Saturday, 25 October 24.1 Statute Miles (SM)
The Navy Yards line both sides of the Elizabeth.
“Alright, guys. Welcome to the oldest continuously operating artificial waterway in the United States.” And with that, lockmaster and ersatz history professor Robert Peek opens another class in Dismal Swamp 101.
This is the day’s denouement. Well, almost. But that’s another story of another crew on another boat, all quite remarkable and for another time.
For Steadfast, a day full of sunshine started shortly before 1000 as she motored briskly across Hampton Flats and up the Elizabeth River past the Navy’s Atlantic Fleet. It was just about noon when she approached Portsmouth and came abeam of Red Nun 36, what serves as “Mile Marker Zero” for the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. All of this she’d seen before but from there on, it’d all be new.
This way to Do the Ditch.
Southbound traffic seemed unusually light for late October, with Steadfast having the waterway pretty much all to herself. After Naval Station Norfolk and the commercial wharves at Lambert’s Point came ships in dry dock at the Norfolk Naval Yards and more industrial sites. She idled in place when mechanical problems with the Gilmerton Bridge pushed its 1330 opening back to 1400. Then it was under the 64 “high-rise” and hard to starboard to enter the Dismal Swamp Canal and, as the sign says, “Do the Ditch.”
Interstate 64 runs just beyond the trees.
For Steadfast and those aboard her, this is a first. None of us has done this canal before and it is clear immediately that this experience will be like none other before. Back from its banks, the Dismal is stunning in its beauty. Repetitive, yes, as the beauty of the mountains or sky or the sea itself. But just like them it inspires awe, as in, how can such unspoiled wilderness exist so close to “civilization?” The interstate highway runs a hundred yards away for cryin’ out loud!
Steadfast enters the lock at Deep Creek.
Shortly after leaving the Elizabeth, the Dismal straightens for the run to run to Deep Creek, ten miles south of Portsmouth, where the canal’s first lock (when southbound, at least) will raise Steadfast about 12’. With his audience captive below, the lock master paces above while he expounds on little known facts about the Dismal Swamp and the canal completed in 1805.
As Robert will tell you, the Dismal is a totally unique habitat. There’s nothing else like it anywhere. Cedar forests, living peat bogs, an array of flora and fauna unmatched in North America. And much like the Dismal, Robert is a one-of-a-kind himself. Twenty years at the controls of the Deep Creek lock (and the bridge just south) which means 20 years to study and recount all that was and is the Canal. And to cultivate palms, collect lawn decor and develop his ability to trumpet a conch shell.
The call of the conch means class is in session.
Along with the history, he offers a life lesson, too. In the hands of another, tending the lock at Deep Creek could be among the most boring jobs imaginable. Close the gates, fill the lock, open the gates, answer the same questions from Snowbirds all day, every day. But Robert’s made it something well beyond the job description. He’s made it meaningful, memorable and enjoyable, not just for himself but for all those who happen his way, four times a day, for twenty years.
What a kick. What an example. What a blessing!
Whatever you’re doing, enjoy your day!
Steadfast out.
At Sea with Steadfast 
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