#2.
I recount this trip as a newbe for other newbees OR wanna dos. You ol guys will no doubt be nodding up & down.
Away @ last, 4 babes, heading south to Louisiana. 2 with absolutely NO boating experience! The wives caught on fast/ they both learned the feel of the helm & how to read the depth "thingy". The radio remained intimidating to them but they both came to "get" what was involved in sharing the river with the barge traffic.
My problem was with my buddy. He NEVER ( the whole trip) learned the helm. Not the "feel", the throttle, the shift, the cense of speed & drift or coast. What was worse, he didn't want to learn. This was to prove almost fatal @ one point. More later.
I had been schooled by those @ the marina as to how to lock thru. It seemed simple enough, UNTIL we actually hit the first lock. How intimidating & at first confusing it suddenly became. The women bailed out on me, they wanted no part of being at the helm. That left my reluctant bud @ the wheel & me on the rope. I radioed the lockmaster when we were 2 miles away. He gave us immediate clearance & told us which chamber to enter. A bit confusing but apparent as we drove closer. It was the one with the doors open. Duh!
The plan was my bud would ease in, come along side & I would gently slip a rope over the bollard. RIGHT! He came barreling in, realized his speed & panicked. Hit reverse @ more than 3/4 throttle, lost steerage and never could get me (standing at my center cleat) within reach of a bollard. Back into forward, propeller ventilating wildly & my skiff bouncing from wall to bout hull, we shot across the lock to the other side, bounced and were out in the middle. This time he under powered & managed to get the boat turned headed back from wince we came. Our wake did that to us. This caused another wreak with the skiff & tangled things up good. We were SO wound up in the wreak at hand we never noticed we were sideways in the lock & the water had been lowered. The blast of the exit horn alerted us to the gates opening. Not our finest move!
I sheepishly radioed to thank the LM. "This was our very first lock" I said ". Really?, we would never have known" "Well thanks". NO no, thank you all.... for the entertainment. Good luck Captain".
So there it was, our 1st lock. An air of dread set in on us all. ONLY 4 more to go! Yippee.
Down we went, next stop... Paducah, KY & our next mistake.
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