This was started several days ago. Wi Fi has been minimal at best and mostly nil. I want to get this posted, so I will have to do it incomplete. Pictures will follow when we get back to civilization. We are at Rosedale lock 35 for tonight . We should cross Lake Simcoe on Friday and be at a marina for 3 nights before moving on. I hope to get caught up then
Today I come to you from Lock 22 Nassau Mills. We left Campbellford Thursday morning, spent a night on the wall in Hastings and have been through the infamous Peterborough Lift Lock and are now waiting for 9 am, lock opening time, on the wall in a rural, quiet park area.
For our last night in Campbellford, we were treated to a concert in park by a 50s/60s band aptly named The Cruisers. They were enjoyable and we had a good time meeting and chatting with other loopers. The chess game began in the morning when the maneuvering for the lock began. Our first lock of the day was just a mile up the river and several boats planned to move on. No way everyone was going to fit in the lock together. Somebodies were going to have to wait. Many of the loopers had reservations to stay at the Peterborough Marina and weren’t in a huge hurry to leave. We had decided to skip Peterborough since we were there last year with Kitty and we wanted to get going. The weather man said it was going to be a hot one with good chances of rain late in the afternoon. By around 5:30 am the first boat headed for the lock. Soon after another, then another left. We decided it was time to get in line. We may not make the first locking, but we certainly wanted to be in at least the second. As it was, we were the forth boat in line at the lock and we all needed to tie on the blue line to wait for the opening.
So, here’s where lessons were learned. As we tied to the wall waiting for the lock to open, the lock master yelled out that he was about to dump the lock. What this means is the lock is full of water and he is going to release all of it quickly. We knew then that we were going to have a rush of water pushing the boat and we needed to get tied to the wall securely and quickly. We had a mid line wrapped around a bollard and cleated back to the boat. On the wall, I hurriedly got a bow line and a stern line through rings on the wall. Tim was cleating the bow line back on the boat while I was cleating the stern line to the boat. The rush of water was coming at us and the boat was being pushed backwards. At that time Tim yelled. We noticed our mid line was unfurling from our mid cleat from the force of the water. Without thinking, I was on the swim platform and jumping to the wall to grab our mid line which by now had come off the boat. BIG MISTAKE. The boat was still moving and I missjudged.
Luckily when I fell I did not hit the concrete wall. Nor did I hit my head on anything. Somehow my left hip and arm made contact with something. I figure it must have been the swim platform and I now have a few very colorful bruises. It could have been so much worse.
The lesson learned? When docking and locking, I will always wear my inflatable life vest. No, it isn’t very comfortable and it can be itchy and hot. But if I had hit my head, it could have saved my life. Another lesson- I am not invincible. I am used to sliding under the hand rail and landing on the wall or dock with ease. Yoga has served me well and I can maneuver pretty quickly on and off the boat. I learned that I cannot always predict the movement of the boat and I need to reign in my reflex to bound off the boat at will. I need to put more attention into safety.
Enough of that. Campbellford to Hastings was 6 locks and only 19 miles apart, but it was a long, hot day. We manage to cram 9 looper boats on the wall above the lock. With the generator recharging batteries, Tim turned on the AC to cool the interior down. By the time we were ready for bed, it was cool enough for sleeping. The AC and generator were turned off, windows were opened and fans were enough for a comfortable night.
Most of our fellow loopers were stopping in Peterborough, before the lift lock. We planned to transit the lift lock and find a space on a wall north of there. The Peterborough Lift lock is the highest hydraulic lift in the world. In two minutes it will lift boats in the pan 65 feet. Lock 20 sets us up for the Lift Lock 21. Coming in we saw who our companions for the next 2 locks would be. We had two kayakers waiting ahead of us and then behind us came the Liftlock Tour boat. What a combination! To fit the tour boat in, we would need to pull as far forward as we could go. It was a bit nerve wracking to see our anchor just a mere foot of the lock door. The lockmaster was also watching it carefully as she cranked open the sluice doors to allow water into the lock. At one point she reached out and touched the anchor as it neared the safety gate.
Through lock 20 and onto the lift lock. I won’t go into the mechanics of the lift lock. It is easy to google it if you want. Instead I’ll try to insert a video I took as we were lifted up.
I am horrified by the incident you describe when they dumped the lock. I have seen you scamper under the rail and onto the dock so fast I didn’t know you were off the boat. I can picture superwoman going after that wayward mid-line! I’m grateful that the only repercussion was colorful bruises.