The Welland Canal
30 June 2015
We departed Sodus Point, NY at 0700 on Friday, June 26th. It felt as though we had been there forever and we were both ready to move on. Our destination was Port Weller in St. Catherine's, Ontario. Roughly 100 nautical miles. There were light winds so we had to motor to make landfall before dark. It was a little rolly at first with winds out of the North. As we passed Rochester and turned South the ride smoothed out. Dorito assumed his underway position behind the pillows in the forward cabin.
It was a beautiful day, a little foggy at first but as the sun came up the fog burned off. It would have been perfect, except for the little terrorists. It was a bloody day on Davali. They died by the thousands yet more came to replace them. The onslaught began just west of Rochester and continued until just outside of Port Weller. We sprayed and swatted and doused with hot water laced with vinegar. Our cockpit floor was littered with bug guts and their carcasses. At one point, Chris and I were like crazed wildebeests swirling and flicking them off. I inadvertently sprayed Chris in the face with Off...
As the bugs began to abate, we moved forward with the remote from the autopilot and sat on the foredeck. The occasional fly persisted but it was much improved. I went below for a shower to find that the screens in our hatches and portlights are not as bug proof as we would hope. The slaughter recommenced.
We entered Canadian waters at 1957 and hoisted our quarantine flag. This alerts the authorities that we needed to clear customs. We entered the Welland canal and moored to the wall at 2130 to spend the evening and wait our turn to lock through. These locks are meant for huge 1000 foot lakers and it was something to watch them come and go. The locks operate 24 hours a day, unlike the locks on the Erie and Oswego Canals.
No electricity and we were afraid to leave our hatches open, so it was a muggy night. Also, we were both suffering from Internet withdrawal. I had opted for the Canada/Mexico plan offered by Verizon for our cellphones. Unlimited talk and text, although not pictures or videos and I was under the impression that 100 MB of data were included. But our phones warned us we would be roaming if we connected and we erred on the side of caution. I actually began a book. Shamefully, my first of the journey.
The next morning our hired deckhand and guide to the Welland, Bob, arrived at 0700. Chris went to buy our pass, 240.00 dollars, and contact the lock for instructions. We were delayed until 0900. This waterway favors commercial traffic and recreational boaters must wait. We took a walk and found a dumpster to offload some trash.
It was cloudy, muggy and 70 degrees. The weather forecast was for gale winds and torrential rains later in the day and we were hoping to get through the locks before that system arrived. Originally, we had thought we might go to Port Dover to anchor and cross Lake Erie in the morning. Given the weather, we decided to take a slip at Sugar Loaf Marina in Port Colborne and had made reservations for two nights, just in case.
We received clearance and began our approach to Lock 1. It wasn't as big as I had thought, but Bob said it to wait until I saw the next lock. He was right. We entered the lock and moved all the way forward. The lock workers threw down two lines tied together. Bob retrieved the lines and untied them. He stayed on the bow as I walked the stern line aft. Chris was at the helm. As the lock begins to fill, the turbulence was too strong to keep the boat on the wall by hand and we made the line off to the cleats and took them in as we were lifted. This was the procedure for locks 1 through 7. The last lock, lock 8 is a controlling lock. Bob departed Davali after Lock 7 and we were on our own. Entering lock 8, we did not tie off but "marked time" in the lock. I don't think it lifted us at all, it's purpose is to match the canal depth to the lake depth in times when there may be a discrepancy between the two.
The average lift per lock is 46.5 feet and the total lift from Lake Ontario to Lake Erie is 326.5 feet. Each lock holds 21 million gallons of water. I have heard that the scenery along the canal is pretty, but we really didn't get a chance to enjoy it.
Once we were past lock 8, we made our way to Sugar Loaf marina in a driving rain, 10-15 knot winds in our face and low visibility. The marina originally put us on a T-pier with our stern to the wind. This was a problem because the wind and rain was driving right into our cockpit! Chris had us move around to another slip with our bow facing the wind and it was much more pleasant. We hung our foul weather gear up to dry and turned on the heat. Dorito came out from his hiding place and we opened a bottle of champagne. It was a great feeling to have the Welland Canal behind us!! Making progress.