Welland Canal

[Bacchus]

You have time, it is a fairly slow process. When downbound you start with the operators looking at you at eye level, they will hand you a coil. The problem can occur when you put the coil on deck, as it is payed out it gets tangled on something. We kept a close eye and made sure there was 8 or 10 feet clearly free on the lazy end at any moment. That gives you 30 seconds or more to tend to it if it begins to get tangled.

Going down the St. Lawerence, some of the locks have a sliding float in the lock wall you tie off to. That was far easier to use, but of use only for small boats, and the locks were built for (and are paid for) by large ship transits.

We had an issue with the St Lawrence lock w/ floating bollards.
I was aware of the fact that the lock had floating bollards but didn't realize for recreational size boats you only could access one so bow & stern lines had to be long enough to reach a mid=ship bollard and return.
Lock tender picked up my bow line form my wife / mate using a looong boat hook and secured that around the bollard & returned it.
Next took my stern line and when he realized it was too short simply dropped it in the water and informed me I needed a longer line. Thge line wrapped in the prop before I could retrieve it and the fun /chaos began.
I was finally successful attaching a longer line & getting secured to the bollard. Untangling the original line from the prop and retrieving it took some time but I was finally able to do it w/o going swimming in the lock.

Just be aware and prepared with long enough lines at both ends to at least reach mid ship and return to bow & stern.

Also a best practice for anyone tending lines to have a good sharp knife handy. especially when downbound... In NY canals witnessed a boater friend get the weight at the bottomof a loose line jammed in the cleat and line was too short for the lock drop. Their bow was well above the lower waterline and the bottom weight jammed in the cleat... fortunately the skipper had a sharp knife and was able to cut the line before it did damage to his boat.

 

[Mac G]

Good idea. Good advice.
Thank you

 

[rslifkin]

Also a best practice for anyone tending lines to have a good sharp knife handy. especially when downbound... In NY canals witnessed a boater friend get the weight at the bottomof a loose line jammed in the cleat and line was too short for the lock drop. Their bow was well above the lower waterline and the bottom weight jammed in the cleat... fortunately the skipper had a sharp knife and was able to cut the line before it did damage to his boat.

Definitely a good idea.

In general when we're going down on the NY Canals, we just hold the drop lines and keep them off the cleats. They're often a little short to have on a cleat at the bottom of the lock, plus cleating them slimes up the boat more. And unless it's very windy it's rarely hard to hold on while going down.

 

[Jeff F]

I've got an idea: go dock at the top of the canal in Port Colburn. There's lots of free slips, and a few decent restaurants steps away. Big ships sliding by. I quite like the place. There's a nice beach a few miles away that you can visit by boat.

The next pleasure boat passage will draw a few boats. Jump aboard one. Offer to hold the bow line. Jump off at the bottom and Uber back to your boat.

Then you know exactly what to expect if you want to take your boat down.

I've got to put one more plug in for the western Erie Canal. I've traveled these routes lots, and that's probably my favorite segment.

 

[Bacchus]

Definitely a good idea.

In general when we're going down on the NY Canals, we just hold the drop lines and keep them off the cleats. They're often a little short to have on a cleat at the bottom of the lock, plus cleating them slimes up the boat more. And unless it's very windy it's rarely hard to hold on while going down.

Agree... the situation described above was the the Waterford flight on a very windy day. Half wrap on cleat was the only/best way to control the boat. Simply holding & pulling on a loose line, especially after several locks in a flight can be problematic for crew that are on the lighter / weaker side... not everyone lifts weights or plays tug of war regularly. Best to have plans B & C thought out and practiced ahead of time.
I now have thrusters both ends and carry the remote so can assist my mate when needed.

My philosophy after doing around 1,000 locks is to expect the unexpected, have plans and be prepared. Best to stay attentive vs sightseeing & chatting w others... things can go badly very quickly.
I have assembled some (NY canal) locking tips and posted them on my Bacchus website in the Cruising Notes section for anyone interested.

