Tuesday, May 6, 2014 – 8:00PM – Leg 23/Day 37 – 43.3 (37.1) Miles

I decided to stop short of my planned leg as I was tired and wanted to go through Norfolk with a clear mind. There is a little pull off as you come out of the Dismal Swamp called Deep Creek Basin and it offered a night of anchorage without current and protected from the wind. It was a welcome relief after a day of constant attention.

The Pasquotank River has a current but it didn't slow me down too much. Once I got through the lock at the south end of the swamp, it was a straight navigation through the Dismal Swamp. There was a lot of time for reflection. Did have to keep an eye on the tree overhangs in places and I was constantly alert on the depth. This craft has a shallow draft, but I really did not want to have to change a prop. I have it set up that if I needed to I could put the dinghy motor on the back and use it in an emergency. But I'd rather be careful to avoid that hassle.

I passed one other boat traveling in the same direction and another head-on. Other than that there was no traffic. I stopped by the visitor's center just on a whim and it was nice. Got the low down on current conditions, grabbed a couple of snacks and headed on down the road. A long slow road it is with no scenery change. When I say no scenery change, I mean no scenery change. So I cranked up the music loud and sang, sang, sang. Put on my best tenor suit and tried all my old TRAX. Those are basically karaoke before it became popular. It was hard to find those in the old days.

The weather was great all day. Of course, most of it I could only see the sky right above me. The wind in the tree tops was pumped up pretty good, but down on the water, there was very little movement. Morning was cool and the afternoon was short sleeves. As I sit here writing, I am aware the insect world is ramping up in full force. The frogs are croaking to beat the band and a few mosquitos have decided on me for dinner.

So here I sit, a little over 6 miles from the intended distance, but tomorrow was supposed to be a much shorter trek so I figured to lop a bit off today and add in on to tomorrow. I feel I am beginning to finally slow down. I think the most telling thing is that I didn't HAVE to get to the end of this leg today. That's a first. I just felt like stopping and I did. I might just get this relaxing thing down yet.

Peace to those I love and blessings on all as angels watch over you.