THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 19, 1996 TAG: 9605190051
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY MASON PETERS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
For Penny Leary-Smith, the busy skipper of the Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center on U.S. 17 near the Virginia border, spring is running a little late this year - coming and going.
``It's remained cool down south along the Inland Waterway and that slows down the annual northward migration of pleasure boaters who wintered in Florida or in the islands,'' said Leary-Smith.
``But the boats are starting to come north again and it looks like the peak this year will come in early June, rather than May as in the past,'' Leary-Smith said.
The Dismal Swamp Canal Visitor Center is one of the few tourist welcome stations in North Carolina - or the nation - that caters to both sailors and motorists.
Leary-Smith's facility is just a few feet from the hard surface of U.S. 17 to the east, and in Leary's back yard are the dark waters of the Dismal Swamp Canal. The canal carries one leg of the Intracoastal Waterway from Portsmouth to Albemarle Sound. Another branch of the ICW reaches Albemarle Sound by way of Coinjock in Currituck County, and the North River.
The recent cool, rainy weather has been a boon for Leary-Smith's welcomers at the Visitor Center.
``It means there's plenty of water in the canal for deep draft boats,'' she said.
Several times in recent years the Army Corps of Engineers, as custodians of the Dismal Swamp Canal, have had to close the historic ditch during seasons of heavy boating traffic because of low water. The canal is supplied with water from Lake Drummond, a remote catchment in the middle of the Dismal Swamp.
Lake Drummond, in turn, is sustained by runoff from thousands of acres of the Dismal Swamp watershed. In years of scanty rainfall, the corps closes the Lake Drummond spillway until enough water accumulates in the lake to again sustain a navigable depth in the canal.
Leary-Smith was one of those attending a state-sponsored seminar this week at the College of Albemarle on tourist-related economic development along the Albemarle's waterways.
The Department of Commerce's Travel and Tourism division sponsored the meetings in Wilmington, New Bern and Elizabeth City.
``The input gathered at these meetings will be developed into a strategic plan to guide future development efforts,'' said David Little, of the state Commerce Department. by CNB