The Big EASY???

We made it through New Orleans today, but what an adventure! A gorgeous sunny day, but perhaps a bit too windy! The Harvey Locks went really well, then we zoomed down the Mississippi River at 9.5 knots (4.5 knot current) toward the Industrial Locks about 6 miles away. I was worried about missing the canal entrance, as it would've been nearly impossible to motor upstream! There wasn't much room to wait for our turn through the locks, so we were directed to a holding area on the side of the bascule bridge. Well, the strong (40 knot!) winds pinned us to the dock! As it turns out, we could've waited there until the wind eased up, but NO-O-O-O! I insisted we had to do get off the dock, so Daren skillfully pivoted with a bow line, which was no small feat! Unfortunately, I was so busy fending off the dinghy from the dock that I got left behind! I know it sounds crazy, but I waved Daren to go on without me, thinking I could get back on the boat from the bridge wall. I went up to talk to the really nice bridge tender, Xavier, who got in touch with the captain of a tug boat and barge, Sebring, who helped Daren tie up to them, since we'd missed our chance to go through the bridge and another boat was now in the lock. Meanwhile, I walked out to the end of a rickety catwalk after climbing and squeezing through various fences! I thought I could just climb down the creosote supports and onto our boat when Daren came through, but it looked kind of scary from 20 feet up, and the bridge tender was waving me back over to say that Sebring would pick me up on their way through the bridge to the locks. By then, Daren and the dogs cleared the lock without me. I went back to the catwalk and the crew of Sebring put a ladder up for me to climb down to the barge. >Whew< It was all rather embarrassing, but the crew of the tugboat were SO nice, and I got to go through the lock with them. Once I calmed down a bit, it was really fun to see the inside of a tug boat and learn about their interesting lives and schedules. They have 2 captains, Bobby and George, and 3 deck hands...all young guys; soon-to-be-married Hank, his cousin, Scott (who loaned me his camera phone!), and Eddie, who gave me some ice! This whole episode lasted about 3 hours, so you can imagine how happy I was to be back on our boat. After I went with Sebring through the lock, Daren pulled up along side the barge, and I got back onboard, to the ecstatic delight of Pete and Libby, who must've been worried about me!
You've got to admit that God was looking out for us today, since nobody got hurt, not even the dinghy! Captain Bobby told us of a place to anchor a few miles away, and we got here about 3:30! Daren took the dogs to shore, so it all turned out fine! I know we'll all sleep well tonight! We'll go 20 more miles to Rabbit Island tomorrow, but may have to wait for weather before we cross the Mississippi Sound to Gulfport, Dauphin Island, and then Pensacola, where we're looking forward to seeing our brother-in-law, Yohannes, and niece Karen.