Welland Canal To Toronto
Trip Start
Jul 21, 2001
1
9
45
Trip End
Apr 22, 2002
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada
Sunday, August 12, 2001
The Welland Canal
The following facts are condensed from a Great Lakes Cruising Club's report by member Ken Kloeber. The first canal opened in 1833 and contained 40 wooden locks. It was improved in 1845 with deeper channels and the locks were reduced to 27 (this time they were made of "modern " masonry.) In 1887, a realigned canal was completed with 26 cut-stone locks. The current canal was constructed between 1913 and 1932 and the number of locks was reduced to 8. The total length is 27 miles.
Upbound boats experience up to 20 million gallons of water rushing in to fill a lock. It creates so much turbulence that the dock masters insist that 3 people be on any upbound boat to handle the lines and try and control the boat. If you don't have a third person, the going rate is $100 US to hire someone. Apparently Locks 3, 4 and 5 are the worst "where water shoots across the lock floor, ricochets off the opposite wall and returns in a rush that holds you tightly against the wall. The pressure is so great that you will not be able to fend off. In the first few minutes, the entire lock is a mass of boiling, hissing water from the air trapped in the inlet tunnel." Reading this, we worried about the two of us being able to control the boat adequately but in reality, as a downbound boat, we had a very smooth cruise with the water level quickly but very calmly dropping us about 45 feet at each lock.
The marina recommended that we be at the canal entrance for a 7 am start. We were glad that we followed their advice. The first task one has is to call Seaway Welland on Channel 14. Once you establish communication, you must stay on 14 unless Seaway Welland gives you permission to switch to another channel. Then you must check in above lock 8. We found this to mean we motored close to canal wall and a man threw a rolled up instruction booklet to us. So much for checking in.
The entire trip takes a minimum of 6 hours and can take up to 12 hours. We were doing great until we had to tie up for over two hours to allow three freighters in a row to pass us. Then we had to wait for a fourth ship at another lock. In total, our trip took 10 hours and 15 minutes.
The straw bags which we bought the previous evening came in very handy and I recommend that anyone transiting the canal buy 2 or even 3. We also had work gloves to handle what we were told were very dirty lines. Surprisingly the lines were quite clean but the walls of the canal are very dirty and slimy and I found my rubber coated gloves to be an excellent choice.
Another tip, never cleat off a line. I had read this but at lock 7, I still cleated the line just for a minute to go to the stern and get the camera. They didn't tell us they had opened the valves and the captain of the boat in front of us yelled to warn me. In that short period of time, the line had become very tight as the water level fell and it was with difficulty that I got it undone. Never did that again!!!
We had the misfortune of having to have a smaller sailboat raft beside us. This caused us a lot of aggravation. Lock 8 is a port tie, lock 7 a starboard tie, locks 6, 5 and 4 port, lock 3 starboard and finally 2 and 1 back to the port side. Thus we had to not only change from one side to another our straw bags and fenders which would go against the canal wall but also the lines and fenders we used to keep the smaller boat tied to us. In addition, they only had a small outboard motor which the captain had trouble with and seemed to fear putting in reverse. This resulted in some near collisions as we tried to grapple with their approach at each lock. In fairness, the same captain was a help in fending us off the slimy walls as Margaret and I looked after the dock lines.
We did develop a pleasant relationship with the power boat in front of us and when we left the locks we decided to go together to Port Dalhousie, four miles to the east.
Walter and Diane Crocker aboard Navy Four were from Freeport in Nova Scotia. They had just completed a cruise from their home port to New York City and then across the Erie Canal to Buffalo. It was very interested talking with them about their trip and they gave us good advice about the sections of the canal which we will soon be taking. Their canal trip covered over 300 miles while we will enter it only for the last third as we will sail down Lake
Ontario instead.
We had a pleasant time together sharing supper at the marina restaurant which is aboard an old ship. Walter had been in the air force and they regaled us with stories of their time in Australia and a trip they took to Fiji. Well, maybe someday.
August 11
We have been on the go so much in these past days that today we decided to get off the boat do some walking. Port Dalhousie has an excellent multi-purpose paved path that winds its way along the riverbank and into the town. It took about 20 minutes to walk it and along the way Margaret said about 3 times, "This is so nice." She certainly misses her walks along the North Channel back home.
The town has numerous craft and gift shops and it was an interesting experience. The best part for me was a tour we were given of the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #350. It has a perfect location overlooking the river and the set up inside takes advantage of this waterfront view. Many of their members are naval veterans and there is a striking naval wall of honour that my comrades back at #177 in Little Current would be thrilled to see.
After our invigorating walk, we were ready for a good sail to Port Credit. NO WIND. Another day of motoring. No wonder Mike Tilston gave up sailing and bought a trawler!
Port Credit
We stayed at the new marina just off the main street. Very convenient to shopping but it was our luck to arrive on special holiday Saturday. The music finally stopped at 2 am!!!
August 12
A short sail to Toronto, only 12 miles away. A great experience to enter Toronto Harbour with all its commercial, tour boat and private boat traffic. You have to keep a constant 360 degree lookout. Stayed at Marina Quay West. For some reason, "Quay" is pronounced "Key". We docked with the Skydome and the CN tower in view off our bow. Wow, what a sight!!! Our next log will describe some of our experiences in Ontario's capital city.
