Day 16 - Mon 13 Jun 2016
Docked - Rome, NY

[photo: conflicting traffic entering the lock]

It was another comfortable evening, but it got down in the mid-40s overnight. I had gone to sleep extra early and was wide awake at 0230. I got a lot done with regards to planning, email, etc. while the heater was running, and eventually went back to bed at 0400.

The newly arrived PDQ 34, Vagabond, left before 0700 and we wondered where he was going since the lock didn't open until 0800. The other 3 boats departed at 0730ish and found him tied to the canal wall waiting for the lock. We all got in at 0800 and locked through together for the next 5 locks.

It was not our lucky day for locking, however, since we had two dramatic incidents. On the second lock of the day, we pulled up behind the leader to find there was no rope hanging down the lock wall for us to grab at the stern of the boat. The other two boats behind us had their two ropes, so we were left hanging. I quickly saw that there were three large, flush cleats on the lock wall every 12 feet above us. I asked Diane to toss me an extra line and managed to lasso the cleat from the flybridge to hold us steady.

As the lock filled and the boat rose, I had Diane cleat off her bow line and then hold my line temporarily while I climbed down to the deck. When the boat rise high enough that the line was ready to slip off that cleat, I went to the flybridge with another line to lasso the next cleat about 12 feet off the deck. We repeated that once more until we got near the top. At that point, there was absolutely nothing to grab and the boat was drifting astern into boat behind us, so I had to use the engines to keep us in position until the lock gate opened. There was much applause for the ingenuity and quick-thinking. I am just glad we could get out of that jam unscathed. I had radioed the lockmaster of our predicament before he started flooding the chamber, but he seemed unconcerned.

On the next lock, we waited until a large eastbound Erie Canal Cruise boat came out. Besides the short ride along the canal, he was giving passengers the thrill of locking down, and then he turned around immediately and entered the lock again to lock back up. We four catamarans were supposed to maneuver around him as we entered the lock. We decided to make things easier for the group by switching to tie up to the lock wall on the starboard side behind the cruise boat, but as we approached the wall to grab the cable, the aft deckhand on the boat said the cable was broken. Just great!

So, we had to move quickly to the port side and grab what we could, but there was, again, only one rope for us. I was able to reverse enough so that Diane could grab a rung on a ladder until I could leave the helm to relieve her. I then had to hold the boat with the ladder as we rose. That was actually not nearly as tricky as the lasso maneuver. Again, our lock buddies were both concerned and glad we could handle these problems without too much fuss. Diane has had too many near dangerous situations on the Erie Canal in our two years so far and has said, "never again" to the Erie Canal.

We arrived at Rome, NY about 1530 after 8 hours of travel and were grateful to have had no rain or horrible winds. It was rather cold all day, however, so we were happy to tie up to the wall where there was free electricity. There were two other boats there and we just got the last available spot to find power. Running the heater was very welcome since the cabin temperature was in the low 60s all day.

Our post-arrival beverage was especially strong and a little while later we got to speak with Wally and Darcy from Summertime, the Maine couple we had met in Waterford. They were so exhausted from their day's effort that they were napping when we arrived. We staved off the nap in hopes of making it through supper and then retiring early.

We enjoyed the pork tenderloin with sweet potato and broccoli and were glad the meat had been cooked the day before. As a little bonus, our Wi-Fi booster picked up a distant signal from the public library and while it was a bit weak, we had free Internet for the stay, too. Such a deal!

It was very early to bed for both of us. Tomorrow, Tue, we have a short run to Sylvan Beach where we will have no electric. Fortunately, it should be a bit warmer, and improving over the following few days, as well. Don't let all this talk of cold and wet and lock challenges make you think we are not enjoying ourselves. I suppose if this was our first time through this region, we would be disappointed that we were not able to explore more. For this second (and last, probably) time through, we really just wanted to get where the new stuff awaits us.