Locks

Some mention of locks has been made in prior posts, but not a lot of detail was provided about locks so far.

At this point in the trip, we have passed through 17 locks. On the Illinois River we passed through 8 locks, all down.  On the Mississippi river was passed through three locks, all down.  On the Ohio and Cumberland Rivers we locked up three times.  Finally on the Tennessee River, we have locked up three times.  Locking down you are traveling with the current and locking up you are traveling against the current.  We have 14 more locks to go before we reach the Gulf of Mexico.

The Wilson Lock which was passed through on Friday, was the largest lock we've encountered, raising over 90'!!  It was incredible.  At the Wilson Lock, we were with about 9 other looper boats all heading towards the rendezvous.  We all had to work together to determine placement in the lock so everyone could have a floating bollard to attach to.  For those unfamiliar with locking, the side walls have bollards you can wrap a line to to secure the boat and then the bollard raises or lowers along with the water level.

Locking for us has gone pretty well and we've learned to catch the floating bollard off the swim platform so Bert can use the bow thruster to control the bow of the boat and keep it close to the wall.  Took the Plunge doesn't have a stern thruster so if we catch a floating bollard at the front of the boat, then the stern end is free to float away from the wall and push the bow of the boat into the wall, potentially causing damage.  The lock walls are cement and fenders are used all down the side of the boat to protect the fiberglass hull and rub rail from the cement lock wall.  Typically the boat engines are turned off while locking so Hilary doesn't have to inhale diesel exhaust fumes on the swim platform while locking.

Unfortunately, we were positioned to catch the floating bollard off the bow of the boat in Wilson Lock, leaving the stern to float free and away from the wall.  It was also very windy on Friday which doesn't help things at all.  Wilson Lock is turbulent as it raises because so much water is being moved at such a fast pace.  The lock chamber fills very quickly with water.  Suffice to say we didn't have a very good ride up the 90' as the stern of the boat kept floating out and away from the lock wall, forcing the bow of the boat towards the lock wall.  All Bert's muscle and Hilary running the bow thruster wasn't enough to overcome the wind and working together we were unable to keep the bow off the cement wall.  Bert gave instruction for Hilary to start the engines to get better control and while that was going on Bert was still fighting the wind to keep the bow off the cement wall.  Well, at the last second before disaster, Bert was able to save the bow of the boat with one of our two dock poles.  Thank goodness he got his fingers free before impact.  After the crunch, Hilary had the engines running and Bert was able to regain control of the boat and get it parallel to the lock wall for the remainder of the trip up.

Dock Pole Damage at Wilson Lock

Dock Pole gone, Bert's fingers saved!

As you enter Wilson Lock from the Tennessee River, you are locking up to Wilson Lake.  The doors of the lock on the bottom side look like two double doors that close together in the middle.  They swing in from the sides to close.  I posted a video of doors closing below.

Entering Wilson Lock

Boats inside Wilson Lock - secured to Floating Bollards

On the Wilson Lake side of the lock, there are no double doors to get out.  A wicket dam lowers to let the boats out and the vessels pass over the top of the wicket.  Below are pictures of the wicket that lowers down once the lock is full of water.  The wicket lowers and rests on the cement supporting structure seen in the picture.

Looking Up inside the Lock

Picture of Wicket Dam on Wilson Lake side of Lock

Since we arrived at Joe Wheeler State Park, we've been busy visiting with other boaters before the official start of the rendezvous.  Rogersville, AL had a fall festival including a car show that we attended on Saturday.  One of the cars at the show was a replica of the General Lee from Dukes of Hazard.

General Lee replica at the Rogersville, AL car show.

We also had front row for a wedding ceremony here at the park on the aft deck of our boat on Sweetest Day.  Ron and Lynn (friends from the sailing vessel Northern Spirit) were sitting with us visiting on the aft deck for the wedding.  The ceremony was very, very short, lasting less than 10 minutes.  Once the couple was married, all the boaters blew their horns in celebration.  It was fun!

Dad and the Bride

Wedding Party

Bride & Groom