“Lock it up”

After a great stay in Elizabeth City I ventured farther north today to the Great Dismal Swamp, woke up and the day seemed fitting because there was blanket of fog over the city, it was thick, I figured that it wouldn’t be very hot until it lifted. As I was getting ready this morning, I pulled a real bone-head move, I accidentally put my GPS and the spot locater in the water … kind of a long story, bottom line, it happened. I am an idiot. I found out that my Spot locater floats but the GPS apparently does not. I was tied up at the ramp and I saw exactly where it fell so I was able to wade in, walk down to the ramp and try to find it. I had to getn up to my shoulders in the beautiful, brown Pasquatank River before I could locate it. Fortunatly I was able to do so with my feet and I brought it to the surface like I was collecting sand dollars so I didn't have to go under with my head.
It wasn’t the best way to start the day but Im just glad that I recovered it. Coincidently, I haven’t dropped anything in the water in two months, not one single thing, yet here at the Pelican Marina I nearly lost 2 things to the river. The night before while trying to board Josh, the dock master's boat, my croc (shoe) slipped off and immediately began to drift away. Without a net handy I could only watch it disappear into the night. I tend to have the best luck with these sort of things though so the next morning when I took a walk I found that it had floated in about a 1/4 mile down the road. It would have sucked to only have one croc left - they are the best paddling shoes.

Anyhow, what they say about Elizabeth city is entirely true: the people are so kind, generous and hospitable. Everyone I met welcomed me so warmly and was excited to teach me about their town and make sure I enjoyed my time there.

I felt very fortunate to be able to stay on Dave’s boat. He is the photographer for the coast guard. His boat, "puffin," he got in a most unusual way. He actually got it for free from a fellow off Craigslist who just wanted to see it go to a good home.

Dave's slip neighbor (whose also named Dave, but goes by Hippie Dave) is a live aboard and certainly one of the most interesting people that I have met along the way yet. He's in the early phases of constructing a dingy of his own design out of discarded water bottles, vinyl duct tape, solar panels and an electric motor. I saw the plans and it looks quite impressive. He'll call it the Solar Gondola. I'm glad I was able to contribute a couple of empty bottles to the project.

The manager and dock master of the marina, Josh, was a big help as well. He is very enthusiastic and couldn't have been more accommodating to me. I can tell he is great with all of his customers and very fun to hang out with. I highly recommend if you are going to Elizabeth city (which is the thing to do) to go the Pelican Marina, they are great. I can’t wait to stop back there my next time through.

This picture here on the left was taken by Dave (my generous host) a few weeks ago. I loved it because it looks exactly like it did this morning.

So back to the swamp, don’t let the name deceive you, the name sounds scary but it’s actual quite beautiful and tranquil. It is very hot and muggy, well at least it is today. I feel like I am in the rain forest, I am baking. I missed the 1pm lock opening only by a little bit, but once I got up there and radioed to the tender he opened it got me through early so I didn't have to wait till 330. You are supposed to have two lines -bow and stern- to keep you against the side while the strong currents from the quickly filling lock try to move you. I only carry one and the lock master wasn’t too psyched about that so he gave me his dock-line stick to use to hang on to the wall. It worked fine I locked up about 8 feet or so and now I am on the other side and I’m going to cruise up here to the visitor center and then hopefully find some place to camp. That’s the plan for the rest of the day. Have a great Friday everyone!