OtherGoose: Monday Oct 27

Monday Oct 27

Happy Birthday Auntie M !!

OK...the trains ran ALL night! OK when we got to sleep but trying to sleep in the morning was a little rough! I still like them. I’d like a horn that loud on the boat!

The million dollar cruiser (seriously a 55 foot Tiara with a walk-in engine room) had his generator running all night. He left about 20 minutes ago so we won’t see him again. He’ll get through all the locks today. He is a delivery captain [I asked him] and I overheard him talking to someone trying to explain why he was late. But he can cruise at 10 miles an hour. Our top speed is 6.5 with a tailwind and current following. That’s ok. I won’t have to compete for space in the locks.

8:30 am. and through Lock 10. Sometimes they answer the radio, sometimes they don’t. I thought for a while our radio wasn’t working, and it wasn’t ! We didn’t switch it to US channels, so they couldn’t hear us very well. Now they can hear but they don’t answer.

There are a lot of abandoned factories along the river here. They are beautiful old buildings and it’s a shame most of them are unused. I guess we’re not the only ones suffering from the China syndrome. Maybe if we all resolve to try to buy North American for at least half of our purchases, we can revive some of our industry. Sorry...not a political advocate.

It’s bright and sunny this morning, so much so we can hardly see the markers heading east. I am NOT complaining!

Lock 9 & 8 were nasty. Lock 9 was open when we got there but no-one answered the radio. There was a fierce tailwind and even in reverse I had a hard time slowing down. The water was so high we had to reach down to get the ropes off the dock and I couldn’t hold against the current and the wind. To make matters worse, there were all kinds of wires hanging from the overhead bridge and tied to the tangled bit of railing with construction tape all over the place. The Gate at the end was only a foot above water so we couldn’t let go! And the lock master was no-where to be found! We sat for about 10 minutes struggling to hold against the wind before he wandered down the hill from the construction shack at the top. It was only 15 feet but not nice.

Lock 8 wasn’t as bad but there was a huge limb tangles in the rope Rick caught for me to hold. The lock master wanted to see the pass (the first time!) so I had to let go of the rope to pull it out from under the chart book. It’s 11 miles to lock 7...long enough to rest up for the next ordeal!

So Lock 7... got within a mile and they told us we’d have to wait for half an hour while they finish some repairs. That didn’t make me feel good. I can’t wait to get out of this system! We got into the lock and had to move farther forward so another 65 foot/ million dollar boat could pull in behind us. This one was being driven by a husband and wife team. I was cringing watching them drop, waiting for them to scrap their shiny paint on the wall! She did a good job holding them off. They sped past us when we got out. The speed limit here is 45 mph!! What’s our top speed...uh...6.5mph? I don’t imagine we’ll see them again!

We made it all the way through Lock 2 with 8 minutes to spare, so we decided to stop at the Waterford town dock, and who did we see but another boat from the Owen Sound Marina!! They came down the St. Lawrence and are heading up the canal to leave the boat for the winter.

We will start off in the late morning and go through the last lock, then head to a marina where we can have the mast put back up. After that, we play it by ear.