Hurry Up and Wait (and Bake)

Whew! What a hot and sticky week.  Since we entered the rivers 6 days ago it has been above 90 degrees everyday with no a drop of rain.  Factoring the heat index has made it feel over 100 degrees and with water temps as high as 97 in some places even a swim isn't too much of a relief.

At most of the locks we have encountered we have had waits of 2 to 4 hours as barges and tows are locked through the very slow filling chambers. At the Marseilles lock we would have had an even longer wait but the lockmaster was able to put us "in the cut".  There was a barge going upstream that was so long it had to be separated into two to get through the lock.  After the first half (at least 90 feet wide by 450 feet long) is brought up, it is pulled along by a cable to get it out of the lock because the tow that pushes it is still down below with the second half of the barge.  The lock then is lowered to collect the second half.  Because the first half is only pulled out of the lock just enough to close the gates behind it, there is usually no space for another down-bound vessel to get in the lock when it lowers to get the second half. Luckily for us we are small enough that the lockmaster was able to guide us behind the first half of the barge and into the lock when it lowered.  Thus he got us "in the cut" between the two halves of the barge.  When he first told us on the radio he wanted us in the cut we had no idea what we were supposed but the staff are very friendly and helpful to pleasure crafts and he talked us through it with great patience.

The first half of the barge being pulled through the top of the lock

The second half of the barge waiting to enter the bottom of the lock