Tim holding one of the ropes as we wait for the water to rise.
Slippery's restaurant and bar in Wabasha, Minnesota
The Liquid Jungle boats passing by Slippery's.
We locked through the Alma Lock & Dam today with our friends Wendy, Greg, and Mary on our way up to watch the Liquid Jungle boats pass by Slippery’s on their way to the Grand Prix start on Lake Pepin.
It has been awhile since we’ve locked through and I forgot how fun it was. When we arrived at the Lock a barge was in it, but luckily it was just about ready to come out, so we only had to wait about 15 minutes. (It can take up to two hours for a barge to lock through.)
We entered the Lock first with a handful of other boats trailing us. We went to the front of the Lock and a Lock worker (don’t know what their title is) handed down two ropes. My husband held one at the front of the boat and I held the other one in the back. We pulled on the ropes until our boat (padded by bumpers) was snug to the wall, which was disgusting and slimy, with black tarry stuff that came off in flakes when you touched it. We both used one of our flip flops to touch the wall whenever we had to.
Once all the boats were in the lock and everyone was holding their ropes, the doors closed at the end of the lock and it started filling with water. We had to rise up level with the river on the other side of the dam. Once the water level was high enough, the doors opened on the other side of the lock and we tossed the ropes out on the top of the lock, which was now almost level with the water, and motored out.
We got to do the same thing again about two hours later in reverse!
Recent Comments