Day of Challenges

I used to say "who needs an alarm when you have a dog" always up at the same time everyday no matter what day it is.  Now I am saying "who needs an alarm when you have tug boats and fishing boats to literally "wake" you up".  This has happened the past 3 mornings and this morning it was around 5:15am.  We decided to get up for the day, instead of wait for the real alarm, so we could leisurely get ready and enjoy our coffee.  We were to go through the Harvey Lock today and decided to check online if the lock was open.....

Challenge #1: the Harvey Lock was closed from 7am-5pm so now our route had to change and we had to go through the Algiers Lock instead which is not the preferred lock because you then have to travel UP the Mississippi River against the current.  The other locks we have traversed we have either been able to hold our position in the middle or float through.  We were not as lucky today.

Challenge #2: we were instructed to hug the port side of the lock and tie off on the side while the water rose.  Had to throw the line to loop a bollard which was way above my head and cleat it in right away as Brent tried to keep the boat off the wall.  Missed on the first try but managed to hit it on the second.  I held it as tight as I could and pulled it in as the water rose.  We then pulled out of that lock and we were headed for our next challenge.  I was exhausted and there was much more to come. I don't even have pics to share, it was too intense!  Well, I do have one that Lori sent of sweet Bella at the ready with her life vest on. The look on her face was the look on my face too!!

Challenge #3: We entered the mighty Mississippi River heading north instead of south like we would have done if the Harvey Lock was open, and we had winds out of the southeast at 14 which was helping our forward progress but current flowing against us!! 

This is the Domino Sugar plant on the Mississippi.

New Orleans

Challenge #4: We then entered the second lock of the day which was the Industrial Lock and we were faced with our first grumpy lock master.  We had to wait our turn and he wanted us to "park" next to the lock, remember the wind issue.

We did what he wanted because he wasn't going to proceed locking through a tanker until we were out of the way. When it was our turn we didn't have the luxury of floating through and it turned out that "Randy Jo" threw their lines to a lock helper and we were instructed to tie to them, which was a total surprise!  Move the fenders for the umpteenth time at a very rapid pace so we wouldn't damage their boat!!

These 2 were in the lock with us.  We were positioned behind them. Yes, the name of the tug boat is Lock Master. You can guess how confusing that was while trying to communicate with the REAL Lock Master! Oh, and by the way, that's the Coast Guard in the lock with us.

We continued on passing under several bridges and thought our journey was coming to a close until...
Challenge #5: To get to South Shore Harbor Marina on the south end of Lake Pontchartrain we had to go into the lake.  Well the wind had increased to 16 knots with gusts to 20.  We were bouncing around like a top out there.  Finally we entered the marina and tied tightly to docks and it was time for happy hour!!  Caught an Uber and headed to Landry's to decompress from the day.  Hopefully we will not have many days like this one.