" When Pigs Fly"

Two Locks

Two locks….Those two simple words caused Anna considerable anxiety before we ever left the dock at Florence Harbor.  So before departing we talked through all the things we learned from our first locking experience. We prepared the fenders and lines and talked about the process in some detail.  I’m not sure she was all that reassured but an hour later she was feeling pretty good. 

Wilson Lock is a big lock, 95 foot lift.  We sat and looked at that huge gate for about 20 minutes, with Anna’s anticipation building, before we got the go ahead horn from the lockmaster.  Then we cruised in and hooked up to the floating bit like pros!  Everything worked exactly as it should.  We even enjoyed watching the turbulence in the water as the lock filled.  Then we repeated the process just as smoothly 15 miles later when we went through Wheeler Dam Lock. 

That pretty much set the tone for the day. We had an easy cruise into Bayhill Marina. Even though it was Saturday there was very little traffic on the river.  Eva, at Florence, had told us people didn’t boat as much on weekends after school, and especially football season, started.  Whether it was that or the fact that it was sort of overcast all day, we saw only a handful of pleasure boaters out.  We had a relaxed evening on the boat.  Next stop: Huntsville and Ditto Marina.

See you on the water