Friday July 24, 2015
We all met at Heron by 9:30am, then cast off our lines at 10am. We knew that there were several boats in line for the first lock of the day, so there was no hurry to leave before 10.
However, I did not know that the tourist boat (fake paddle wheeler) was also leaving at 10am, for a ride up to the lift lock (2nd lock of the day) and back. The lockmaster instructed us to tie up port side, next to the tourist boat. I inched into the lock, barely moving. The tourist were recording our progress. Made it! Phew! It was a tight fit. Our looper friends, Barbara and George (first met in Ilion on the 4th of July), came into the lock behind us. Once I was breathing again, everyone piled onto the bow to watch the boat rise up in the lock. One lock down, six to go!
Next was the peterborough lift lock, the biggest hydraulic lift lock in the world. We arranged ourselves in the lift lock pan the same as in the last lock, with us next to the tourist boat, and George and Barbara behind us. It was quite thrilling. They add a foot of water to the upper pan, which sends the higher pan down, and the lower pan (with us in it), up.
Two locks down, five to go!
We arrived at young’s point lock at 5:20pm. We had two rooms at the old Bridge Inn for my mother and Jim and I. We also had a fabulous dinner for the 10 of us at the Inn. We’d been on the boat all day. Hermione and Robin drove up from Peterborough, and it took them 20 minutes! But we had more fun!