Just when we thought we had this boating down…bedlam in a lock!
The locks here in the States are designed for (and paid for) by commercial traffic, consequently they are big locks ... 100’ wide x 600’ long to accommodate the big barges. On Monday, we were one of 4 pleasure craft entering the lock (each roughly 40’ long). We knew 2 of the other boats, both Canadian; the 4th boat was an “unknown U.S. entity”. A small barge had already entered the lock, resulting in the back half of the lock available for us to enter and tie up.
The wind was blowing pretty much directly onto the bow at 25 knots. The 4 pleasure crafts were directed by the lockmaster to “raft” 4 abreast. This means that the first boat enters and ties up to the lock wall. The next boat approaches alongside and secures their lines to the first boat - this was to get repeated until all 4 boats were 'attached', lined up side by side across the lock.
The unknown US boat (hence forth known as the 'crazy boat') was directed to enter first and to tie up to the lock wall. We were asked to approach next, to come alongside them and pass our lines to them to secure us to their boat. After helping with one line, the fellow said he would secure the other two lines while Alison & I went to receive the 3rd boat who was pulling alongside us at this point.
Side note - right off the get go, we surprised and slightly concerned about this 4 abreast rafting configuration in such high winds. We asked to opt for solo tie ups on both sides of the lock wall (there was lots of room), but our request denied. We had been waiting to lock thru for about 45 minutes already, so we then complied with the direction of the lock master and got on with the rafting process/configuration.
All is going well…we are tied up to the first boat, then Alison and I proceed to assist in tying up the third boat to Catan. No sooner do we have this complete, when the captain of the crazy boat yells across to us that our bow lines to his boat have come undone. (whereby my response is… "my lines are fine, your knots have come undone"!
Imagine three somewhat expensive boats tied up together (with the 4th boat moving into position to tie off to the 3rd boat as this is unfolding), in a relatively constrained space with 25 knot winds catching our bows and spinning us around sideways … and now we have complete bedlam!
I immediately released the 3rd boat and told them to break free. Alison scrambled up to the flybridge to gain control of Catan. Meanwhile, buddy on the crazy boat is trying to offer me a boat hook to pull my bow back in. Not a chance. We are already out of reach and we could never have overcome the strength of the wind spinning us sideways. I yelled to crazy boat to release my stern line so I that we could manoeuvre to safety.
Long story short…with a couple of inconsequential bounces and a few angry words, we all ended up fine. We ended up getting control of Catan and tying up alone on the opposite wall. Boat three ended up tying up separately aft of the crazy boat, and the fourth boat got out of the way quickly without incident.
You thought the story would end there…not!
The fourth boat had yet to tie off in the lock. Catan and boat 3 have now haphazardly taken up most all available real estate on both sides of the lock wall. So boat 4 now proceeds up to the crazy boat to raft off as per the original direction… and then – hard to believe – it happened again!
Boat 4 came alongside the crazy boat, and passed his lines over to be secured. The guy in boat 4 is travelling solo and is distracted by his dog momentarily… and within 15 seconds his bow line has come undone and his boat is now spinning in the 25 knot winds sideways … coming straight at Catan! He does some fast boat handling, gently bounces off our bumpers, at the cost of hitting (crunch) the canal wall behind us and limped out of the lock, all his lines trailing in the water and swearing a blue streak at the crazy boat.
What a gong show!
Lessons learned: (1) always carry my boat knife on my person at all times; you never know when you may have to cut lines in an emergency, (2) do not trust someone else to tie off your boat, and (3) shit happens so always stay at the controls – engines running until you can ensured absolute certified positive control of all variables.
I might as well provide the final addendum to this story. We all get out of the lock alive and find ourselves on another lock downstream together 2 hours later. The winds are still blowing hard. The lock master wants 2 boats to raft together. The crazy boat goes in first, approaches the lock wall, the wind catches him and he does 2 complete out of control donuts on the spot, before eventually becoming secure. Meanwhile none of us other 3 boats are within 300’ of this guy. Catan rafts without incident with boat 2. Battered up boat 4 ties up alone, behind the crazy boat and swears at him for the duration of the locking thru exercise. I am not sure the Captain of the crazy boat hears him at this point because he is wearing a paper bag over his head… go figure.
This day has provided us with many memories and many lessons learned. And upon quiet reflection one more lesson learned from Alison ... “doing the loop is not for the faint hearted!” Stay tuned for more adventures!
