Slow Boat

   Oh, the Er-i-e was rising, and the gin was getting low

   And I scarcely think we'll get another drink

   Till we get to Buffalo

   [listen]

Incoming boats are expected to tie up to the wall ("on the blue line") while the lock tenders stop traffic and swing the bridge out of the way. Then you can enter the lock

So we're approaching and Cap is maneuvering us skillfully toward the wall. We're 12 feet out . . . 10 feet out . . . 8 feet out . . . our fourteen tons are still moving pretty fast (for us!)

Cap has done this a million times. He's a pro. This is the point at which he shifts into reverse.  That works like a brake. The boat slows down, the bow gently approaches the wall, and the bow bunny hops down and ties 'er up.

Punch it, Chewy!

You've seen that scene in Star Wars.

Well!  Cap pulls the Morris control to "reverse" position and  . . .  nuttin. No reverse.

We are not all that far from the swing bridge. It we don't stop this train, 14 tons of steel are going to do some damage to this charming antique wooden bridge. The bridge will probably ding us up pretty good too.

Cap grabs the stern line and leaps across the (still sizable) gap. He tries to get the line on a cleat but . . . too much momentum . . . the boat whips past and pulls the line from his hands.

He sprints down the dock. "Throw the mid line!" (This is our longest and thickest line, kept on the roof at the midpoint of the boat.)

The breeze is pushing the boat a bit further off the dock. Bunny heaves ho across the even more sizable gap. The end of the line tickles Cap's palm and drops in the drink.

Cap hurls himself face down, grabs the line, hauls it in fast and gets it on a cleat.

You Knew This Movie Had a Happy Ending

The boat stops approximately 5 feet from the bridge . . . and three feet from some Japanese tourists who have not even looked up from their fishing poles.

(The problem was a tiny washer that failed to hold a cable in place. Cable now locked down in triplicate.)