Today we officially conquered the Chesapeake Bay. At 6:01am this morning we headed south for our final leg on the Chesapeake. The predicted weather this morning proved inaccurate as we were greeted with 2-3ft white capping waves.

Quatuor II In Deltaville at 5:43amQuatuor II motoring through the Chesapeake. (PICTURE YET TO BE COPIED OVER)

After a sweeping right hand turn we exited the Chesapeake and entered Norfolk VA where we were greeted by Navy battleships.

After entering Norfolk, the most anticipated part of the trip lay ahead; (other than reaching Florida) Ever since I saw pictures of the Great Dismal Swamp, I’ve been dying to go through it. It lived up to expectations as we motored through the man made 20ft wide 6ft deep canal at 7knts. The swamp has a rich history to it as George Washington had a say in its use for logging and it later played a big part in the Underground Railroad. Deep green plant growth surrounds the canal and wildlife flourishes within.

Screenshot of a drone video I tookCow we saw in the canalVirginia North Carolina border. (PICTURE YET TO BE COPIED OVER).

The Dismal Swamp also saw us to our first lock. Although we had to wait an hour for it’s scheduled 1:30 opening, it was a cool experience.

Waiting for Deep Creek Lock to open. (PICTURE YET TO BE COPIED OVER)

The lock had this cool sign that showed the mileages to different city’s. 737 miles to Jacksonville Florida. (PICTURE YET TO BE COPIED OVER)

We made it a few miles more past the lock and stopped at the Dismal Swamp State Park dock for the night. We cooked up some dinner in a rush since the mosquitoes were starting to come out. We ate, quickly threw up the mosquito net and climbed in the cabin.

For once we didn’t have to cook on the boat which was nice. We ate some more mountain houses with a salad kit. For anyone curious what the sleeping situation looks like in the cabin here’s a picture

Also, the base of the cabin is built up 7.5in so that space can be used for storage which is where we store a lot of our non essential gear.

The goal for tomorrow is to finish the Dismal Swamp Canal and make it anywhere past albermale sound in North Carolina which has potential to get super rough.

Here was the route for today:

The checkered flag is the start and red arrow is our current position. (PICTURE YET TO BE COPIED OVER).

Hopefully our luck of good weather holds for tomorrow as we continue south

Day 5-Thursday June 17, Deltaville VA to South Mills NC