How do you tie up in the locks?

[alormaria]

I come to the lock wall on my starboard side at a shallow angle and let my wife grab the forward line. When she yells that she has it I turn away from the wall and give a sharp blast of throttle in reverse. This stops my forward progress and pulls my stern up against the wall. I place it in neutral and walk back to handle the aft line. If in Canada, I shut down the engine. I use 3 large normal but ugly fenders on the lock side.

 

[Flatswing]

Canadian (Rideau, TSW, Champlain canals) locks usually have the vertical cables anchored to wall top & bottom. You pass a line around the vertical cable and let it slide up or down. Tip, using stern & breast line is usually easier than stern & bow line as tension on true bow line tends to kick the stern away from the wall. Most Erie Canal locks have Slimy ropes attached only above lock wall not at the lower end (since they are more modern, bottom filling locks with less surge) You need old gloves to hold these, but again stern & breast line holders work best for many boats. Locks are straightforward - but a total pain in the rain.

 

[Olebird]

Wow, 100 foot lift in a single lock. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like that east of the Rockies. Happy to be corrected though.

On the Erie I think the biggest single lift is about 40' but most are 10-25 ft lift. Most have vertical cables anchored at the bottom. A few have hanging weighted ropes that you are supposed to hang on to. Yucch. I think a few of the bigger lifts have floating recessed bollards. Easy to do solo in my experience, with no particular rules for tying up, relaxed lock tenders, and very little boat traffic. I use a single midship line there.

There are some pretty cool flights of locks and IIRC there's a double lock on that route too. Lots of variety, but none of it particularly challenging for boaters.

In addition to Wilson (100ft), Bay Springs on TTWW is 84ft

 

[High Wire]

is there any online coarse or an online guidebook on how to tie up in a lock? I will be doing the Erie Canal from Hudson River to the Finger Lakes summer 2020 and would like something to study this winter.

You can usually pick up a copy of Skipper Bobs New York Canal system guide in Waterford dock office. They list each locks available tie up methods. All have ropes (R). Most have cables (C) which is a taught 1” or so cable strung vertically bottom to top. Some have pipes (P) which are same as the cable but use 3” diameter SS welded pipe. The cables and pipes are the easiest. You simply take a short mooring line from your cleat, pass it around behind the cable or pipe then back to the same cleat and wrap the line once around the base of the cleat. Leave a little slack so that the line can slide. For our boat, one cable or pipe at the midship cleat is enough.
The lock master will tell you which side to tie. If you are single screw choose the side your boat backs. For left hand prop choose starboard side to the wall with a big fender aft. Two more forward and mid ships.
Sounds complicated but it’s really easy.

 

[AusCan]

Every lock is different.
Our local lock which we pass through to between the marina and the ocean is simple. We don't tie off. We normally have the lock to ourselves and one person keeps the boat off the walls with a simple boat hook. Occasionaly I have to fire up the engine if the current is strong fore or aft, but usually it a simple procedure even single handed.

 

[Unwinding]

Tenn Tom / Tennessee

One of the previous posts stated every lock (system) is different. How true. OWW in no way prepared us for Tenn Tom and Tennessee.

We are a 58 foot trawler (KKY 58EB). We use mid ship hawse with a “looper loop” ... first read about on AGLCA. Basically PVC tubing (4 to 5 feet) over 3 strand with bowline knot. Forms a nice “permanent” loop which Wife simply lays over floating bollard (all locks on Tenn Tom and Tennessee are floating bollards). We tie about about 3’ line using three 24” inflatable fenders. So single line to the bollard. We position ourselves fore and aft with docking poles to “fender” off. Forward pins or back pins give you a smoother ride up. Ride down is always mostly smooth.

Walls are nasty. We use heavy duty contractor trash bags which keep the AERE fenders mostly clean.

As previously mentioned, Whitten at top of Tenn Tom is some 90 feet depending on pool levels. Wilson on Tennessee near Florence AL is little over 90 feet. Rest range from 30ish to 60ish.

