The girls took turns calling the lock master to ensure the lock was ready for us when we about half a mile away. They called out "Lock 26, Lock 26, this is the Fair Dinkum requesting Eastward passage."
The lock master would answer and let us know if it was ready or how long of a wait. Most of the time the previous lock master would call ahead to the next lock for us so it was ready if no one was coming the other direction.
With the lock doors open and the light green we would slowly enter and we found it easier to land on our port side. I would ease to the wall and Beck would grab the rear line off the wall and hand it to me at the helm.
I would then use the bow thruster and the engine to maneuver us so she could jump up front and grab another rope to hold the front.
Once we had the ropes we held the boat to the wall (not easy with a 22 ton steel boat on locks with turbulence) and go up or down the lock wall.
We had it down after Thursdays 8 locks and had no problem on the way back. It was a lot of fun and something we'll always remember.
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