By now our crew has begun leaving his door opened so he can smell the brewing coffee and setting an alarm to roust himself at the crack of stupid like the rest of us! We were up early as usual and about the tasks to make the boat ready for the mast to be removed. Shaun and his crew arrived early and the mast supports were assembled on deck ready for the mast to be pulled. Ken wanted the masthead at the front of the boat and the spreaders arching downward. This would require them to hold the mast in the crane lifting bridle while we backed the boat out of the slip and backed into the slip to lay the mast down.
Shaun and his crew are gruff but efficient. They scurried around, Shaun climbed/was hoisted up the mast and secured the bridle then shimmied down. The last stay was loosened and the forestay guided along as the mast became airborne. We erected the last supports and repositioned the boat in the slip and the mast was laid down in our cradle. We were officially a power boat. Everything needed to be lashed down and the masthead instruments removed. All was accomplished efficiently and by 11:30am, we were underway, headed for our first lock at Troy and our destination for the evening, Waterford.
Our only lock was my most reviled because it requires you to secure a line to a pipe and pivot back and forth at the fulcrum. It wasn’t pretty but it was behind us. The dance of the locks has a learning curve. Jim and I had never done it together before and I had to ‘learn the ropes’…ha, ha, ha…lock humour!
We stopped for the evening at Waterford just ½ hour past the Troy lock and right outside Lock 2. When we arrived, the docks were all full and we were going to tie up to the pump out dock but were cautioned that people would line up at 7:00am to pump out so we took the last spot on the opposite wall facing the lock where there was no water or power. Ken put down the plank to shore. I was not walking the plank so I stayed aboard.