May 5 – May 18, 2024; 14074 nm and 1885 days after departure from La Rochelle

It took us six full days to finally arrive in Annapolis. I was looking forward to an easy peasy trip through the ICW. Something like watching the scenery passing by while sitting relaxed in our cockpit with a nice cup of coffee or a cold beverage. I did not get disappointed! Altimate was smoothly running through the water while we could inhale the beautiful nature surrounding us. The changing landscape, the cool opening bridges, the locks and the wild life made the trip entertaining and exciting. The cherry of the cake was being able to get a good night of sleep every single night at a calm anchorage. That was indeed a luxury compared to open ocean overnight passages. The only downside was that we had to motor almost all the way and spoil the often quiet and calm atmosphere with the noise of our engine.

The absolute most stunning part of the trip was going through the “Dismal Swamp Canal” (feature pic). It runs between Chesapeake, Virginia, and South Mills, North Carolina. (The canal was made by man already two centuries ago in the swampland. The goal back then, was to create a viable trade route between the Chesapeake Bay and North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. It was the first canal that connected the two regions.) Thanks to our low draft we could easily take that route as the Dismal was very shallow. Some areas showed only 1,5 m of depth. The alternative route would have been the (decades later built) “Albemarle and Chesapeake Canal”. The latter was the more commonly used one and the probably better maintained one.
I have no idea why the Dismal canal got its name as there was nothing dismal about this swampland at all. Actually it was quite the opposite, it offered a very tranquil and enchanting scenery with mirroring waters and curious wildlife. Small turtles were watching us, herons were following our route and a deer jumped away when we came closer. The trees showed their whole beauty and sometimes the canal was so narrow that we had to watch the branches of the trees to not touch them with our mast. A tricky task as we didn’t have much space to meander around them. It was a magical leg right through the middle of swampland nature. I only wished we could have sailed. Without the engine we probably would have seen much more wildlife.

Roughly in the middle of the Canal we could dock at the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Centre. It provided tourism information of the area and they offered a free dock for a maximum of maybe three boats of the size of Altimate. We were lucky as only one small boat was already docked when we arrived. So docking seemed very easy. It was smooth until our mast or better the spreaders decided to get in touch with some branches. Luckily we’re only touching and nothing happened. Checking the air above us was for sure not a normal thing to do when approaching a dock. Apart from the unusual docking experience it was a great place to stay. To me it looked like a super well maintained and pretty service area. Who would have thought that we would ever dock at a rest stop with Altimate😁? Unfortunately we arrived pretty late that we couldn’t check out the many trails the park seemed to offer. Still, we enjoyed the easy access to shore to stretch our legs at least a little, we appreciated the possibility to use the very clean restrooms and getting rid of our garbage. Much more than we expected. Really fun were some people who came by to chat a with us. They were admiring our boat and fascinated that we do live on a boat. One couple even wanted to hire us for a river tour. Unfortunately we had to decline. After 12 hours of travel we were not in the mood for a fun trip. Especially not in a canal so narrow that we wouldn’t dare to turn. But it was fun being in the spot and feeling a bit special.

As we had to schedule the second lock to leave the Dismal Swamp Canal we had to leave our comfortable mooring in the morning. No time for shore excursions. The lock opens only 3 times a day and the lock master was as well in charge of the following opening bridge. We hailed him in advance to let him know our request for the lock. Once we were there he helped us with the lines and explained that he had to drive back to the opening bridge once the lock is open again. I thought that was rather funny but probably explained why the lock opens only a few times a day. However, he was fast, we were slow and like this we managed to go through the close-by opening bridge without any problems. Our next night stop was Hampton, Virginia, the entrance of the Chesapeake Bay. I have no idea why but as soon as we entered the Chesapeake Bay the weather turned and it got colder and colder. Again we had to wear layers of cloth and even bonnets. I am not sure anymore if I like cooler weather! 15 degrees Celsius feels on a moving boat like 0 degrees. Can’t imagine how it would feel if it gets even colder🥶? The good part was that we finally were able to sail again. Of course the wind was always right on our nose so the trips took much longer than we had hoped and planned.

A problem with our engine delayed our arrival in Annapolis a few hours. Of course such things happen when the weather is shitty. It happened right in the middle of a squall when we actually needed a running machine. We were motor sailing to be able to have a better angle to the wind. As the motor stopped without any announcement we thought maybe the engine run out of diesel. Our fuel gauge is not very correct so we assumed that could be the cause. Not a fun job to do! Refilling the tank while sailing with mean waves shaking us around was quite of a challenge. And annoying when we found out that the tank was not empty and ergo didn’t solve our problem. In the end we figured, it was a clocked fuel filter. Also not a nice job to do on a rolling boat. But the boat yoga was worth it as the result was successful!!! Yes! And we were still able to made it in time before sunset to Annapolis. We were rewarded with a beautiful anchorage in a very cute and calm place right in the middle of a lovely residential area in Spa Creek.

We had 6 days to explore Annapolis and get Altimate ready until Luis would join us. Annapolis turned out to be almost even prettier than Beaufort. All those beautiful houses with their lovingly designed gardens, the many little creeks, the Navy Academy students in their uniforms and the nice little shops and bars made it a very pleasant and diverting place to wait for Luis. Though of course it didn’t stop my crazy excitement for his arrival.
There was and is one thing which I do not like in US cities. Even in an old grown city like Annapolis there was no supermarket at all. All grocery stores were far outside of the city. Not reachable by foot unless you like walking 4 miles one way and carrying back all your groceries. I don’t get that? Wouldn’t it be easier and nicer for the residents to just walk to town and buy their groceries? Well, I guess I won’t get an answer to that but it was and is a challenge for us as not all cities provide public transport. In Annapolis the public transport system was fortunately quite good so we got all the provisioning we needed. But if you have forgotten something? Well, you better don’t as the next supermarket is far.
On Saturday the 18th of May we rented a car, did some shopping for Altimate and us and picked up Luis late in the evening at Baltimore International airport. Yipppeeeeeee