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North Carolina Welcome Center
N 36 30.390 W 076 21.349

It as a good choice to continue past Newark and Portsmouth yesterday. It was Sunday and the Jordan Bridge and Gilmerton Bridge opened for us right away with no delay. Also, we got to anchor in splendid isolation on the creek just outside the gates of the Dismal Swamp Canal lock. That also put us in perfect condition for the 0900 canal locking.

Passing through Newark we saw a beautiful tall ship tied up at Waterside Marina where we stayed before. The ship was The Liberdad from Argentina. She was quite a sight to see.

We appear to be ahead of the crowd for the southward migration. This morning, we were one of only two boats passing through the lock. In previous trips through here as many as twenty boats packed in to the lock and there were 4 lockings per day rather than two. When we got to this Welcome Center we were the only boat. On previous trips as many as 24 boats would tie up here, rafted 3 or 4 deep. This evening, one other boat pulled up to the Welcome Center, it was the only boat through the 1500
locking.

On the canal I pulled a trick that I used to do on our Tanzer 27. I rigged a line from the tiller to a snatch block clipped on to the lifeline. I ran the line up the starboard side to the bow, then down the port side, through another snatch block and tied the other end to the tiller also. Then, I was able to ride up in the bow and steer Tarwathie by tugging line one way or the other. It worked beautifully. When under power, this seems like the most rational way to steer. Visibility is much better
in the bow. Of course I woudn't do it in tight quarters or when there are a lot of other boats around, because I could steer but I was 25 feet away from the throttle controls.

Once on Sacandaga lake I pulled a good trick steering from the bow with this rig. I had slept on the boat overnight and on Sunday morning I was returning to the marina. I rigged my steering line as I described above. I also rigged my hammock between the mast and the forestay. That made it possible for me to steer while lying in the hammock; a very pleasant arrangement from my point of view. Libby wasn't with me, but my dog Pup was back in the cockpit. On the way back I heard some shouting and
saw men waving at me from a boat nearby that was being towed. I recognized them as fellow firemen from the West Charlton VFD. I diverted course to come closer to them and we chatted. I asked why they were being towed (their motor failed). They asked my how I trained the dog to steer the boat. Hee hee. That was fun.