Bonny Blue 



LEFT: The last remaining structure of the original Dismal Swamp Canal Company still stands about 12 miles north of South Mills. 

 RIGHT: jeff Moore and Merritt Walter take a break aboard the Bonny Blue. 



some pilings, Walter shows passengers where 

 fishing camps used to stand. 



"They used to bring lumber barges 

 along here, but stopped this in the early 

 1970s," he adds. "You can see where the 

 barges banged old trees and took off the bark 

 when coming down the river." 



n'ow Birders Frequent Canal 



While heading toward Turner's Cut 

 — "the snakiest part of the river," according 

 to Walter — the Bonny Blue nears a parade 

 of sailboats. 



'This is part of the north-south crowd 

 that goes north in the spring and south in the 

 fall," he says. 



From radio conversations, Walter and 

 other captains know each other by the names 

 of their boats. 



As he looks over at one large boat, 

 he explains that the family, including two 

 school-age children, has spent the last year in 

 the Bahamas. "They are heading back up the 

 East Coast," he says. 



Around noon, the mates serve lunch on 

 the top deck. Not long after, the Bonny Blue 

 nears the South Mills lock that opens four 

 times a day. The captain moors alongside the 

 lock wall, and several other sailboats moor 

 on the starboard side. 



When the lockmaster opens the gate, 

 the rushing water sounds like a washing 

 machine. He motions for the boats to come 

 through. 



"We have light head current," says 

 Walter. "We are running in six feet of water." 



As the boat passes by a bank covered 

 with a canopy of trees, he announces: 

 "Ladies and gentlemen, this is an exciting 



time. We have crossed the North Carolina state 

 line into Virginia." 



Then he gives a history lesson on the 

 canal's famed halfway house where folks used 

 to come to duel — or to get married. 



"The attraction was that the house was 

 half in North Carolina and half in Virginia," he 

 adds. "Because the duelers were in different 

 states, they were not prosecuted." 



The halfway house also is where Edgar 

 Alan Poe wrote part of the famous poem "The 

 Raven." 



Not far from this point, the boat nears 

 a World War U "farmer's bridge" that can be 

 pushed across to the Edge farm. "This is the 

 only boat ramp on the canal," he says. "Farmers 

 would load up here in the old days." 



By early afternoon, there is a cool breeze, 

 and many passengers are on the upper deck. 



Before nearing the Deep Creek bridge, 

 Walter radios the bridge tender. "This is the 

 Bonny Blue coming through," he says. "The 

 crew needs to prepare for portside landing." 



After cruising the canal for two days, 

 the passengers have gotten a glimpse of the 

 wildlife and colorful history of the canal and 

 surrounding swamp. 



"I enjoyed the trip," says Meade Jones of 

 Walkerton, Va. "It was different from cruises 

 in the ocean because we went down a narrow 

 canal. It was like driving through a forested 

 area." 



This year, the Bonny Blue will begin its 

 fourth season on the canal. To find out more 

 about the cruises, call 866/429-8747, or visit 

 the Web: www.bonnyblue.com. 



For information on the Great Dismal 

 Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, call 757/ 

 986-3705, or go to www.fws.gov/northeast/ 

 greatdismalswamp/. 



NEW STATE NATURAL AREA 

 PLANNED FOR DISMAL SWAMP 



For hundreds of years, adventurers have 

 hiked and paddled through the dark and 

 mysterious Great Dismal Swamp. 



Soon, visitors will have a new area to 

 explore near the North Carolina/Virginia border. 



The N.C. Division of Parks & Recreation is 

 planning to construct a 5,800-square foot visitor 

 center at the Dismal Swamp State Natural Area. 

 Located in the heart of the swamp, the center 

 will include classrooms, an exhibit hall and a 

 boardwalk. The natural area spans more than 

 14,000 acres. 



"A lot of people want to say they have 

 stepped into the Great Dismal Swamp," says 

 Henry Stokes, the center's superintendent. "It 

 will be a great center for birders. There are a lot 

 of neotropical migratory birds in the swamp. 

 They also can see a lot of deer and bear." 



Because the swamp has been logged two 

 or three times, it also is a good example of a 

 regenerated forest, adds Stokes. 



To get to the natural area, visitors will cross 

 a new bridge off U.S. 1 7 in Camden County, 

 near the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome 

 Center operated by the N.C. Department of 

 Transportation (DOT). 



"Construction has begun on the bridge," 

 Stokes says. 



The bridge will be completed in the next 

 few months. The center is expected to open in 

 2007, according to park officials. 



For operating hours of the DOT Dismal 

 Swamp Canal Welcome Center, go online to: 

 www.DismalSwamp.com, or to www.ncdot.org 

 and search for visitors. Or, call 252/771-8333. 



—AC. 



16 Coastwalch I Spring 2006 I www.ncseagrant.org 