Mobile, AL to Tennessee River on Tenn Tom has 12 locks; done them all four times. Tennessee River has 10 locks; we done 5 of these. Done these 5 multiple times. Remember... on the rivers, RVs (Recreational Vehicles as we’re ‘officially called”) are the LAST priority. Our longest wait was Joe Wheeler for six hours last year. Always have a Plan B for bailout.

Gary Reed
M/V Unwinding

 

[amapola]

For us, it depends on the lock. I usually do the tie up while my husband handles the boat. Some locks already have lines and the lock master tosses them to me.

 

[SBR]

Hope this might help a bit

Boating on the Canals - New York State Canals

NYS canal site with information on the system and alerts, Hope it helps a bit.

 

[BobMc]

The Great Loop does not require going through the Welland Canal unless your doing what I refer to as the "Industrial Great Loop." The scenic loop takes you through the Trent-Severn Waterway and into Georgian Bay. Totally bypasses the Welland Canal and Lake Erie.

This is the first I've heard that there's a requirement for three adults on the Welland. If I understand it correctly, doing the Great Loop would be going up-bound. Lots of couples do the loop. Does this put the Welland off-limits for looping couples?

 

[GFC]

In these posts there are two things that jump out at me:
1. Each lock can be different though there seems to be a commonality from one lock to the next. There's only so many ways you can get boats to go up and down.

2. How many steps you all take to keep your fenders clean. Speaking just for myself here, but I consider fenders as expendable items. They're not supposed to be pretty, they're not supposed to be works of art, they're simply supposed to keep your gelcoat or wood hulls from touching the concrete walls of the locks.

Some of my fenders I've had since the past two boats, and that spans more than 20 years. I've never tried to keep them unscathed and the most TLC they get is a hosing off a couple of times a year. They're scraped, kind of dirty and beat up, but hey, they're fenders.

 

[Jmarsh203]

Icw in the gulf most are just pass through locks or go really slow as they close them behind you and open the others as soon as the ones behind are closed other than for in Nola, there are 3 locks in Nola and you only need 2 people, you just catch a headline and back down into it and hold it against the wall.

 

[Hoppys GB]

I did the Erie from the Hudson to Lake Erie the summer of 19. There is nothing to tie to. You will be holding slimy wet ropes hanging on the wall. One to two deck hands can easily handle them but Lockport is twin 50’ lifts back to back. Two people can handle the locks but there is quite a bit of turbulence. Make sure to have good fenders, some walls are in very bad shape.

 

[Glaukos]

Erie Canal Lock tie up

is there any online coarse or an online guidebook on how to tie up in a lock? I will be doing the Erie Canal from Hudson River to the Finger Lakes summer 2020 and would like something to study this winter.

I seldom use the slimy lines hanging down from the top of the lock walls on the Erie Canal. The methods that I find easiest are the following:
1. From a midship cleat, run a line around a recessed pipe in the lock wall and back to the cleat. One line that slides up and down with the water level. Be careful if you are going up and the cleat will end up a few feet higher than the top of the pipe. Be ready to slack the line as the cleat goes past the top of the pipe.
2. Use a box hook (meat hook, hay hook) about 18" long to grab a rung on a ladder on the lock wall. There is a ladder at each end of the lock on each side. Just move the hook from rung to rung as you go up or down. The hook should be wide enough to hold onto the top rail of the ladder, rather than a rung, when the rail of the boat goes above the top of the wall.
3. Same as #1, only pass the line around one of the plastic coated cables that are fastened at the top and bottom of the lock wall.
You can find a description of our technique and a picture or two in my article in Points East Magazine, online at: https://www.pointseast.com/low-bridge-everybody-down/.

 

[BandB]

The Great Loop does not require going through the Welland Canal unless your doing what I refer to as the "Industrial Great Loop." The scenic loop takes you through the Trent-Severn Waterway and into Georgian Bay. Totally bypasses the Welland Canal and Lake Erie.

Does if you want to see Lake Erie and can't go through western Erie.