I arrived at my stateroom around 11:00
Then after a flotation device fitting, an evacuation drill, and an hour long crew introduction I realized we were smoothly a silently underway. After a lunch of seafood salad I returned to my stateroom to work on this blog.
Then I realized we were slowing and looked out my stateroom window to see
That first of eight locks we will descend. I step outside and document the ship valving through the lock
And when the gates open, we are 100 feet closer to sea level with only 622 feet to go.
The day is ending as we proceed down river on an inky black night with my frustration at being unable to upload my videos to this site. Oh well it will give me a problem to keep my mind working.
It is 10:00 PM and I am getting ready for bed when I feel the by now familiar pattern that indicates we are approaching a lock. I look out, grab my iPhone/camera and head for the bow. This one is different from any I have seen before. Instead of a swinging gate it is a huge guillotine.
As we exit the lock and I am studying the giant blade we are passing under, I realize that at heart I am still an engineer more interested in how things work than anything else. Instead of wanting to know more about the land we are passing through my questions are…
How long is our ship?
How much water does she draw?
What is her tonnage?
Etc.
I’m not sure what that signifies, other than I am looking at my life the same way.