Thurs Nov 9: Midway to Columbus Marina

Because there are so many of us, a flotilla formed (and Rick didn't have to be the leader!).  And so we got up when we were told to get up.  Imagine how thrilled I was.  I don't like to talk to anyone before 11am - in this case I had FIVE HOURS to go before I woke up... Grump, grump...

It was a long day - with 4 locks.

Of COURSE we were able to see the sunrise.  We were up well before it....

This is basically our whole day - at the back of a pack.....

The light was too flat for good pix, but this gives you an idea of our level of water in the lock, and what it looks like down below, where we are headed.

We got through 3 of the locks smoothly, but at one we had to hold 1 hours for a tow/barge to come up.  That's a lot of boats to keep holding in a fairly shallow area, and inevitably one ran aground and got stuck.  A second boat went to help and also got stuck.  The smallest boat of all (Sunshine), an overpowered intrepid little thing, piloted by a gung-ho Irish guy from Boston, got them both pulled off just as the lock opened and the tow/barge (bah-ge, the Boston guy says) asked us all to clear a path for him.  Crisis averted - it was really impressive!

Here we all are, sitting around and trying not to run aground...

The rest of the day was basically this:

With a little of this thrown in - so many bird waiting for their close-ups, and I don't know what I'm doing.  Photography classes are in my future...  If we ever get off this dang boat...

Columbus Marina was run by a super professional, and every Looper helped the boats behind him tie up.  So it was an easy, wind-free, docking.  The 'cool kids' went off for dinner and we enjoyed our peace and quiet!