Grounding, Locking, and North Carolina

We had read all kinds of warnings about ICW groundings, particularly in the Great Dismal Swamp, which only carries 6' of water in places. So what did I do? I grounded her as we were leaving Willoughby Bay yesterday morning. Since she is my own sweet baby, I was able to exercise my boat whispering skills and got us off (good thing since we were still TWO hours from low tide). We made our way to the 1130 locking at Deep Creek, on the Great Dismal route, and though we bumped something once or twice, the water stayed at no less than 7' and we were able to get all the way through the last opening of the bridge at Great Mills. The town there has put in these 'dolphins' all along the west wall just between the bridge and the lock and it was a delightful, calm and welcoming place to spend the night. We even grabbed a couple of pizzas at the local Citgo-cum-convenience store, and made an early night of it.
The colors in the swamp are really lovely, and the Pasquotank opens out about 6 miles or so past the second lock on its way to Elizabeth City. We will stop there, as it would be another 30+ to go and cross Albemarle Sound. We should be there in the next half hour.
I'm going to try to post some pictures while we have the inverter running and I'm on power. There is no power, no water and no facilities at the EC docks - they are free to transients, and the town is famous for its "Rose Buddies" who set up a little welcome wine and cheese party many evenings when there are a number of us tied up.
Hello to Peggy, Joanne, Dawnna and any others I'm forgetting who have checked in with us. Nice to have followers.