Scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock for electrical repairs on April 20-22, 2026. Our thanks to Sarah Hill of the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center for this information.
Please see the USACE Norfolk District’s Notice to Navigation regarding the scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal, April 20-22, 2026. This temporary closure is for electrical repairs to be made. The lock will reopen on April 23, 2026.
Attaching image from this week at the dock. Boaters are beginning to trickle through during this early springtime period.
Looking forward to many more in this season!
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center Chairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority 2356 US Hwy 17 North, South Mills, NC 27976
The 21st annual Paddle for the Border event will be held on Saturday, May 2nd, 2026, beginning near MM 28 at the Dismal Swamp State Park paddle launch on the historic Dismal Swamp Canal. We will host about 375 canoes and kayaks launching approximately 8:30am and traveling 7.5 miles north to the Ballahack Boat Ramp, in Chesapeake, VA. This event encourages recognition of the historical waterway and its importance to our area. The Dismal Swamp State Park, City of Chesapeake Parks, Rec and Tourism, Camden County, Dismal Swamp Welcome Center, and USACE all collaborate to promote this shared asset between two states.
We love our boating community and know this can be an inconvenience in your attempt to travel the waterway, but this event occurs for a few hours once a year. We’d like to suggest a compromise. Our set up starts early in the morning with traffic crossing the State Park pedestrian bridge for preparations and registration at around 6:30am. If you are tied up at the Welcome Center dock, we invite you to enjoy the view of paddlers launching colorful kayaks into the water from the park’s pedestrian bridge. The launch will begin at 8:30am and paddlers will have cleared out of MM 28 location by 10:30am, heading north. Paddlers have usually made their destination at Ballahack Road by 1 pm.
We want this experience to be enjoyable for all of our waterway travelers. Pulling out early from our dock (before 7:30 am) will also lead you on your way, without any encounters with paddlers. If you are staying at our Welcome Center dock the evening before, we will remind you of the upcoming events in the morning, to assist in your choices.
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. On behalf of the Paddle for the Border Team, thank you for sharing this with your boating partners and please let us know if you have any questions.
Many thanks, Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome CenterChairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority
There is always plenty to do around Charlotte Harbor. While berthed at Fishermen’s Village Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, you are certain to enjoy visiting Western Florida’s beautiful Charlotte Harbor/Peace River.
Fishermen’s Village APRIL Calendars of Entertainment/Events
April 2026 Sunset Beach Club CalendarApril 2026 Fisherman’s Village Calendar
Elizabeth City sits at the southern terminus of the Dismal Swamp Canal and has the well-earned reputation of being a transient-friendly town with free dockage for 72 hours.
Run for Hope 5K
It’s that time of year! Spring into action for a great cause with Albemarle Hopeline’s Race 5K for Hope!
Enjoy a flat, scenic course through the Riverside Area of Elizabeth City with views of the Pasquotank River. All proceeds from this event will provide services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence through Albemarle Hopeline, Inc. Hopeline has been serving survivors in northeast North Carolina for 40 years.
Lace up, show up, and Take every step with purpose—your run helps change lives!
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
Lee Ralston’s skills include scuba, according to his company website.
An Annapolis area marine technician has been arrested in connection with 32 bombs found during a search of his home. Lee Scott Wygal Ralston, 37, was charged with 32 counts each of manufacture and possession of a “destructive device.” He faces up to 25 years in prison.
Ralston founded Ralston Marine in February 2025, after getting into the marine industry as a tech at Port Annapolis Marina in 2019. His website advertised him as a “mobile marine service provider,” capable of “electronics installation, fiberglass repairs, bottom painting, custom fabrication and dive services.”
Maryland authorities began their case against Ralston with an investigation into allegations of illegal night hunting—deer jacking—that included a home being hit by gunfire. Apparently, Natural Resource officers were conducting a search of Ralston’s home, probably for frozen venison, when the bombs were discovered. According to news reports, they called in Anne Arundel County’s Fire Department explosives unit.
Maryland media outlets reported that some of the bombs were rigged to be detonated remotely.
On April 14, the same day the search was excuted, Ralston’s wife Chelsea filed for divorce.
Ralston grew up in Salisbury, Maryland, and earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maryland. For four years, he worked for a pair of engineering firms before being trained and hired at Port Annapolis.
“I wanted to have a job where I loved what I was doing, and sitting in an office all day wasn’t it,” he was quoted as saying by PropTalk magazine in December 2019.
“The days go by quickly,” he said. “It’s nice to be granted some autonomy and be treated with some trust in your work—not every place is like that. Plus, I get to be outside, and you can’t beat the water view!”
Also from PropTalk: Rich Krolak, service manager at Port Annapolis, predicted that Ralson would go far in the industry.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Sometimes he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
Scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock for electrical repairs on April 20-22, 2026. Our thanks to Sarah Hill of the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center for this information.
