Lewiston, ID to Winddust State Park, WA - part 1

Having returned from Winnemucca and having some time alone on the boat, we were able to relax for a bit on Tuesday.
Wednesday dawned with clear skies, promising more of the spectacular weather we had had the day before. It would be a good day to cast off the lines and make our way back out on the river. All that remained to do was to get some fuel.
The Hell's Canyon Marina doesn't have diesel fuel, so the Harbormaster made arrangements for a fuel truck to pull up to the boat ramp and drag its hose down the dock to fuel us up.
Given the shallowness of the area, I took a pole out and walked down the dock to determine just how close I could get to the ramp (my depth finder transducers are in the front, and my fuel tanks are in the back - with a forty foot boat, it was prudent to know where to stop). Knowing where I could put O'Baby!!, we spun her around and backed her as close to shore as we could. There we fueled her up and before we knew it we were on our way downriver.
We had anticipated that our speed would be measurable increased going down river, but we disappointed to find that we only gained about half a knot on our speed (about 7.6 knots, 8.6 mph). But it was pleasant. The water was flat, the sky was clear and the sun was hot (mid nineties - Debbie and I both like it hot). It was a good day.
We had hoped to lock through the Lower Granite dam at the scheduled downstream lock-through of 3:30 P.M. but worried that our speed could interfere with that schedule. Luckily, it didn't, and we were tied up in the locks at 3:37 P.M. This wouldn't always go so well, but today we were lucky. And amazingly, we were finally getting the hang of tying up to the mooring bitts. No more swinging wildly to and fro. No more of the proverbial monkey and the football!
Our destination for the day lay just downstream from the Lower Granite dam at Boyer Marina. One of the few places on the upper river with a safe harbor (outside of the main river behind a jetty), we elected nonetheless to tie up at the commercial dock just outside the jetty (maybe running aground at Central Ferry had some impact on this decision). Regardless, it was a very nice dock and offered secure tie-ups. We were happy there for the night. We had made about 26 nautical miles for the day and were set for the night. After dinner and a wine aperitif on the flybridge (under the most incredible starry night), we called it a day. Tomorrow we would go through Little Goose and Lower Monumental dams.
Thursday was as beautiful as the previous days and we cast our lines off at 8:45 A.M. Next stop, Little Goose dam.
Unfortunately our speed didn't hold up as projected and it looked like we were going to be a bit late for the 12:30 downstream lock-through. But a call to the lockmaster was greeted with the welcome response that he would allow a little leeway and we were able to complete the lock-through by about 1:00 P.M.
Getting to Lower Monumental would require that our speed remain as it had been above the previous dam, but unfortunately that didn't happen and again we were looking at being twenty to thirty minutes late for the 3:30 P.M. lock-through. Though the ride had been most pleasant, the constant burden of trying to make these schedules dulled the experience.
Listening to the VHF radio we were excited to hear that a barge was coming upstream and that the lockmaster would not have the lock available for the 3:30 P.M downstream lockage. This looked like it was going to be our day! Ahh, but it doesn't always work that way. Even though we were at the dam when the upstream lockage was completed for the barge (about 3:50 P.M.), the lockmaster told us he would not allow us to lock-through until the next scheduled time of 6:30 P.M. All attempts to reason with the lockmaster were greeted with the bureaucratic numbness that all of us have experienced at one time or another in our dealings with government. So we dropped anchor just outside of the locks and Debbie fished while I went below to clean battery connections (the port engine turns over slowly on start up, even though all indications are that the batteries are in good shape [electrolyte levels and strength, voltage, etc.]).
Then things started going wrong.

(Hooked? Find out what happened in Part 2.)