The Great Loop: When six inches just wasn't enough.

We actually got a late start as the fuel pumps didn't open until 8:00, we were all pretty beat up anyway. The first hour of today was spent dodging Islands and viewing some spectacular homes. Tucker got tired of the Zig Zag and wanted to move along which we were able to do as soon as we reached the 1,000 Islands Bridge and entered the main shipping route. We were told at the fuel stop that we would be passing through some of the the St Lawrence locks today. My crew had never been through a lock so I took great pains to explain the procedures and duties each would have to be responsible for: 1) wear your leather gloves 2) hold the line tightly and keep the boat stable during the flight down 3) Never tie the line off and be sure to keep your hands inside the boat, use the boat hook to keep the boat from hitting the lock walls, 4) be sure the fenders are positioned correctly 5) push the boat off the walls after the lock doors are opened so we can leave quickly as there is usually a swirling of the water that could push the boat sideways. Needless to say the crew was a little uptight when we entered the 1st lock (so was I). After the Lock master made sure we were secure and the lock doors were closed we began our decent. Denny said " I think we are dropping", then Rick said "Why are they opening the doors on the other end?" The Lock master then said "OK, you guys can go." The total drop was SIX INCHES !!! Rick said "I expected something more like Cedar Point", Mike said "Six inches just wasn't enough".

The next two locks made up for the disappointment as they were each close to a 30 foot drop with another ship inside with us.

The balance of the day was good with a lot of great views, we even went past the Singer Castle. We saw cows bathing in the river and many other strange sights. Our docking point for the night was the east side of the "Snell Lock" about 40 miles from Montreal.