Lake Erie to Lake Ontario

[Steve36]

Hi there,
We will be moving our boat from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario this spring.
First leg would be to go from Detroit to Port Colborne,
After an overnight in Port Colborne we would head over to Lake Ontario.
We will be going through the Welland Canal, I was wondering if there is anything I should be bringing to make this trip as smooth as possible.
I would imagine, extra fenders would be in order.
Please let me know any info that would make this trip smoother and without incident.

Thanks.

 

[Gofirstclass]

Well be sure not to take any handguns with you, and do take passports for everyone on board.

You didn't say what area of DTW you're coming from, but if its from the north end (Lake St. Clair) you might want to think about fueling up at Gibralter. That's the last stop before you hit CA waters and you'll probably find fuel cheaper there than in CA. That's about 45 miles from Lake St. Clair so some fuel and a chance to step ashore might be welcome.

From Lake St. Clair to Port Colborne is about 260 miles. That's a full day's run so be sure to keep an eye on the weather and have some planned places to duck in if the weather turns crappy on you. Be sure to have enough people to spell each other at taking turns at the helm. I've found that about 2-3 hours is plenty of time. You should make sure you have enough crew on board so you have one at the helm, one napping and one standing by as a second set of eyes.

File a "flight plan" with some friends and contact them when you reach your destinations or if you have to duck in somewhere due to the weather. Nobody wants to be out searching for your boat if you're sitting in a restaurant somewhere midway along the day's course. Here's a link to the USCG float plan.
http://floatplancentral.cgaux.org/download/USCGFloatPlan.pdf

Make sure everyone knows how to use the VHF, where the pdf's are stored, how to use the autopilot, read helm gauges, etc.

One last thing--take LOTS of photos. Two or three years later you'll be glad you did.

 

[RollerCoastr]

Hi there,I would imagine, extra fenders would be in order.

The Welland is BRUTAL to fenders. On my first passages, we bought burlap bags full of straw to use as fenders and tossed them onto a pile at the other end. They worked fine, but later the Port Colborne marinas sold fender covers:

The fenders still got a little scuffed and dirty, but they worked. It might be worth a call ahead to see if they're still available. If not, maybe grab some old pillow covers to do the same. Seaway Welland has a PDF that explains the procedures and gives you a map of locks. Download that ahead of time, as you won't necessarily have contact with a lock master until you're about halfway through (to pay). Particularly handy is the sequence of which side of the lock you'll ride down - you don't want to unnecessarily move fenders only to put them back on the same side, or worse, not be prepared when you have to change sides.

The Welland doesn't have floating bollards, so your crew will have to pay out lines as you descend. Carry several pairs of gloves that you don't mind sacrificing to the dirty lines. Make sure your crew understands that cleating the lines would be disastrous. The first lock is "practice" - it only lowers a few feet and you don't go to a wall or take lines.

Pleasure boats are considered a nuisance at best. Your timing depends on commercial traffic. You have to be prepared to go at a minute's notice, or wait for half a day. Being in the canal system doesn't preclude the possibility of a wait. Be sure to be fully provisioned. We once grilled hotdogs while idling in the middle of the canal during a prolonged delay. We've also tied to wall to wait out traffic, and on the very first big lock, we were ordered to get on-plane to stay out of the way. (wow that was a mess when the lock doors shut - like someone had shaken a bathtub, and we were the rubber ducks)Because of the unpredictable timing, also be prepared for night travel, or a stay-over in St. Catherines.

 

[my3sons]

Good advice above. I will add: Stay at Sugarloaf Marine the night before, they will help you buy your lockage online. Call Seaway control that evening and ask them how things look for passage in the morning, they will tell you what time to show up at the city dock to call in, and if other boats are going with you. When you get to the city dock at the first lift bridge, there is a phone there that rings direct to seaway control. Give them your confirmation number from the paypal receipt and you are good to go and then he will firm up the time to go. They will then call you on the VHF. Cruise up to the lift bridge and the operator will open it and then the journey begins NON STOP. Once you start, you continue until completion so have your sandwiches ready from the night before in case you don’t have to wait anywhere along the way for passing traffic. The last time we went through, we had to pull over to a wall once and wait for about an hour for a ship to come past. Commercial traffic gets preference, so be prepared for a long day up to 14 hrs, but the average is about 8-10 hrs. We went through with a sail boat last year, traveling with “slowboats” will slow you down, if you get to the next lock before them, you wait for them, so just relax and go with the flow.

They will give you 75' poly lines (yellow), they tie them to bollards at the top and you pay them out as you go down, avoid tangles. DO NOT cleat them, have a good knife handy in case one of your crew has a brain cramp and you need to cut a line in a hurry. Have boat hooks to fend off the walls. Your boat is heavier than ours, but the admiral and I have no trouble holding the fenders off the wall that way.

I went to a garden/nursery shop and bought a roll of burlap for about $20 and put my fenders in a garbage bag, then wrapped them in the burlap and used zip ties to close the ends, made for a nice neat and not too bulky package, they would still fit in the baskets.

Have a handheld VHF. Its handy for when you are not at the helm, or for back-up, they can call with directions at any time to instruct you to get out of the way Have Fun

 

[RollerCoastr]

They will give you 75' poly lines (yellow), they tie them to bollards at the top and you pay them out as you go down, avoid tangles. DO NOT cleat them, have a good knife handy in case one of your crew has a brain cramp and you need to cut a line in a hurry. Have boat hooks to fend off the walls. Your boat is heavier than ours, but the admiral and I have no trouble holding the fenders off the wall that way.

