The first lock, Pickwick Lock, is the only lifting lock I will have on the trip down. The locks that lift the boat have a lot of swirling action to the water as the chamber fills. The chamber fills from the bottom and it looks like boiling water above the 6 to 8 water inlets that are at the bottom of the lock chamber. The boat is constantly moving around in the current created by the rushing water and it takes some effort to keep her from bouncing into the walls, especially when traveling solo. The down locks are much easier, the water drains out and Lesson Plan floats a foot or so away from the wall without much effort on my part.
I am sometimes a slow learner. After going through 37 locks (2 on the east coast, 35 locks of the Erie Canal, I finally figured out that since the bow on a sailboat starts to narrow just forward of midship, the fenders used to lock through should not be all the same size. I needed a big fender ball on the front. Thank goodness for Amazon prime delivery. While in Chicago I ordered a 36” fender ball to go along with the two 24” ones Gary and I used through the Erie Canal. The ride down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers were down, so Steve and I didn’t get the full benefit of having the larger fender. The Lock at Lake Barkley was an up lock. Steve had not experienced the two-ball system, so I had more of an appreciation for the lack of swinging around. I really have an appreciation for the larger ball when I am solo locking.
As I ready Lesson Plan for her trip, Florence is threatening to interrupt my trip (Florence the hurricane that is). Right now she is still 2,000 miles from the east coast. But, if she continues her track toward South Carolina I will have to stop and rent a car to get back to South Carolina to batten down the hatches on the house in Beaufort. I know, I know, oh the difficulties of 1st world life.
So, wish me luck and I will keep you posted.
Lesson Learned:
You need big fender balls to take a sailboat through a lock.
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