Mahi Mahi- Mon Jun23; Boredom at Lock #20 !

Have you ever watched the 3 Stooges and heard the phrase ” Trapped Like Rats”. Well that’s how we feel. Lock #20 is still not open, and we understand now that it is not open because Lock #22, about 20 miles away – has no power !

Saturday night during the big train storm, it appears that the area near Lock #22 had a major storm, with tornado like events, even a tree falling on a house killing two young children – OMG 😳. It kind of puts our small issue of not getting thru a lock into more perspective.

The lock #22 operator said that the lock did not have power, they were using a generator for the lock office but it wasn’t strong enough to open the lock. And that they were pulling Hugh Logs out of the canal and lock water.

We are stuck at Lock #20.

I spoke with the Lock #22 operator yesterday, he said that it looked like a war zone up there.

So as I write this post, it’s now Tuesday June 24th, and we are on our 3rd day of being Trapped at Lock #20.

So it’s a good day to just discuss random things.

Random Subject #1 = the NY Canal System Notice to Mariners – it has become apparent during our cruise of the Erie Canal, that the website I used to check every day is kind of useless, because it is not updated very frequently. Here is a view of the Lock Status Map from yesterday, while we we held captive and know that locks #16-22 are closed. The map shows all green/open. Even the worded update posts are a couple days behind the actual events. I checked again this morning and the map still shows all green (Locks open). The NYCS did add a worded update post yesterday saying that the locks 16-22 were closed, but did not update the map.

Random subject #2 = We were already running a little late. And now due to a 5 day delay initially with lock #16/17 (Marlboro Yacht Club), a 5 day delay with the Starboard Throttle (St Johnsville) & at least a 3 day delay with Lock #22 – we have made the decision to change our course back to Detroit.

Original Course- from Lake Ontaio = 1) Trent Severn Waterway, 2) Georgian Bay, 3) Drummond Island, 4) Lake Huron, 5) St Clair River, 6) Lake St Clair.

New Course- from Lake Ontario = 1) The Welland Canal, 2) Lake Erie, 3) Detroit River, 4) Lake St Clair.

This change in course will shave off 10-14 days and result in our arrival back in Lake St Clair, probably just after the 4th of July (est July 4th-8th) – if we get thru lock #22 tomorrow July 25th.

We’re bummed out about not going thru the Trent Severn, Peterborough Lift Lock, The Big Chute, & Georgian Bay. But Jerry & Deena do have some family events for mid July & I assume that Mrs Murphree would like her husband to get home too. Sounds like a nice trip for 2026 😃.

The good news is that The Welland Canal will be a new experience for me & Deena, Jerry did the Welland many years ago. I am excited about adding the famous Welland Canal, to my list of Boating Achievements in my life ✔️

Random Subject #3 = It has been so hot, and we are on a lock wall with no power. We have been using the generator sparingly only at night. And the lock wall is down in a valley with little airflow. So Deena & I took some chairs up to a park at the top of the lock that had a good breeze. While passing time reading books and playing on the internet, we noticed how loud the chirping from the birds was (LISTEN to the video).

Random Subject #4 = On a hot summer day, with no swimming pool available, it was time for The Nestea Plunge

The Erie Canal is really not that clean, so Deena recommended that I get hosed off before coming back on to The Mahi.

That’s all for now folks, thanks for reading, hopefully we’ll have a more exciting post for you next time.

Mike, Deena, & Jerry

Mahi Mahi