Sail a Canal

They said it couldn’t be done, but damn it, we did it! We sailed the Great Dismal Swamp Canal, in light winds, no less. Everyone else just motors. Like many other cruisers, I have also transited the canal twice under power and can tell you from personal experience that none of the people motoring this historic waterway ever really see it. Same thing with those people driving the scenic road that runs alongside. They aren’t really seeing it either.

When you’re going an average of 1.5 to 2 knots, though, by way of sails and sculling oar, you more than see it. You become part of it. So much so, there were times I seriously wondered whether we would ever make it out of there…

Heading south from the Chesapeake Bay many cruisers opt for the scenic, historic Dismal Swamp Canal route that runs through Virginia and North Carolina as part of the Intracoastal Waterway.

With a dark history of slavery and deforestation, the canal and surrounding woods are now both wildlife and recreational preserves. Tannic water from local