017-Locking

It can be intimidating going into a big chamber, with huge steel doors being shut behind, looking up a 60ft wall or the doors in front of you that hold back the water above, and then hearing the deep noises of gates groaning and values opening around you.  You’re clearly not in charge as the water swirls catching the keel and shoving your 10ton boat around like it were a cork.  The movement of water is really amazing, to go up 20 feet only takes 5 minutes.  The power exhibited is awesome but then I’ve always loved water projects.

The challenge to locking is staying put like we all expect to do when we take a place on a wall or a pier.  All you’re given to do the task is a rope attached to the top of the wall.  Pulling it does little to hold you like you’re accustomed.  The boat is only loosely held in a position and in many instances, you’re pushing off the wall more than your trying to hold your relative position.  Some boaters don’t worry too much about where they are, they just stand there waiting for the last seconds to avoid a collision since you tend to be shoved back as much as you’re shoved forward.  But with a keel, like on sailboats, we get knocked around a lot more than the power boats do.  Coming from the Chesapeake Bay I rarely experienced currents.  Up here, I experience them all the time and am learning that it is the most important factor in determining your boats heading.  Even a small current will overcome large wind.

There’s been more than one lock that didn’t instill confidence in its integrity on the upside gates.  Water gushing out the seams into the empty chamber like a water canon is cool looking but not reassuring.  One time it was blowing out the concrete of the sill – now that was a problem.