Tom says:
We took Daisy to the shore again his morning, and then cranked the diesel about 7:15. I went out to pull anchor, and something didn't feel right. The rope was clearly hung on something, and I couldn't budge it. I had Glenda put the boat in forward and I wrapped the rope around the windlass so it wouldn't slip. I felt something give, but the rope still had too much resistance on it. I turned on the windlass and let it do the work. All the rope came up, and I put the chain portion of the rode into the windlass. After about 10 feet of chain had been taken in, I saw the problem - last year's Christmas tree was tangeled in my anchor chain. Crappie fishermen often dump piles of discarded Christmas trees to make fish habitats, and I had obviously found one.
Sunrise at Five Finger achorage in Bay Springs lake
We were only a few miles away from our first lock of the day, and when we arrived at Whitten lock, we went right in with no wait. By 8:08 we were leaving the lock on the lower side. The next four locks, Montgomery, Rankin, Fulton, and Wilkins locks, all operated like a precision machine for us. Everytime we exited a lock, the operator would call the next lock and let him know we were coming. When we got to the next lock the gates were open and we went straight in - no lines, no waiting!
Just after we exited Wilkins lock, the operator at Amory lock (the next lock downstream) called Genesis on the radio. He ask what our speed would be going to his lock. He had a towboat wanting to lock upstream, but since the chamber was full, he would wait and take us down first. This changed a few minutes later when he radioed again and told us we could slow down because he was going to take the tow up first. When we got about 1/2 mile from the lock we could see the pilothouse of the towboat slowly rising above the gates. We wouldn't have to wait long, so I pulled to my port side to get out of the tow's way and wait for him to leave the chamber. As he was coming out my "shallow depth" alarm sounded and our boat stopped. Not good. I had not run aground since I did it on my first day with Genesis. It was not a good feeling either time. The wake from the towboat did not rock us enough to free us from the mud, so I had to make the embarrassing radio call and tell the lock tender that I was grounded. I took a few minutes to assess the situation, and my beautiful AND smart wife suggested I try again to back the boat up. Ever so slowly the boat moved backwards until it was back in deeper water. The lock tender tried to reassure me about the whole thing, saying that the water level was low and that I certainly wasn't the first person to run aground there. I appreciated his efforts, but it was still embarrassing!
We did make it through Amory lock, though, for a total of SIX locks today.
Its not quite autumn yet but you can see some of the fall purples and yellows beginning to appear
Glenda says:
I actually slept till 6 this morning. So by the time Daisy and I returned from shore time it was after 7 before we got away. It was a pleasant day. The river is narrower here and I feel like I can see the scenery better. The stops at the locks made the time go by faster. I radioed several of the locks to let them know we were coming. It made me feel very capable. We thought about trying Aberdeen marina but opted insead to anchor out again and I am glad. The old river is beautiful and quiet. One older fisherman stopped by to speak to us as he was checking his string lines for catfish. Daisy did not go to shore but she seemed to be fine just going out on the deck.
Tom,
ReplyDeleteI have some Digger anchors. You might want to look into them as you hey have a spring loaded release when pulled directly over the top of them. These are really handy.