PHOTO ABOVE: Marjorie tending the bow line on Far Niente after we descend some 40' in about 6-8 minutes. The lock is now opening.

We successfully transited the Welland Canal today and did it in less than 8 hours, which means we were really lucky. We spoke with fellow sailors who have taken upwards of 17 hours due to freighter traffic. We entered Lake Ontario around 5:30 pm EDT and headed west to Port Dalhousie to dock and rest.

We left at our slip at the Sugarloaf marina at 9:45 am and hit the bridge at 10:00 am. Normally we would have had to tie up at a small dock right in front of bridge 21 and await Welland traffic control's instructions, but some knuckle head decided to tie up his 40+' motor cruiser at the free dock for the weekend. This meant we did not have a place to tie off because of our length. So we called traffic control at the kiosk next to the public dock the night before and explained that we could not stage at the dock due to this guy tying up the only spot we could wait at. We spoke to Welland traffic control that evening and they were very cooperative and let us pay then and instructed us to early in the morning and remain at the marina. We called them at 6:30 am and they told us to we'd need to wait until about 10:00 am and travel with 3 other boats. So we relaxed and had coffee and breakfast. We traveled the 21-mile length with 2 other sailboats and a motor cruiser who had taken on a professional captain for the transit. The motor cruiser led the group and we sat at the back of pack.

We only encountered 2 freighters on the way and in both cases they were up bound (Lake Ontario to Lake Erie, which is a higher elevation) and we reached the locks they were in just before they emerged from the lock. In one case we tied of on a very industrial wall, which was an interesting experience I'll comment more on later and in the second case we simply floated around 10-15 minutes as the ship passed out of the lock and by us in a very wide part of the channel just south of Lock 1.

The first 11-12 miles are simply canal motoring. Not much scenery and a couple of bridges that we had to wait for, but only for a few minutes. Once you hit lock 7, the locks take up the next 6-7 miles and it is one after another with about a 40+' drop in each lock.

Our first real lock (lock 8 right after we entered the canal is called a control lock and the water level does not change) was a bit of a challenge because the canal authority asked us to try out a new mooring system. Instead of being handed 2 lines by handlers that you then use to hold you boat on the lock wall as the water level drops, they had some experimental automatic floating tie offs that would adjust with the water level. Now these are clearly prototypes and could not manage to get a bow line around a recessed bollard. So we were instructed by the handlers to skip it and just pull between the other 2 sailboats and take the conventional lines. That meant parallel parking in the narrow lock, which is not Far Niente's strong suit. So we had a bit of difficulty and ended up backing up to back of the lock, always fun on big fat full keel boat in a tight area, and getting our lines behind the other 2 boats. Fortunately, only this lock, #7, had these prototypes and we used the conventional approach for the last 6 locks without much trouble.

One thing we were not prepared for were tying off on these commercial walls. The bollards are 60+' apart and a good 30' from the side. You need 60' bow and stern lines to lie off. We managed, if rather in a clumsy manner, to tie off by doubling the lines up, but it did catch us unprepared. So if you are planning to transit the Welland, have your fenders just above the water line, on both sides of your boat, and 60-100' lines ready on your bow and stern. That should enable you to tie off most anywhere.

We exited the canal and after we could not reach the St. Catherine's Marina on the VHF we headed for Port Dalhousie Marina (pronounced "daloosey"). We arrived to strong winds but a dock full of sailors who eagerly assisted our docking. We enjoyed a few cocktails with them and then cooked burgers and corn on the grill on the boat and enjoyed a good nights rest. We'll likely stay here Sunday night and head for Port Credit Monday.