Mayaca Lock to Franklin Lock, dolphin

We're diggin' the dolphins!

After a quiet night we had some coffee in the morning and waited with the radio on, listening for chatter by the lock master to know when they were open. Right at the stroke of 7 am he hailed some vessels waiting on the lake side, announcing he'd get them through. We called to let him know we would like the next west bound lock. "You the ones on my dolphins?" "Yes, sir." "When you see them come out of the chamber, drop your line and come on in."

Lovely morning for crossing the lake

Since he was engaged with everyone, we were on the lake and headed westward right at 7:30. At the moment he's our favorite lockmaster: instructive, proactive, and friendly.

Mayaca was the first of 4 locks we went through today. All of them worked well, or with small delays. The last one was the most challenging. According to our Navionics we would arrive at 4:31. We called to let them know we were coming. "Be here at 4:30 and we'll lock you through." Neither of us liked the sound of that so we pushed a bit, just to make sure we arrived by 4:29.

Jammin' to get to the lock
at 4:29. Going 9.4 knots.

Right around the dam is a park. And, hey, they had dolphins! So we tied up. A little less fussy than anchoring, since we don't have to think about swing room at all. We stay put. We like that.

Sunset at Franklin Lock.