It was a planned six hours day run with four locks. But it turned into an nine hour fifteen minute run with seven locks.
We started out heading to a wall that had really good reviews. So good that, when we got there, the place was packed. As in crazy busy packed. I try to avoid places that are crazy busy packed. Since we were enjoying a perfect boat traveling day we decided to keep traveling, figuring we would find a place to park somewhere along the way. By the time the day ended we had been on and/or across Clear Lake, Stoney Lake, Lovesick Lake, Deer Bay, Lower Buckhorn Lake, Pigeon Lake, and Sturgeon Lake. All of them connected by skinny bits of water that usually included a lock and dam. Each of the locks we passed could have had a place to park for the night. But at each one we found reasons to keep going. Though we were not sure how far we would have to go or exactly where we would end up, it was an amazing and breathtakingly beautiful trek that rivaled, maybe even surpassed, both the upper Hudson riven and the Thousand Island area of the St. Lawrence Seaway. We also passed about a half dozen planes mounted on floats tied up alongside private docks. How cool would that be to have one of those in your floating hangar? Though we saw a couple fly over I didn't get to see any taking off or landing. Still, it was fun just knowing I was in a place where float planes flourish.
Stoney lake deserves special mention. It is a fairy tale looking place whose name is more than appropriate. Studded with beautiful Islands, many with homes, it is also studded with rocks lurking just below the surface of the water, requiring special attention to one's path. One twisty passage is marked on the charts as “Hell's gate.” We stopped along the way to top off the fuel tanks. At the fuel dock was a sign, “Prop Repair and Replacement”. My guess is they do a pretty good business. The trick to avoiding needing their services? Go slow and stay in the channel.
As the day went by we became a bit concerned about finding a place to moor up as we closed in on what looked to be the last viable bail out destination of the day. If all the wall and dock spaces were filled, there really were not any other good options for a place to spend the night. Sure enough, when we turned the final corner and got a good a look at the lock and the walls, all the overnight places were full. The only empty slots were the blue line for those locking through. We pulled up to and tied off on the blue line anyway. Deb walked up to see if there were any empty places on the other side of the lock. There weren't. But she talked to the dockmaster who allowed that, as we are planning on locking through first thing in the morning and it was near closing time for the lock, we were welcome to spend the night on the blue line as long as we retied up at the far end. So we did and we are.
Tomorrow is forecast to be another near perfect travel day. After that things get a bit iffy for a couple of days. So, even though today was a long day of being at the helm and making decisions, we will likely be somewhere else come this time tomorrow. At least, that is the plan at the moment, the Plan From Which To Deviate.
No comments:
Post a Comment