Locking through

[agelesssone]

Locking through Old Hickory Lock and Dam.
Note the knife laying on deck?
One day, the float I was tied to got stuck and was about to capsize the boat. The knife was the only thing that saved me.
So now, any time I lock through, I have a very sharp knife at the rope.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20180424/5256d611ff90a8638673007ef6d6881d.jpg

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[skillet]

I have never locked through. Kind of scared too in my little 16’ boat. But if you’re wanting to fish the river that’d be the only way to get on it right now. Looking forward to hearing how good the fishing is on it.


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[Dakota]

Good tip Merv. Locking thru is a wow kind of experience to see how big of an operation it is. Kind of cool for sure.


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[Buccaneer]

Good safety tip. Generally I tie off on a front cleat and loop my line over the guide float and sit in the operators seat and hold the loose end in the event I have to let go if she hangs up. I'll have a knife close by now.

[luckystratos]

I have never locked through. Always scared of it like Skillet.Not knowing procedure is the biggest concern. Would be a lot faster from Hendersonville side than driving around through rivergate.
Had a guy tell me first lock he went through he didn't know to tie up boat and started spinning like a top. Had to start big motor to try keep it steady. Lucky for him it was a small dam.After hearing that,a knife would be a great idea. Rather spin than swim. Lol

[agelesssone]

To lock through (Old Hickory) you want to call (615) 847-3281, the operator to see if they have any barge traffic coming through anytime soon.
Barges normally take 2-21/2 hours to lock through. You don't want to be stuck behind a barge when you are ready to leave.
To lock through, look for the pull chain in a raceway in the wall. Pulling that chain let's the operator know that you are wanting to lock through.
If he has to blow the water out of the lift chamber, he will sound a siren for one minute to let boaters know and get out of the discharge area, on the outside of the slip wall, downstreamof the damage gates area.
Once he gets the chamber either empty or full, according to whethe you are coming up or going down, he will open the lock "doors". When the doors are fully opened and locked, he will sound a very loud horn, you may now drive in.
You MUST wear your PFD in the lock!
Once inside, there are a series of tie off floats located in raceways built into the wall. Tie your boat off to one of the. It's good to have boat bumpers with you.
The operator then close's the doors and proceeds to flood the chamber (or empty it).
When that process is complete, he opens the doors, blows the horn, and you can then untie and motor out.
From the time the doors close to drive out is about 15 minutes at normal summer pool. With the river being 17 ft higher than summer pool, it takes about half as long now.
Hope this answersyour questions about locking through.
This beats launching at the long steep ramp on the Rayon City side of the dam. Plus, the lot there has a lot of sketchy traffic unlike the Rockland ramp which is.patrolled by Hendersonville police.

[luckystratos]

Thanks. That doesn't sound so bad. When tying off do you tie tight/knot or just loop over. Hope that's only thing in there to tie to. My luck I'd tie to wrong spot. Lol

[agelesssone]

Thanks. That doesn't sound so bad. When tying off do you tie tight/knot or just loop over. Hope that's only thing in there to tie to. My luck I'd tie to wrong spot. Lol
Just loop over the float.
Nothing else to tie off to.

[YETI-14]

Great info here. Thank you for the procedure.

TK, we may want to make this a sticky on locking through procedure. Just a thought.