Events:
Left Aqua at 07:00 to beat the heat; had quiet day with no traffic except someone looking for the entrance to the Tenn-Tom and I told him he was about 5 miles past it.
Arrived at the Florence Wilson Lock at 11:45 and the lockmaster said as soon as he unloaded a chemical tow he would come back down and get us, about 60-75 min. He offered that we could tie to the long wall at the lock entrance, which we did, (see photo)for the first time at any lock and it was great not having to try and maintain a safe spot in the channel, and be partially in shade; so we ate a bit of lunch and organized stuff to take off the boat - and waited - and waited. Heard a big tow and saw him on AIS coming down river and the lock master told him to tie up at the upper long wall.
After almost 2 hrs, Marg suggested he may have forgotten us so I queried him about which side we should tie up to and he suddenly realized he had forgot us and hadn't dropped the water yet!!! He apologized to us and to the tow for his mistake. Finally went into the lock at 14:00 and left at 14:40. Just in time to see a TSM approaching from the West. Made it to Turtle Point at 15:20/3:20pm with only a bit of rain and the Smiths [Anne and Terry] were waiting on the Transient Dock to grab our lines which in the face of the incoming rain and wind was a much appreciated blessing.
Docked at TPYCC [Turtle Point Yacht & Country Club] on the Transient Dock. Waiting for the TSM to pass, giving us an opportunity to see if my sealing job on the radar array worked!!! Unfortunately, we still have the leak!!! Will bring a large clear plastic bag to put over the array and tape it in place and see if that works. Everything else on the arch looks to be sealed.
Unfortunately, the genset still overheats with too much load, but we can run the 12kBTU a/c without problem, just the bigger 16kBTU will be too much. So we were able to have a/c during our trip at least. Likely the heat exchanger needs to be taken off and thoroughly cleaned; now that I know how to do it, I will attempt it next week.
Photos:
One showing the downstream side of Wilson Lock when we were tied to the long approach wall; it shows both locks - the big one, 110'x600', and the little one, 60'x300'
Admirals comments:
We did it!! We are Gold Loopers. It's good to be home and would be even better if we could actually get off the boat! A big thunderstorm broke open just after we docked and is wild. The rain is torrential with lots of lightning around. We may end up staying here for a while. Phooey.
We finally decided, as the rain let up somewhat, that getting wet and getting home was a good move. So we are home! In our own house that allows using normal toilet paper.😋. And even though we've lived in this house for 26 yrs it still takes time to get back to feeling familiar and remembering where everything is.
We still have stuff to bring home but we can do most of it over a few days.
The yard looks lush, in fact probably in need of major pruning again. There has been a lot of rain here. And a huge thank you👏👏👏 to Dana for again managing our pool. Not an easy task on a 20+yr old pool. At least it didn't empty itself again.
Apparently our PC died while we were away. Beyond annoying. Fortunately we have pretty good backups. This will be a job for Chris.😁. We old people can be conveniently pretty clueless when good help is available. .😁😁
And can you believe the lock master forgot us!!??
That's all for today!
Plans:
Unload our personal and electronics stuff tonight, then with Chris's truck and assistance we will bring the portabote, Tohatsu OB, and e-bikes back to the house tomorrow. Along with other stuff!
Comments:
Wayne • 14 Aug, 2021 - Always good to be home! Enjoyed following your adventure, perhaps we will see you sooner than later?
ErnieR • 14 Aug, 2021 A little thunderstorm can’t spoil a special day! I hope you have the gold burgee already!
Ann R • 14 Aug, 2021 - Nothing like crossing your wake with a huge fanfare courtesy of Mother Nature! Welcome home! We hope to see you soon!