We woke up and were ready to go around 7am. The other boats anchored by were also moving and we were all assembling in a group outside the first lock, the Jamie Whitten Lock . We were listening on the radio as one of the boats was communicating with the lockmaster. He was instructing the pleasure craft to be ready for a 7:30am opening. We all prepared our bumpers and waited for the green light to enter. Since we are the slowest, we usually hang back and enter close to last so everyone else can get out and get going without having to maneuver around us. The green light was given and we all made our way to the lock. We were second to last and tied up on the starboard side. Lauren has become an expert at this and secured us quickly. This lock was a large drop of over eighty feet down, and is the fourth largest lock drop in the United States. There were about nine boats locking through this morning as some others came from other anchorages close by.
Once we were dropped down, the doors opened and we all pulled out heading toward the next lock: G.V. Montgomery Lock and Dam which is only around five miles downstream. It is quite a sight to see as all nine boats went single file down the river. It doesn’t matter if the first boat gets there fast as the lockmaster will wait for everyone to arrive before opening. We were also aware the locks call each other and let them know that ‘pleasure craft’- which is what every non-commercial boat is called- is on the way. This actually was nice, since when we arrived the lock was open and ready for us to enter. We all pulled in, in about the same order and tied off. The lockmaster dropped us down and we went on to lock #3.
Eight miles downstream we came to the John Rankin Lock and Dam. The process was the same, with all of us coming to the lock and the lockmaster was ready for us. I can’t stress how nice this is as we’ve had experiences where we’ve had to wait for hours for a lock to open, usually because of commercial traffic which has priority over pleasure craft. A lot of the boats traveling together today were polanning on going to Midway Marina, which was a few miles past this lock. We had decided to stay at a different marina which was a little farther down stream, and would take us through one more lock.
The fourth lock we came to was only another seven miles. Most of the other boats had pulled off to the Midway Marina, and a few of us had continued on. We got to the Fulton Lock & Dam and he again was ready for us. We locked through and had to go about fourteen miles to the Smithville Marina which we were going to stay at. The weather forecast tonight and tomorrow was going to be cold- in the 40’s during the day and teens overnight! We would have tried to anchor, but the wind was also starting to pick up and we felt better about being at a marina.
The Smithville Marina in located right in front of another lock, so we were instructed to get to the lock, then call the marina on the phone so they could guide us in. The water gets really shallow when you get out of the channel, and they know where the shallow areas are. We got close and called, then followed the instructions on getting in to the dock. On arrival, the docks were old, run down, and there were so many sunken and half submerged boats we lost count. The harbor master who helped us dock was nice enough, but Lauren was looking around and we both had some serious concerns. The positive side was we had power. They had turned the water off due to the freeze that was coming, so we could not fill our tanks. We were running low, but not at a critical point yet, so that was a negative. I secured the ship and walked up to the office to check in. I had read online that they had a courtesy car for use and I inquired about this, only to be told that the car was broken down and not available, however the manager told me I could use his truck, if I could drive stick and promised to be very careful. I promised and took the keys and went back to the boat to let Lauren know we could go to the store. We noticed a large catamaran that had come through the locks with us had anchored just a few hundred yards from the marina. They were brave, as the wind continued to pick up and the temperature really started to fall. We took the truck to Walmart and bought some supplies and an electric heater. We have a small propane heater, but with the winter storm bearing down on us, we felt we needed a better heat source. We came back to the marina and the storm had really started to pick up- now there were large waves beating us into the dock, and the rolling motion was non-stop; at least we were warm! I watched the catamaran bob up and down out in the bay and was hoping they were prepared and that their anchor would hold them! The wind and waves continued to build and we just hunkered down as best we could with all of the rolling around. I had to go out and make sure the bumpers were set well, and added more to help protect us from destroying the dock or the boat. At one point I had to move the dinghy from the rear to the side of the boat to keep it from hitting the dock we were tied to, and tried to secure it as best I could. A neighboring boat owner had noticed me outside and came over offering to help, but there wasn’t anything he could do to help me. The night was cold but tolerable since we had the heater running on high and moved it to the bedroom to keep us warm, in addition to the many layers of blankets and clothes we had on!
The next morning we awoke to ice covering the docks, the dinghy and the boat. We had to be careful taking Frank for his walk so we didn’t slip on the ice. The sun came out for a bit, but it never got much over forty degrees! The catamaran had pulled anchor and left to who knows where. There was no one around the docks excepts the one neighbor who I had met the night before, as it was too cold! One of the lines keeping the dinghy secured had broken overnight, but it was still secure by three other lines. I took Frank for a long walk and there is nothing around the marina; it was surrounded by cleared farm fields which gave him plenty of room to run and I could keep an eye on him for at least a mile. He has been known to ‘wander off’ and not come when called, so we rarely let him run free, but I knew there was nowhere for him to hide. The rest of the day we just stayed inside and watched TV and movies bundled up. Just around dusk I heard some noises outside, and a large yacht had pulled in for the night right behind us. By the time I was outside, they had the boat secured and were plugging in their power. I inquired about leaving tomorrow morning with them to get through the next lock or two and was told they plan on leaving around 7am, so that was our plan. Since I was outside I decided to check our lines again and realized they were all frozen solid and some were frozen to the dock!
Since we planned on leaving at 7am, we were in bed early, as well to just warm up! We have had at least three layers of clothes on for a couple of days now and it is still needed. We did this trip hoping to not have to deal with cold weather, but here it is!