Canterbury Sails by Chasseur: Welland Canal

August 9, 2012 Thursday

We met a delightful man at the Canalside Pub named Gordon Hodgkins, a journalist from England now living in Port Colborne. He took us on a tour, by van, of the city and countryside - great fun and conversation.
Slept the night at the Welland Canal waiting dock. There were ships sitting and waiting throughout the canal and locks all night. At 0400 hrs. we were awoken by the bridge alarm, which meant that boat traffic was moving again. Terry crawled out of the V-berth and headed up to the canal operator phone for an update. The operator told him to go back to bed because there were 10 ships waiting (they go first) and call him back at 1100 hrs., adding to the mix were 2 Canadian war ships (1st priority). So we waited...again. There was a great camaraderie among all of the sailors in waiting. We just love all the interesting people we meet and stories on this trip, so stimulating and fun. The much younger crew on "Eastbound n Down" tied one on last night, except for Ellen who was wide awake early in the morning. She visited with us on "Chasseur" and showed us how to activate our "Spot" GPS locator beacon.
The last update from the canal was for a 1300 hrs. start up the canal. We all waited anxiously. Clock kept ticking. We saw a three masted schooner tall ship coming in from Lake Erie. It was the "Empire Sandy" from Toronto wanting to lock down to Lake Ontario. We learned from the canal operator that we would be locking through with her! All of the sailors in waiting were ecstatic. Another hour ticked by, now it was 1400 hrs. We would be moving throughout the night, but we would not be alone! We were still waiting for the war ships to clear Bridge #21in front of us. Our excitement was building as we watched the last war ship pass by. Finally at 1420 hrs. the canal operator radioed us with instructions, tall ship "Empire Sandy" was to lead the parade, and we were to follow behind. Rain had come in but it did not dampen our excitement. 1445 hrs. "Empire Sandy" approached the bridge and the bridge alarm was sounded. Terry had been designated by the canal operator as the "communicator" to the other sailboats waiting. He sounded the alarm and shouted "gentlemen start your engines, cast off yours lines". We all entered lock 8 @ 1500 hrs.
Lock 8 is an "equalizing" lock and only drops a couple of feet. The boat sat quietly while the gate closed behind her and we dropped gently. Onto lock 7, 16 nm away. Lock 7 required us to raft with our new sailing friends, Sonya and Jerry, on S/V "Spirit Healer". Down 45 feet we went. (See photos)
We both just cannot express in words our excitement and thrill we felt. Grins ear to ear, we had more fun than we can describe. A dream come true!
Locks 6,5,4 are called "flight" locks because they function like giant steps in a large flight of stairs. Altogether they lowered us 139.5 feet in a distance of 4100 feet. We had to go through these 3 locks one right after the other, absolutely thrilling!! Adding to the experience, we did this after night fell.
We had delays throughout the canal. Sitting at the bottom of a very dark Lock 4, holding onto our ropes, we waited 15 minutes or more for a big ship to lock through on the other side of this lock.... eerie. We had to tie up outside one lock on a wall in the canal waiting our turn, watching a big ship ahead of us go down, down, down.
It took us 12 hours to complete the canal(after waiting the previous 32 hours at the holding dock). Most boaters complete it in 8 hours. The many big ships awaiting Lock 7's repair were still working their way through the canal. It was 0245 Hrs (that's a.m.) when we cleared the last lock. The crews of "Chasseur", "Eastbound n Down", "Weather or Knot" and "Spirit Healer" crashed into an earned sleep, tied up on a concrete wall just outside of the canal, against the surge of an awaiting Lake Ontario.

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe."

Anatole France