[EXPIRED] THIS WEEKEND! “Paddle for the Border” on May 2 – Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, AICW Alternate Route
As you can see from the photo below, the Canal is virtually impossible to navigate by motor or sail vessels during the event, so plan your passage carefully. The Welcome Center has done a lot to make your cruise through the Canal on May 2 as little of an inconvenience as possible. A SALTY SOUTHEAST CRUISERS’ NET SPONSOR, the Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center is located on the east shore of the Canal at Statute Mile 28.
To our Boating Community:
Our 12th annual Paddle for the Border event will be held on Saturday May 2nd, beginning near mm28 at the Dismal Swamp State Park on the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. We will host about 325 canoes and kayaks who will launch their watercraft into the canal at approximately 8:30am and travel north to the Ballahack Boat Ramp, approximately 7.5 miles. This event is held to encourage recognition of the historical waterway and its importance to our area. The Dismal Swamp State Park, Camden County, Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, City of Chesapeake Parks and Rec, and the ACOE all collaborate to promote this shared asset between two states.
We love our boaters and know this can be an inconvenience in their attempt to travel the waterway, but this event only occurs once a year, for a few hours. I’d like to suggest a compromise. Our set up starts early in the morning with traffic crossing the pedestrian bridge for preparations, breakfast and registration at around 6:30am. If you are staying at our dock , we invite you to join us for a breakfast of ham biscuits, yogurt, coffee and juice around 7:30am and enjoy the view. It is a site to behold, seeing all those colorful canoes and kayaks in the water. Our paddlers will have cleared out of our location by about 10:30am, heading north. Paddlers have usually made their destination at Ballahack Road by 2:00pm.
We want this experience to be enjoyable for all of our waterway travelers. Pulling out early from our dock will also head you on your way, without any encounters with paddlers. If you are staying at our dock the evening before, we will remind you of the upcoming events in the morning.
I hope this message will provide the ability to plan a great day on the Dismal Swamp Canal for all of our guests, paddlers and boaters, alike. Thank you for sharing this with your boating partners.
Donna Stewart, Director
Dismal Swamp Welcome Center
2356 US Hwy 17N
South Mills, NC 27976
Phone ~ 252-771-8333
www.DismalSwampWelcomeCenter.com
Bird, Bike, Hike’¦.take in the sights!
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