My last day on the river before going home for the holidays was absolutely my best ! The weather was beautiful with sun, temps in the 50s, and a light tailwind. Getting an early start, i easily made it to the Kentucky lock and dam by 10am, only to find i needed to wait 3 hours to enter it. Fortunately, a barge skipper who was moored there alllowed me to tie up to him and even sent his crew to assist me.
I made myself some coffee and relaxed in the cabin for 2 hours (a daytime luxury i wasnt accustomed to ) and recieved a call from the lockmaster only 2 hours later that i could proceed to the lock once it was clear. It was definitely the largest lock on the trip so far, and pretty impresssive. The lockmaster even came out and chatted with me about my adventure while the gate was closing.
The lock took a full 30 minutes to fill and i was on my way once again. I later found out that small craft like mine usually have to wait DAYS to go through that lock, as one good sized barge requires 3 hours to pass through and , coming from both ways, have priority (thank you once again, LORD). Two scenic and quiet hours later, i entered the safety and serenity of a world reknown marina, Green Turtle Bay, where i would moor for a few weeks and have my mast finally raised and my vessel would at last be a proper sailboat.