Day 9 Happy Anniversary

Day 9 Xiling Gorge

Xiling Gorge is lined with sheer limestone cliffs and is known for its many smaller gorges and caves.

Day 9 Xiling Gorge

Sailing towards Xiling Gorge.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

Traveling out of the Dam and towards the longest of the Three Gorges, Xiling.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

In the first photo you can see how our ship is well below the doors. We had to wait until enough water rushed in to bring us to the right height. You can see this difference in the 2nd and 3rd photos. We then had to wait for the doors to open so we could sail out of this last lock.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

James took a break from watching the ship sail through the locks by playing a few games of mahjong with the ladies.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

Ships settled in close to one another and very close to the wall of the lock. The ships had to attach themselves to beams on the wall, to keep them in place. The way they were attached allowed the ropes to float up or down with the water level.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

You can see how we had to wait until the water level dropped before we could continue on to the next lock.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

What everyone else was doing as we sailed through the locks. One down. . . four to go.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam Lock Passage

While we were at the Dam, we could see down to see 5-stage ship locks, we are now sailing through these locks. To explain, a lock is a device that raises or lowers boats between stretches of water of different levels on the river. Since the installation of the ship locks, shipping through the Three Gorges become much safer, which changed the fact that the gorges were notoriously dangerous to navigate. Each of the two ship locks is made up of five stages, taking around four hours in total to transit, and has a vessel capacity of 10,000 tons. 

James and I would run through the ship to get photos from the front and the back as we sailed through the locks. It was a slow process and we sat around and waited for most of the trip.

Day 9 Three Gorges Dam

Headed back to the boat. Photos of some Chinese snacks they were selling on the dock.