July 13
In order to get from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, locking through this
Canadian canal system is necessary. Requirements are calling customs,
and having 3 people on board if you are locking up, as we were about
to do. Since our nearly 3 hour delay by customs is a whole story in
itself, suffice it to say that you don’t want to declare a shotgun
when trying to clear customs. We got to the canal a little after noon,
where we met Roger St. Amand, who we had hired to help us lock through.
Roger, who works for the Seaway system, gave us the following information
about the 8 locks: each of the locks holds 21,000,000 gallons of water,
is 80’ wide and 30’ deep (ships have a 26’ draft,
with biggest being 78 x 740), and have 30’ thick walls at the
bottom. The canal also generates all its own hydro, and it is completely
drained in the winter and filled in the spring. At 3:00 we were finally
on our way. Once entered, you must complete your passage through the
canal; unlike the US locks where you can stop and even spend the night
tied up to a stationary bollard or cleat, there is no stopping here.
Before beginning we had our doubts about the need for a third person,
but it didn’t take long to realize the value of those extra
hands. The current is so swift when the locks are filling that the
Captain had to run the boat while First Mate and Roger handled the
lines that were dropped down to the boat from the lockmaster above,
one forward and one aft. At one lock there is two-way traffic, with
boats locking both ways at the same time. We went through the first
two without a hitch. And then as we were approaching #3 we could see
a storm ahead with some serious lightening bolts, even though it was
a sunny day. #3 is also where payment must be made and where a restaurant
and viewing platform is located for land based customers. We paid
the fee of $160 (Canadian) and waved back to the people watching,
feeling like we were in a parade, when suddenly a dark cloud overhead
opened up and it started to pour. We sat that out with the two sailboats
that were locking with us, wondering what the delay in our passage
was. We soon learned that lightening had struck the control system
for the bridges in the canal. We waited 1½ hours for someone
who could manually operate the next bridge to arrive there. Locks
#4, 5, & 6 are the flight of locks, with one right after the other;
as you leave one, you are in the next. It really is impressive, especially
when you realize that you are locking up in this flight the same height
as Niagra Falls, which is 6 miles directly east of the canal. We were
held up by a commercial vessel at only one lock, #7. By then it was
dusk and time to say bye to Roger. We had one more lock 15 miles away,
but it was only a one foot lift that we could float through without
even tying up to the wall. We traversed those miles in the dark and
were happy to finally dock at Marlon Marina at Port Colborne at 11:15.