the Dismal Swamp is sort of a throwback to another time....it was started in the 1700's by George Washington and his cronies and dug mostly by slave labor, and used heavily in the Civil War to transport troops and more. It's pretty amazing. The Army Corps of Engineers does its best to maintain a dredged channel of at least 6 feet deep, but as funding has oscillated over past years, so has the depth. Lucky for us, we saw 8-9 feet throughout and didn't run aground once! But there was one morning the dredge team was out clearing the way right ahead of us.. It reminded me of riding the schoolbus right after a snowstorm, and having the snowplow working ahead of the bus, clearing the way.