The Dalles to Arlington
If you could size this section of the trip it would be phrased as “PERFECT!”
However, that is not how it started. Our plan departure from The Dalles was 7 AM. John’s expert weather says it is to be a nice day with low winds. Then we looked at AIS. The locks at The Dalles dam had a traffic jam, all with hazardous loads which meant we could not lock with them. We called the lock and they told us to stay put at the dock and he would call us. So, when we saw the last tug exit the lock, we broke loose from the dock and hoovered in the river. At around 8:30 we got the call we had a green light at the lock. As we approached the lock, someone called in requesting wind speed at the top of the dam. The response was 22 mph. Oh crap!!
The bollards are a lot better at the Dalles, than at Bonneville. We also noticed the lock design was different. Now worries, we exited the locks and headed to the John Day Dam. We also had to go under a railroad bridge. GFC gave us a spreadsheet with all the locks and bridge call signs which helped a lot. Thanks Mike!
John’s weather prediction was awesome. No wind, nice 75f and little current.
The lock master for John Day instructed us to do a port tie on the Washington side of the lock. The reason was he could not see us in the lock on the stbd side. There is a funny story about Crusty’s response to the lock master’s instruction, but I will let the Navy guy tell it!
The approach to John Day was a little scary as the spillway is right next to the lock approach. We got hit hard by beam waves and current which put a few things on the floor. But once past I shot from 2kts to 8kts in a matter of feet! The lockage through John Day went smoothly for ASD, if fact it was easy. The boat was not jammed up against the wall. Not so for Pairadice. He got pinned and had to work hard to keep his boat off the wall. The lock master filled the lock fast! It was about a 15-20 minute which is a 100 ft + lift.
We made our way to Arlington under glass waters and nice sunshine. After all is said and done we traveled 54 miles but took us about 10 hours with the delays.
Arlington Marina is an awesome place. Moorage is free, electric is $10 a night. Yes the highway and railroad bridge is next to the marina, but it is a clean friendly place. Diesel is $2.69 a gallon here…..They have a few restaurants, hardware and grocery store. Because of weather, we will be hold up here for the next 3 days. I could think of worse places to be stuck!!