 

[Mac G]

Good advice all of you guys.
Thank you
This is what I was looking for - a heads-up for what to expect.
As I mentioned in my original post, I did the full-length of the Erie Canal on a 40-foot racing sailboat with the mast on saw horses on deck once, but that was a very long time ago and I was not the skipper in charge then.
Thank you

 

[petro]

I can echo pretty much what everyone hear has said. My home port is Sugarloaf Marina, in Port Colborne, pretty much right before you start downbound. Many boats will stay the night at Sugarloaf before going down the canal as you have to be there by 8am or something like that to start. There are free city docks right before the first bridge, or Sugarloaf is pretty cheap if you want amenities. Make sure you're well stocked up on provisions. The trip generally takes about 10 hours, but I've seen people stuck behind freighters or issues with the locks and have taken 16 hours or more (though this is rare). If you have anymore questions that weren't answered here, feel free to DM me.

 

[Bacchus]

I know the St Lawrence locks now schedule 1-2 recreational lockages / day that can be reserved online. I believe the same holds true for the Welland but not positive. Worth checking into to avoid an extended wait.

 

[Circumnavigator]

Several thoughts:


The Great Lakes Cruising Club has detailed information on ports throughout the Great Lakes. Membership and Initiation are pricey, but worth it. They (and I) recommend buying four 4x4s, putting fire hose around them, and using them for fenders.


The thing that makes the Welland hard going up is that the water inlets are in the walls at the level of the water when the lock is down, so it comes in pushing you off the wall. You're being held in place by bow and stern lines dropped from the top of the wall, 40 feet up. The water comes from the pool immediately above, so it has 40' of pressure, except for lock 4, which is a stair step with 5 and 6, so the water comes in from 120 feet up.

If your superstructure and rig permit, it's best to put the lines on cleats on the side of the boat away from the wall, to get a somewhat better angle.


The bigger boats (like Fintry) will be against the wall and smaller boats will be rafted outboard of them.


As noted above, going down is much easier -- in Fintry we had the locks to ourselves and just hung out in the middle -- once the water goes down a bit there is no wind and sitting is easy.


In locks with floating bollards (the American Locks on the St Lawrence) there's no reason to use more than one short line to a cleat midships as long as you have big fenders forward and aft of it.


Over the years we're done 122 locks in Sweetwater (Panama, Darwin Marina), Fintry (St. Lawrence Seaway to Lake Superior, Canso, St. Peters, Quebec Marina), and Morning Light (Hudson, Erie, Oswego, St. Lawrence, Chambly, Champlain). No sweat as long as you pay attention -- big trouble if you don't.


Jim


Sweetwater - Swan 57 sloop - circumnavigated 1995-98
Fintry - x Royal Navy Fleet Tender 2003-22 20k miles including x-Atlantic www.mvfintry.com
Morning Light -- Webbers Cove 42 trawler 2021- 23
Going back to sailing now that Morning Light is sold.

 

[TrawlerAJ]

Mac, we're in Erie PA. I've been up and down a few times to bring sailboats to Youngstown races, and as others have said, going down isn't difficult, but upstream is a bear, easy to break things scraping along the wall as they fill. It's quite the experience, but I wouldn't put my boat through it, and they definitely prioritize commercial traffic over recreational. As others have said, your boat can do the west end, and you'll miss a lot there if you don't. Nothing to miss on Welland, other than breaking stuff. There's no stops, no quaint old timey villages to overnight at. The TSW is a retirement bucket list trip for us, but definitely a different route!

Transiting Lake Erie westward towards South Bass Island, regardless if you take Welland or Erie Canal, isn't awful. In fact, it's either fairly perfect, or it's impassable. Luckily, the bad weather that makes it impassable is easily forecast, and once it's done, the lake can be flat the next day.

From Buffalo or Colborne, if you're not in a rush, Erie PA is an easy day. You can make Mentor or Cleveland in another easy day, and the islands are within easy reach after that. If you are interested in overnight recommendations in those destinations, I'm happy to provide. If you're staying in Erie, I'm happy to help with provisioning transpo if needed.

Best wishes for a great trip! Pit In Bay is just as crazy as you remember it.

 

[Trent]

Suggest you think in a different direction and keep off the open waters of Lakes Erie and Huron. Take time to explore some of the beautiful spots in Lake Ontario and then take the 50 lock, 240 mile Trent Severn Waterway from Trenton on Lake Ontario to Port Severn on Georgian Bay (all protected waters) which is part of the beautiful northern part of Lake Huron. From there, go spend serious time exploring even more beautiful ports and anchorages in the North Channel. You will also get to experience the amazing "Big Chute" just before reaching Port Severn.