This morning we were up early to make sure we were at the first lock by 7:00 am. As we left Rome, the sun was just starting to come up. This revealed the "good" and "bad" window washing from the day before by Mike and Rick. Captain Bly(aka Bob) was very impressed that I found a husband that could do windows. Rick on the other hand not so much....until we realized that it was Mike's job on the inside that was bad! It was a good laugh to start the morning. I had to crawl up on the dash and finish the job.
As we came up to the first lock of the day, I was very happy to hear that it was only 10 miles out. As the navigator, it is my job to determine what time we needed to leave to be at the lock on time. The resources I had only had approximate times and Bob was holding me to my word. Phew...past my first real test:)
We got to Lock 20 at 7:05 and our goal for the day was to make it to Lock 6 by 3:30. This would put us in the Hudson River by 5:00 and closer to Bob's hope of being in NYC by Thursday morning. The day was filled with a lot of laughs and direction from our captain. One lock we went through was the tallest lock on the Erie Canal system (40 foot drop) and one of the tallest in the world. (See the attached pictures)
Rick, who earned the nickname Renegade, held many jobs. His main focus besides handling the bow during the locks was to make the 6 CD changer work. It was near the end of the day, but he got it working (but don't ask how...he doesn't know!)
We all shared the responsbility of looking out for hazards and obstacles that we needed to slow down for. Mike took over as captain while Bob had lunch and watched his daily dose of the "Young and the Restless". Between navigating, helping on the stern for locks, and making lunch, I was also busy most of the day. As we got farther East, we realized that the leaves were already changing on the tree's, fall is on it's way!
As we got closer to 3:30, we realized that we were going to come up short of our goal. We were not going to make it to Lock 6 by 3:30. It was now time to start looking for a place to spend the night. After calling a few places and asking the lock master at Lock 7, we decided to stay at the Crescent Boat Club. We were met at the dock by 4 guys from the "club" who helped us dock and told us all about the Club. One gentleman, Jim Young took specail care of us. After a couple cocktails and some converstation on the dock, Jim took us to his house for some stainless steel hardware, that had rattled loose from the Roadrunner's trunk hinges. Then he drove us to dinner, to the Klam Steam Tavern. After a good dinner he brought us back to the club/marina and bought us a night cap. Thank you for your wonderful hospitality!
We went a total of 110 miles for the day and used 112 gallons of fuel. In the morning we only have a short distance, 3 miles, to make it to the next lock, which should have us in the Hudson by mid morning.
1 comment:
Kim, sounds like you are doing most of the work. Keep those guys in line!
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