Lucky Lady

We knew today was going to be complex having to traverse two locks and the Mississippi River and it did not disappoint. We awoke abruptly this morning with water slamming against the hull of the boat. Just a simple wake from a north bound tug, but in our position it rode under the boat and loudly slapped bottom. Not a good way to wake up and an indication of the rest of our day.

We had to wait at the Harvey Lock for south bound, north bound, and then one more south bound traffic before it was our turn; 1-1/2 hours. The lock master attendant was an exceptionally friendly fellow, he chatted with us during the entire 9 foot lift. We were locked through with a very large tug just ahead of us, and then it was out the other side into surprisingly quiet waters of the muddy Mississippi. After radioing VTS (Vessel Traffic System) on channel 67 we were told there was no traffic, enjoy your ride. Hot damn, no bohemoths to contend with so we leisurely motored at 10 knots over 135 feet of water! (Going with the current in the Mississippi is NICE).

Once we turned the corner into the Inner Harbor Industrial Canal and radioed for a lock through we waited, and waited and waited. Over 2 hours later it was our turn to lock through with a very small fishing boat, we dropped 8 feet. While waiting we first tried to tie off to some pretty scary looking pylons on the port side of the entrance, and after about an hour of dancing around the lock master tells us to tie off on the starboard side of the entrance – nice dock and cleats – a far better location to wait our turn. He could have told us that earlier, but as it turns out he was not a very nice guy anyway, rather grumpy. Once inside the lock I was prepared to hand him the mid-line but he yells down STERN FIRST! (Maybe the heat got to him too- he wouldn’t even smile for a picture.

We had decided following our experiences today and the bad looking storm on the horizon (and it’s so hot) we’d just find a nice place to dock for the night and headed toward Lake Pontchartrain. What we found was Sea Brook Marina a very nice full service marina just south of the lake. They have one of those large structures where they store/stack the smaller boats on racks. They had just started to build it when Katrina struck. Following the hurricane they found two dogs that had taken refuse on a boat a couple of racks up. They believe they would have had to swim in. One of the dogs took off, but “Lady” stuck around and now she’s the marina pet. She’s still a little shy and stayed inside the store when our little rain storm hit – doesn’t care for rain they say.