We left Florence Marina this morning at 8:45 after calling the Wilson lock and was told to be there in 1/2 hour and we could get
through. Anyone who has ever gone thru both Wilson & Wheeler locks know that a 2 or 3 hour wait at each is not unusual. 
Wilson Lock is one of the biggest lifts at 93 feet. You can see from the pictures inside the lock 
the massive cave you enter. The left photo is looking up from the floating pin. 
You can see the gates on top of the concrete sill and the strange thing is that the upstream gate goes down and you just drive over it. The sonar indicated it was 12 feet under the boat
when we went over. It only took 15 minutes to go up the 93 feet but the turbulance was something 
else. A Nordic tug that we shared the lock with had bow and stern thrusters and still couldn't stay off the wall. After the Wilson, the Wheeler lock was a piece of cake and someone on the boat was happy both were behind us.
We are now at Joe Wheeler State Park where we have a slip rented for the month. We are leaving for WV tomorrow via a stopover in Tennessee and will return on 10/21 to attend the Great Looper Rendezvous. After the meeting we are taking a side trip up the TN to Chattanooga then back to Joe Wheeler the first week of November before starting further south.
I have had to go to the lodge to get wifi so I don't have the cordinates for this stop handy. Cell phone coverage and air cards are very scarce here.
the massive cave you enter. The left photo is looking up from the floating pin. 
You can see the gates on top of the concrete sill and the strange thing is that the upstream gate goes down and you just drive over it. The sonar indicated it was 12 feet under the boat
when we went over. It only took 15 minutes to go up the 93 feet but the turbulance was something 
else. A Nordic tug that we shared the lock with had bow and stern thrusters and still couldn't stay off the wall. After the Wilson, the Wheeler lock was a piece of cake and someone on the boat was happy both were behind us.
We are now at Joe Wheeler State Park where we have a slip rented for the month. We are leaving for WV tomorrow via a stopover in Tennessee and will return on 10/21 to attend the Great Looper Rendezvous. After the meeting we are taking a side trip up the TN to Chattanooga then back to Joe Wheeler the first week of November before starting further south.I have had to go to the lodge to get wifi so I don't have the cordinates for this stop handy. Cell phone coverage and air cards are very scarce here.
I have you @ Lat. 34 48'43.78"N Lon. 087 19'44.30" W [depending on your slip]. The 21 pins on Google Earth look really good and show you are approaching your beginning Longitude. You are already making a great loop!
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ReplyDeleteYou are also gaining Altitude! 554 feet
ReplyDeleteWilson lock was very interesting. We didn't have the turbulance you had probably because we were locking down. When we pulled into wilson from the upper end, we couldnt figure out where the doors were. After we had lines on the bit, the door came up out of the water. Sorta eary. No wait at Wilson but we did have a 4 hour wait at Wheeler. Looks like a great trip so far. See ya soon. LW
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