July 6, 2009
Our plan was to leave Grand Harbor early yesterday morning and arrive early afternoon at Clifton Marina. We were up early and ready to go, the problem was Laughter was not. We had an engine that would not start. After hours of working down in the engine room, a very hot cramped area underneath our salon floor, Tom was able to fix the problem and we were up and running! We pulled out of Grand Harbor about 1pm. It rained off and on all afternoon. At one point during a torrential downpour a gust of wind blew our bow pads into the river, so we spent some extra time driving around in circles rounding them up. The rain made it hard to see but unlike cruising Lake Michigan we had no high waves to battle. We arrived at Clifton marina about 6pm. Clifton is a small and very friendly marina but I am not to fond of the entrance. It is narrow and you can't really see if someone is coming out as you are entering. We were excited to have the same people we grew so fond of two years ago waiting for us to pull up to the dock. It was great to see them again and get caught up on our lives. We used the courtesy car to get a bite to eat at the only place open within miles, a truck stop, and called it a night.
THE DREADED PICKWICK LOCK! This morning we left Clifton early. As we approached Pickwick Lock I found myself pacing the aft deck. After the problems we had two years ago I had no desire to go through this lock ever again. At least we had help this time. The wind in the lock was brisk but not near what is was when we entered the lock going south. There were no white caps this time. John corralled the bollard easily and we were ready for the 58 foot drop to begin. It felt like it took forever to get to the bottom! Those gates could not open fast enough for me! When they did open the wind came in strong as if to say hey, remember me? I am still here. I briefly looked back as we cleared the lock and started breathing again. We arrived at Cuba Landing about 1pm. Here we said goodbye to John and Lynn. What a great friend we have in John! We did some laundry, a few jobs on the boat and a little fishing. We have to learn to keep peanuts life jacket on even at the dock. Tonight she got so excited when Tom caught a catfish she fell in, and it is a pretty high dock! Tom saved Peanut, thank goodness, but lost his fish!