Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About the Great Loop Locks, and Then Some (Inland Transit Day 9)
Tombigbee River Mile 95
Leroy, AL
Log Entry by Program Manager Tatiana Dalton
Tuesday, November 2, 2022
1819
When I was a kid, my family used to go skiing in Maine. After a day on the mountain, I would lie in my bed and marvel at the otherworldly experience I’d just had. Earlier that same day, I had been flying through the snow courtesy of special boots that gave me the ability to race downhill with agility and speed. Walking down the hallway at school feels different when you know you could be flying instead.
Closer to home, my swim team often had events at a place called Roller Palace. There, I laced up shoes that allowed me to float above the floor in a never-ending circle for hours on end. Later that night, I slipped back into my regular bedtime routine—but between the car ride to Roller Palace and the ride home my world was full of bright lights, upbeat music, and an entirely new physical reality.
Last Tuesday, I passed through a lock for the first time. As soon as it was over I couldn’t stop thinking about the totally alien experience I had just had. Walls rising high around us, giant doors opening and closing in slow motion, water rushing in and out through unseen channels—I could never have described on Tuesday morning what I saw around me on Tuesday afternoon during those five minutes inside the lock chamber. I felt like a kid again—a kid who had just gone downhill skiing for the first time, or who had just gotten home from the roller rink.
Now it is Tuesday again, and I have passed through more than twenty locks in just a week’s time. Even stranger than feeling a 137-foot schooner carried up and down beneath me is knowing what to expect when we approach one of these massive concrete chambers. I never would have guessed that I would get to know this series of events like I know my morning commute.
So here’s the anatomy of a magic trick: what happens in a lock.
The Approach
The active watch takes their places—one deckhand with a dockline standing by midships, another with a roving fender, and a watch officer on the monkey deck with a radio to report our position in relation to the floating bit we’ll tie up to.
The Entrance
The captain adjusts our course and reduces our speed. We glide through the gates, past the lock house and into the chamber. We wave to the lock operator. If it’s nighttime, our eyes adjust to the bright lights that illuminate the lock like a football field and we take in the lock’s surroundings—including the dam that fills the rest of the width of the river.
The Tie-Up
This is the most careful and intense moment of a lock passage. The watch officer reports our distance from the bit while the midships deckhand prepares to toss the dockline. The captain steers us toward the bit, slowing down as we get closer. The deckhand throws the line, catches the bit, takes up slack from the dockline, and makes it off.
The Ascent (or Descent)
We wait while the lock doors close slowly behind us. An alarm sounds. Then, we rise (or fall) as the water level in the chamber changes.
The Exit
The lock doors open slowly ahead of us. When they are fully open, another alarm sounds—our signal that we can proceed ahead. The deckhand brings the dockline back in from the floating bit, tells the captain, “We’re free!” and we set off once again down (or up) the river.
THE FOLLOWING is a brief account of each of the last 12 locks of our river transit. 12 locks in just under 46 hours—that’s an average of one lock every 4 hours for almost two whole days!
#1 Whitten Lock Monday 10/31/2022 1709
The Whitten Lock was a big drop. When we entered at the top, we could only see the very tops of the trees over the far gate of the lock.
The walls of the lock were covered in dark green slime and featured a series of mysterious metal panels which leaked in a theatrical way. This lock could be the setting of an epic Indiana Jones scene.
#2 Montgomery Lock Monday 10/31/2022 1802
The Montgomery Lock had a beautiful view of river and forest in all directions, made more impressive by the fall foliage and the sunset. To our port was a charming birdhouse in a grassy field so picturesque Jake said it made him want to play football for the first time in his life.
#3 Rankin Lock Monday 10/31/2022 1935
At the Rankin Lock, Cat busted out her Halloween costume—a pointy red gnome hat—and wore it throughout the passage. She was quite a sight, standing by on the quarterdeck and up on forward lookout. As far as I’m concerned, Halloween costumes make everything better.
#4 Fulton Lock Monday 10/31/2022 2056
At the Fulton Lock, C Watch got a master class in casting lines. Captain Hill showed Andrew how to hold one coil in one hand and three in the other, then throw the coils in one smooth cross-body motion toward the floating bit.
#5 Wilkins Lock Monday 10/31/2022 2334
When we arrived at the Wilkins Lock, the moon was floating right over the chamber looking like a thick slice of candied orange. The manicured grassy area to our port included a line of shrubs that looked like heads of broccoli. It was cold out—I could see my breath and paced the deck to keep warm. The two captains stood chatting about Coast Guard licensing on the quarterdeck before the turnover from Capt. Hill’s watch to Capt. Flansburg’s watch at 0000.
#6 Amory Lock Tuesday 11/1/2022 0051
The stars popped out about half an hour before we arrived at the Amory Lock. The Orion constellation was big and bright to port. The warning siren announcing the closing of the chamber was a strange, high-pitched noise that almost sounded like a dolphin call. There was mist floating in the water and over the grassy area to our port side.
#7 Aberdeen Lock Tuesday 11/1/2022 0315
The water was so still it looked like glass as we entered the Aberdeen Lock. After several almost identical locks with a lock house to port and a dam to starboard, it was disorienting to come upon the opposite in Aberdeen. What stayed consistent was the giant sign ordering boaters to STAY 800 FEET FROM DAM. This warning siren sounded like a car alarm.
#8 Stennis Lock Tuesday 11/1/2022 0706
At the Stennis Lock, we ended up 10 ft from our floating bit—a hard toss with the dockline. Captain Hill came in with the assist and got it in one try (pro that he is). After we had secured the boat, he came back midships to give Cat and Maddy the same lesson on casting lines he had given to B Watch earlier the night before.
We shared this lock with a group of “Great Loopers”—pleasure boaters traveling on the Great Loop or some portion of it. They often travel together for safety and cameraderie, Captain Hill explained, and there certainly were a lot of them—every floating bit had at least one boat.
Captain Hill also taught me that the stain many white-hulled pleasure boats get across their bows is called a “mustache”—a delightful factoid.
#9 Bevill Lock Tuesday 11/1/2022 1156
At the Bevill Lock, Andrew put his line-casting lesson to good use and made a monster throw in one try. It was awesome.
#10 Heflin Lock Tuesday 11/1/2022 1819
At the Heflin Lock, Catherine put her line-casting lesson to good use and made a monster throw in one try. It was awesome.
#11 Demopolis Lock Wednesday 11/2/2022 0136
We came upon Demopolis Lock during the darkest part of the night at a very dark part of the river. We could hear the dam before it appeared out of the darkness. The signal to exit the lock was a pure sound, like a single note from a trumpet. We continued on right back into the deep dark.
#12 Coffeeville Lock Wednesday 11/2/2022 1455
At the Coffeeville Lock, Captain Flansburg called for a group photo. We let anyone who was sleeping keep on sleeping, but the rest of us gathered by Sienna, who was busy holding the dockline securing us to the lock. It was hot by now, everyone in t-shirts and shorts, sweating in the Alabama sun.