Great idea with those fender covers and the suggestion to carry a knife!

I edited my post to add the word "floating" when I said the Welland doesn't have bollards. To those who may not understand what I'm talking about, many locks in the country have floating bollards: a float that slides up and down the lock wall with the boats, so boaters can cleat to it and enjoy the ride. The Welland does not have these. Primarily there to serve commercial ships, the lockmasters aren't in the habit of offering tips to recreational boaters. Skippers have to be sure to properly instruct their crews.

Sailboats have the additional challenge of the curved hullsides. You'll see the experienced ones hang long fender boards over the side to increase the fender area, but that's not necessary for most powerboats. The less-prepared sailors try to fend off the wall with collapsible gaff hooks, which have a tendency to well, collapse. If your crew uses hooks to push off the wall, make sure the it's already collapsed, or tightly locked. I've seen this result in a cracked transom corner - it was a sickening sound, but that was on the way up. The downbound journey is easier in every way.

 

[my3sons]

Yes, the ride up is definitely a different story than the ride down, going up also requires the mandatory 3rd person, who can be hired for about $250 cdn, plus cab ride back.

 

[bahamabreisus]

Just thinking, what would it cost to truck from Sugarloaf Marina to St Caterines Marina. I have done locks before across Okeechobee, not to big a deal, but those look like some monsters and many of them . Doesn't look far by road.

 

[Steve36]

Thank you for everyone's input.
Since we are going down, I am hoping it wont be an arduous task.
We have done many locks before bringing the boat from Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario but have never done ship locks.
Again thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I'm not sure of what the bollards are like back there, but to give you a visual to work with, here's what they are out here on the Columbia and Snake River dams. The tin can is the bollard and it runs up and down in tracks on either side of the bollard. You can see a bit of the wheels that roll up and down in their tracks.

There are two places to tie up to the bollard. The higher one is the one that my Admiral has tied to and is for taller boats. There is another one further down that is hidden by the upper bollard.

Hope this helps.

 

[my3sons]

Thank you for everyone's input.
Since we are going down, I am hoping it wont be an arduous task.
We have done many locks before bringing the boat from Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario but have never done ship locks.
Again thanks for all the suggestions.

In my opinion, the Welland trip down bound is less turbulent and is less stressful than going up in the TSW locks. Huge locks, not crowded, no turbulence vs small locks full of boats with some turbulence. It will be a big non issue for you if you have been through the Trent. Have fun.

 

[RollerCoastr]

In my opinion, the Welland trip down bound is less turbulent and is less stressful than going up in the TSW locks. Huge locks, not crowded, no turbulence vs small locks full of boats with some turbulence. It will be a big non issue for you if you have been through the Trent. Have fun.

Agreed. We didn't mean to scare you away from it. I wouldn't advise against it even if you were transiting up-bound. It's an awesome experience - almost a right-of-passage for a Great Lakes boater.

Be prepared, take lots of pics, and talk about it for decades. :grin:

 

[RollerCoastr]

I'm not sure of what the bollards are like back there, but to give you a visual to work with, here's what they are out here on the Columbia and Snake River dams. The tin can is the bollard and it runs up and down in tracks on either side of the bollard. You can see a bit of the wheels that roll up and down in their tracks.

There are two places to tie up to the bollard. The higher one is the one that my Admiral has tied to and is for taller boats. There is another one further down that is hidden by the upper bollard.

Hope this helps.
View attachment 43546

cheaters. :grin:

 

[my3sons]

cheaters. :grin:

For sure. There are none in the Erie Canal, none in the Welland. There is one lock in the Trent that I remember that has them. I think it was Swift Rapids. When we puled up to it, Karen just looked at it and then said "what do I do with it"? after using it, she proclaimed that they all should be like that. GFC, those are a lot bigger than the one in the Trent!

 

[Steve36]

Thanks Mark.

 

[Steve36]

Was hoping to take the kids to Cedar Rapids before going back to Lake Ontario but school got in the way.
Seems like an awesome place to spend the day.

 

[Gofirstclass]

I don't think there are locks like ours anywhere else in the US. These pics are of Ice Harbor Lock and Dam, on the Snake River, which I understand is the second highest lift lock in the US.

Here's a shot of the whole dam with the spillway gates letting a lot of water over them. The lock is to the left of the structure.

Here's a closer look as we're approaching the lock. The lock is 86' across, about 680' long (IIRC) and the average lift on this lock is about 105'. We've seen it as high as 119' when the spring runoff makes the upstream water level higher. The guillotine gate at the downstream end of the lock weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 tons.

In this shot we're all secured to the bollard and waiting for the water level to rise. GW is taking a well deserved break. If you look at the top of the far end (upstream end) of the lock you can see the cantilever gate in its raised position. We'll be up there in about 30 minutes.

Here's a closer look at the cantilever gate. The water is near the level of the water upstream of the lock. They wait until both sides are at the same level then lower that cantilever gate.

Here's a better shot of my Admiral. This was taken on another trip through the same lock. I think she's pretty easy on the eyes, but then I might be a bit prejudiced. That headset she's wearing we use some times in the lock because I can't see her when I'm at the helm and she's on the walkway.


I'm not sure how this pic got repeated. I tried to delete it but it won't go away.

 

[Steve36]

That is pretty amazing.
Have to handed to the men and women who engineer these marvels.

 

[Gofirstclass]

The thing that amazes me most is that they were able to build these without computers. Slide rules ruled the day.

Also, there are no pumps used to move the water in our locks. It's all done by gravity.

 

[Woody]

Just about all the locks in the world use gravity.