Please see the USACE Norfolk District’s Notice to Navigation regarding the scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal, April 20-22, 2026. This temporary closure is for electrical repairs to be made. The lock will reopen on April 23, 2026.
Attaching image from this week at the dock. Boaters are beginning to trickle through during this early springtime period.
Looking forward to many more in this season!
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center Chairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority 2356 US Hwy 17 North, South Mills, NC 27976
Scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock for electrical repairs on April 20-22, 2026. Our thanks to Sarah Hill of the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center for this information.
Please see the USACE Norfolk District’s Notice to Navigation regarding the scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal, April 20-22, 2026. This temporary closure is for electrical repairs to be made. The lock will reopen on April 23, 2026.
Attaching image from this week at the dock. Boaters are beginning to trickle through during this early springtime period.
Looking forward to many more in this season!
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center Chairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority 2356 US Hwy 17 North, South Mills, NC 27976
Scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock for electrical repairs on April 20-22, 2026. Our thanks to Sarah Hill of the Dismal Swamp Welcome Center for this information.
Please see the USACE Norfolk District’s Notice to Navigation regarding the scheduled closure of the South Mills Lock on the Dismal Swamp Canal, April 20-22, 2026. This temporary closure is for electrical repairs to be made. The lock will reopen on April 23, 2026.
Attaching image from this week at the dock. Boaters are beginning to trickle through during this early springtime period.
Looking forward to many more in this season!
Thanks,
Sarah
Sarah Hill, TMP Director, Dismal Swamp Canal Welcome Center Chairperson, Camden County Tourism Development Authority 2356 US Hwy 17 North, South Mills, NC 27976
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes that mariners with saltwater in their veins will subscribe. $7 per month or $56 for the year; you may cancel at any time.
Watching the eclipse: John thought way ahead and back in November got us some proper eclipse glasses.
The author and his wife Pam are cruising the South Pacific aboard Roam, a 2001 Catana 472 designed by Christophe Barreau and built by Catana. You can follow their adventures on Substack. The story was first published in April 2024.
Some days are more eventful than others. Today, we witnessed a total eclipse of the sun and crossed the equator on a small boat.
Thus far, we have been blessed with a fast and uneventful sail across the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ) or “doldrums.” This is an area marked by calms, lightning, and otherwise squally weather. Ships would often get stuck here for weeks waiting for the wind to fill in. We’ve sailed the entire time and only dealt with one significant rain squall, which was a welcome rinse for Roam.
The Solar Eclipse
Back when we started planning this trip, John pointed out that it was conceivable we might be able to view the total solar eclipse during our voyage. He promptly ordered some eclipse glasses for us, and they’ve been sitting in the nav station since last summer. None of us thought much about it beyond that. A lot would have to come together for it to work out.
Totality
With a day to go, it became clear we might be able to make it into the path of totality and maybe to the transit longitude of the eclipse itself. A longitude we calculated to be W132:43’.
We tried valiantly to reach the equator at the eclipse transit longitude, but 9-10 knots the night before was just too fast, and we opted to reduce sail and the loads on the boat (and my anxiety).
But we got close enough. We enjoyed more than two minutes of totality and several hours of partial coverage.
We believe we are the only humans to have witnessed the eclipse in the vicinity of the equator today. There was nobody on radar or AIS around us that we could see.
It is nothing short of an awe-inspiring experience. Near-complete darkness. I wonder what the ancients thought when all of a sudden the sun randomly shut off during the middle of the day.
Crossing the Equator
Crossing the equator is a celebrated rite of passage for every sailor. Yesterday was our time, and we crossed at 2306 UTC.
Welcome to the Southern Hemisphere
Pollywogs who cross are eligible to enter the court of King Neptune and become shellbacks.
John was the lone shellback among us, and he held a truly epic and memorable ceremony as King Neptune. He had crossed many years ago as a seaman aboard the USCG cutter, Steadfast.
Pollywog Pam
The ceremony itself is classified, but it includes atoning for one’s sins against the sea, entertaining the king, and committing to stewardship of the kingdom. This is a longstanding maritime tradition, widely practiced even today. And we were all duly awarded our certificates (suitable for framing). If you find yourself crossing the line and in need of King Neptune, you can do no better than John!
500 miles to go. We should be in the anchorage at Hiva Oa on Friday the 12th. Until then, I remain profoundly grateful for this wonderful crew and this magnificent boat that has taken such good care of us.
King Neptune and his shellbacks.
LOOSE CANNON covers hard news, technical issues and nautical history. Every so often he tries to be funny. Subscribe for free to support the work. If you’ve been reading for a while—and you like it—consider upgrading to paid.
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