Gofirstclass
Well-Known Member
We had our plans all set, fuel bought, groceries picked up and everything a GO for taking the boat down the Columbia to Portland, OR (235 miles) on Saturday morning to have a complete new bimini made. New top, new isenglass, new Stamoid. The whole works.
Arrangements were made with Tyee Yacht Club in Portland to let me keep the boat there on kind of an "extended reciprocal moorage" arrangement for about 2-3 weeks to give the guy in Portland time to do the whole job.
It appeared everything was a GO and the stars had all lined up to allow it to happen.
Then I got my newest "Local Notice to Mariners" in my inbox from my friends at the USCG. I started to skim through it and was stopped dead in my tracks by this:
"COLUMBIA RIVER AND SNAKE RIVER – Change to the Seasonal Navigation Lock Outage for the Columbia and Snake Rivers
(Revised from LNM 01/18)
The extended lock closure for Lower Monumental Lock and Ice Harbor Lock has been extended until 2359 on 25 Mar 18. The specific dates and
times for the individual locks has been updated and is listed below:
Bonneville Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 18 Mar 18 (2 weeks)
The Dalles Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 25 Mar 18 (3 weeks)
John Day Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 25 Mar 18 (3 weeks)
McNary Lock Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 18 Mar 18 (2 weeks)
Was I reading this right? Were all the locks closed? Can this possibly be? A flurry of phone calls to the Operations Offices at McNary and The Dalles locks confirmed it. We were dead in the water.
But look at the bright side.....at least we didn't cruise on down there only to find out they were closed.
Damn that Murphy and his Law!
Arrangements were made with Tyee Yacht Club in Portland to let me keep the boat there on kind of an "extended reciprocal moorage" arrangement for about 2-3 weeks to give the guy in Portland time to do the whole job.
It appeared everything was a GO and the stars had all lined up to allow it to happen.
Then I got my newest "Local Notice to Mariners" in my inbox from my friends at the USCG. I started to skim through it and was stopped dead in my tracks by this:
"COLUMBIA RIVER AND SNAKE RIVER – Change to the Seasonal Navigation Lock Outage for the Columbia and Snake Rivers
(Revised from LNM 01/18)
The extended lock closure for Lower Monumental Lock and Ice Harbor Lock has been extended until 2359 on 25 Mar 18. The specific dates and
times for the individual locks has been updated and is listed below:
Bonneville Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 18 Mar 18 (2 weeks)
The Dalles Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 25 Mar 18 (3 weeks)
John Day Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 25 Mar 18 (3 weeks)
McNary Lock Navigation Lock – commencing 0600 on 03 Mar 18 through 2359 on 18 Mar 18 (2 weeks)
Was I reading this right? Were all the locks closed? Can this possibly be? A flurry of phone calls to the Operations Offices at McNary and The Dalles locks confirmed it. We were dead in the water.
But look at the bright side.....at least we didn't cruise on down there only to find out they were closed.
Damn that Murphy and his Law!
