Bridgewater to Lock 6 Restaurant

Day 3:  Monday, August 15, 2015

What a wonderful night’s sleep.  There was no wind and the boat lay peacefully against a firm dock. There wasn’t even any barge traffic to rattle our peaceful sleep.  The only thing that would have made it better would have been if the V-berth in the bow of Second Wind was actually a queen size bed.  However, after all of these trips over the years, we are truly used to the sleeping arrangements and we are fine.

I awoke at about 5:00 and spent the first hour of the day working on my daily logs.  Janine joined the living at around 6:00 and received her usual jumpstart with a good hot cup of coffee.  We fried some bacon and scrambled a couple of eggs that were enhanced with a bit of sharp cheddar cheese.

After breakfast, I spent probably a good hour trying to get my internet hotspot to work.  We have a new phone carrier and it appeared that there was no way they could help me get my phone on line.  In frustration, I – we took time to work on putting our little vessel into shipshape.

At around 10:00 we decided to wander into town and look for a grocery where we can get a few perishable items and some more ice.  As we were passing the local p

The USS Requin, WWII submarine

olice station, one of the constable was standing talking to a couple.  I went to them and enquired about groceries and they laughingly said that there were none in town but that there is a Giant Eagle just across the river.  They asked if we were from the sailboat down at the dock and we said we were.  I told them that I had contacted the mayor sometime back and she gave us permission to stay at the dock.  The officer said that she had told him that we would be coming this weekend and he wanted to make sure that we had not been molested or harassed.  I assured him that the local fisher-people were all friendly and nonthreatening. 

We proceeded onto the huge Giant Eagle where we collected our supplies.  As the clerk began checking us out, I realized that I had left my wallet in the boat and neither of us had any money to cover the bill.  The lady offered to set our groceries aside while we made the trek back to the boat.  And that we did.

Back on the boat, I put the ice away, started the motor and pulled out into the glassy river heading about 3 miles downstream to the interesting looking and from what we had read, intriguing eating establishment named Lockhouse 6 restaurant. 

The skies were threatening and they were calling for a thunder storm at 1:00. 

Lockhouse 6 Restaurant

Probably a mile downstream from Bridgewater it began to sprinkle and by the time we got to the Lockhouse 6 establishment, it was putting forth a super “frog drowner.”  As I approached the restaurant dock, I realized that it was in horrible disrepair.  I put out finders and made my landing on this beat up  dock.  One end was obviously quite secure but the opposite end was secured to the shore with an old lightweight extension cord.  I secured the boat and crawled up onto the concrete entrance to the place only to find that it was no longer open.  Shoot!

Shaky dock held in place with an extension cord.

I crawled back onto the dock and back onto the boat where Janine was busy trying to get ahead of the water had poured in whenever we opened the hatch.  Once inside, I shed my rain gear (which I had waited until I was soaked to put on) and set forth making my taco lunch.  Janine has found a new lunchtime passion.  She ran across a Smuckers Uncrustable that is filled, not with peanut butter and strawberry jam,but hazelnut and chocolate.  When we were stocking the boat I was informed that the only Uncrustables that would be carried on this trip would be of the chocolate species.  I obliged.

The rain finally stopped and the sun came out driving the temperature up into the upper 80’s.  We checked the weather forecast and were informed that there were to be severe thunderstorms around midnight.  Our plan for the remainder of the day was to travel a ways down stream to a small island where we would drop anchor in the slack water side.  However, although this dock was rickety, it is secure and more predictable

A better view of the whole layout.  It was a really interesting place

than an anchor dropped into the mud of an unknown bottom. So, we opt

ed to spend a lazy afternoon hanging out at the abandoned Lockhouse 6 dock. 

I tinkered around the boat for the remainder of the day while Janine read.  I installed our solar panel so as to add supplemental power to our batteries and tidied up the piles of line that we had thrown together prior to our launch on Saturday. 

While we were on shore in Bridgewater we bought a couple of beef kabobs that I grilled for our evening meal.  Janine fixed rice pilaf. After dinner we prepared a blob carrot cake in our Bake Packer and sat out in the cockpit watching the day evolve into night while it cooked.  It will be our reward for surviving another day tomorrow.  We made it to 9:00 before fading into oblivion.