A Tale of Two Chemists: Many Bridges, a Lock and a Barge

Many Bridges, a Lock and a Barge ... Sunday 23^rd June 2013

My advice to mariners is “don’t get into a lock with a barge”. Here’s how it happened.

We had fifty statute miles to travel today. We weren’t overly worried about the distance, we forgot to take into account the bridges. The first swing bridge was at Mile 20 (i.e. thirty miles from our starting point). This opened only on the hour and half hour. We had to dilly-dally a bit not to be forced to do circles in front of the bridge. The next bridge was five miles away and according to our guide only opened on the hour and half hour. We couldn’t possibly cover 5 miles in 30 minutes so we slowed down and ambled toward the bridge. Once we got close we spoke to the “bridge tender” on the radio. She informed us that the bridge was opening “on demand”. So much for the guide-book.

The next obstacle was the bascule bridge and lock combination. The bridge was due to open at noon. We followed a powerboat up to the bridge and looked back to see a second powerboat nearing our stern. Considerably further back was a barge being pushed by a tug. Strangely enough the bridge didn’t open at noon but waited until the tug drew up. Once the bridge opened, we steamed through with the powerboats. The lock operator informed us that we would have to “get out of the way” of the barge, which would enter the lock first. In our case this meant moving over to the extreme right side of the canal and trying to “stop” without loosing all steerage. A long barge going slow takes a fair while to move past. Those were some tense moments. Then we were allowed to move into the lock. The line at the bow wasn’t long enough to reach from the boat to the bollard on side of the lock and back to the boat. After a mad dash, I found an additional line to join to the existing one. Meanwhile Mike was having similar problems at the stern. Once the boat was securely tied up, we waited for the water level to be lowered. The sun was beating down on us as we inhaled the exhaust of the tug. Once the lock gates were opened, the tug moved off first and we waited for the way to be clear.

Then ensued a mad sprint to the next bridge. This one would only open on the hour. If we missed the one o’clock opening, we’d have to wait an entire hour. Our thought was that if we could just stay on the stern of the tug, we would get through. More very tense moments were had. The rest of the trip we were following this tug and barge. By the time we had dropped the hook off Hospital Point, I felt in need of medical attention.

Gloria

36 50.719 N, 76 17.995 W