Locks Take Time
Chaffey’s Upper Lock Wall
We went through 6 locks today, raised 79’ and only traveled
eight miles. We had planned to travel further today, but the flight locks (4
locks) at Jones Falls took longer than we expected. We got to the lock a little
late so they started locking boats down first. They were in the first lock when
we arrived and it took about an hour for them to complete their locking before
we could start up. It was very busy and it took the lock tenders a while to get
everyone moved into the first lock. Once everyone moves to the next lock in
the same order…luckily we were the first boat in each time. It took about 1 ½
hours for us to complete the process. At the top of each lock there were people
watching the locking process, everyone had the same questions for us…did you
bring that boat all the way from Texas and how can you get here from there?
The next two locks were individual locks and didn’t take as
long to complete, but we had already killed almost five hours, so we decided to
stay on the wall at the Chaffey’s Lock. Each lock station is very pretty and
provides plenty of space for boats to spend the night…with picnic tables,
grills, bathrooms and some have electrical hookups. This lock station is very
nice, with a small waterfall close to where we are docked. We could hear the
water flowing all night…very peaceful.
There were people on the dock from Ontario and Quebec. It
was fun visiting with everyone and getting more info on the places we are going,
local knowledge is always better than info you can get from books. We walked
through an art show in the yard of the Opinicon Resort that is above the lock
and wandered through the Lockmaster’s House Museum. This was a great little
place to spend the afternoon. The weather here has been wonderful, warm
afternoons and cool nights. It’s fun not having to run our air conditioner and I
love sleeping with the windows open.
The middle lock at Jones Falls - waiting for our turn
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