down the waves.

I took first watch so Peter could sleep, and all was fine until we crossed the mouth of the Potomac. With the long fetch of water and waves coming out of the river, it was pretty lumpy and windy. I felt in over my head so I woke Peter and he took over.

After the Potomac, the water calmed, and I was able to sleep for a bit. At 1am I took watch until dawn. It was rather uneventful once I realized that all the ships in the bay were anchored in a long line about 5 miles to the east of us The ships’ lights reminded me of trucks parked at a rest stop overnight. Peter took the final, early morning watch and brought us safely off the Chesapeake and into Norfolk where we began our trek down the ICW (intercostal waterway).

We opted to take the Dismal Swamp route. It’s a beautiful, calm canal that runs through southern Virginia to North Carolina. We did this same route on our way north last spring. It’s nice to be in familiar waters.

We spent last night tied to a dock on the side of the canal. It was cold but our little kerosene lamp kept the cabin at about 50*.

Today we traveled about 10 miles downstream to the Visitors Center dock. We were able to fill our tanks with sweet Carolina fresh water, and we plan to stay here for a couple of days to finish stowing our gear, get some rest, and install Starlink to keep us in communication.

Even in the cold this is quite the life we are living! ❤️⛵️

            It's cold!!         

   Friendly lockmaster

  Transiting the Dismal Swamp

  Off-watch sleep     

      Good thing we have this lil lamp!                 Filling the water tank.