Day 6 - We unstep the mast and tackle our first locks!

Today we are unstepping the mast!

We start by removing the boom, the lines, and the wiring. Jonathan cuts the VHF wire… OOPS! Fortunately, Chip has connectors to fix everything. But that also means we won't have a radio until the mast is re-stepped. We hadn't thought about a portable radio!

The unstepping goes very well. Chip and his colleague are competent and work efficiently. Our shrouds are, in fact, very tight. They don't seem to have been taken down since the boat was built!

We secure everything and head off. The canal is narrow and the navigation is rather stressful. On top of that, no Internet connection.

As we approach the lock, I call to request an opening. The cellular connection is very weak. Jonathan therefore reinstalls our Starlink, which will allow me to make calls with Quo.

Since we didn't announce ourselves in advance, we have to wait. We are informed that a barge is coming, but that we can tie up just before the lock entrance. I moor, but Jonathan misses his mooring. We narrowly avoid disaster, but we finally manage to recover the situation. Lucky we had decided to leave Miela inside during the locks!

There we are, we've reached our first lock. And let's just say it doesn't really look like the ones at Carillon or Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, where the staff quietly tie us up to a floating dock.

No. Not at all!

The Whitehall lock is serious business. It requires strength! At the entrance, the instructions say to attach on the port side because of the current and to test the reverse gear. The current pushes us, and while we try to hold the boat in place, we're asked for our boat number.

I finally manage, after a few acrobatics, to quickly go inside to get the number while Jonathan holds Éolo alone. In the end, there is no barge; I must have misunderstood.

We're still lucky: our mast structures provide good clearance and traffic goes through without problem.

The second lock is already easier. We're starting to get the hang of it, even though it still takes a lot of strength!

In total, we pass through three locks: 12, 11, and 9. 10… did they forget it?

We finish our day around 6 p.m. Just before lock 8, the lockkeeper informs us that there is no dock between locks 8 and 7. So we decide to moor at the public dock.

The lockkeeper made sure to leave the lights on. The dock is located in a small park with picnic tables. It's quiet and, after this day, it's exactly what we need.

We go to bed completely exhausted.