Getting from the rendezvous back down the river was no easy feat. With 40 or so Loopers looking to lock through Wheeler and Wilson Locks, and with Wilson Lock taking longer due to the recent wall collapse, it took some coordination.

Planning took place on Wednesday afternoon. Wendy attended on behalf of our vessel. We were going to leave at first light on Saturday with a group of 14 boats. Another group was going on Friday morning.

When Saturday morning came, we tuned to channel 68 at 5:30 to hear our flotilla commander (Radian Journey) give his updates. Wheeler Lock was ready for us any time. There wasn’t any commercial traffic scheduled. Wilson Lock had a couple of tows that would take most of the day, but he told us to come on down and he would try to Lock us through somewhere.

Given that a fog was setting in, we decided to wait until 7:00 to leave to give us a little more light and let the fog lift. I sat down for a cup of coffee and Wendy went to the lodge to mail some post cards to the kids.

At 6:20 or so, Radian Journey came on the radio to tell us that he had spotted a tow coming down the river. The lock master advised that we get there ASAP if we want to get ahead of him. Here we go!

14 boats fired up and slipped into the river with a heavy fog still sitting on the water. It was a really cool sight to see the vessels slicing their way through the clouds. I turned on our radar and kept an eye on the plotter.

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Wheeler Lock was fun and easy. It was our first time being in a lock with that many boats. We tied up to the forward port pin, as planned in the Captains’ meeting, and Abeline rafted to us. We enjoyed a friendly chat as the lock lowered us.

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We proceeded slowly across Wheeler Lake because we knew we had time. The Wilson lock master told us to all tie up in the sluice on the north side. We all tied in, shut down, and settled in for a long wait. The lock master said that it would probably be late afternoon or evening. We had lunch and I took a nap.

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After about three hours, the lock master said that he thought he could get most of us into the next lock with a single barge tow. Some of our flotilla were staying in Florence right on the other side of the lock, we organized for those of us who were going further down river to go first. That’s us!

Thankfully, we all made it into the lock – including one more looper who came in behind us. We had the tow and 15 pleasure craft in the lock. We were on the forward port pin again with two boats rafted to us. The lock master was tremendously helpful and friendly throughout the whole adventure.

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Once we cleared the lock, our little flotilla split up. Several stopped in Florence and some kept going. We decided to spend a little time up throttle so that we could make the 43 miles to Aqua Yacht Harbor Marina before the fuel dock closed at 5:00.

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After a little fuel, we found our slip at the end of F dock, had a little dinner, and watched the Fightin’ Texas Aggie Football team dismantle the South Carolina Gamecocks.