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

 New friend, Gordon Hodgkins, "Chasseur' to the side of Terry at the canal waiting dock.  Bridge 21 in background

Last War ship to leave, making way for us to enter canal

War ship guns wrapped in plastic on each side

Ellen from "Eastbound n Down" instructing us on "Spot" GPS locator beacon

"Empire Sandy" approaching Bridge # 21

Our parade into Lock 8 begins

Sharing the canal with others bigger than us

Tied up on canal wall waiting for lock 7

"Hanging out" waiting on the wall

"Empire Sandy" leads us all the way

Making friends with "Sandy"

Rafted up to "Spirit Healer" helping Sonya lock down

Going down......

Lock gates behind us

Leaving the lock

Lock gates closed behind at night

Coming into lock.. night time operation

Still smiling after 6 locks

The End

Hostage in Canada

August 8, 2012 Wednesday

Wednesday morning we woke early to get to the waiting dock for the Welland canal.  There is a credit card machine at the waiting dock to pay the canal fee and a phone to talk to the canal operator.  The operator gave us instructions and expected time to enter the system, which would not be earlier than 1100 hrs. He told us we would be waiting for 3 ships before us (commercial traffic gets priority).
The Welland Canal is an amazing engineering feat, consider the first transit through the canal took place in November 1829!  It is a safe and interesting route around Niagara Falls.  More than 4,000 "lakers" and ocean-going ships from around the world make their way each year through this 23 mile long canal.  The average lift or drop, depending on which way you are going, of each lock is 46 feet.  We would be going through 8 locks.
We sat at the waiting dock for hours.  Soon other boats joined us, 4 other sailboats, two are from Michigan, one from Saugatuck and the other from Muskegon.  S/V "Eastbound n Down" has a crew of 5 fresh out of college, heading to the Caribbean - having the time of their lives.
This late a start through the canal meant we would be locking at night, and we would be rafting with the other boats.  As the hours ticked by things became more complicated.  We were required to monitor the marine radio on channel 14 and as the day went on we learned of "problems" with Lock gate 2 and Lock 7.  At 1300 hrs Terry was radioed by "Jamie" the lock operator with bad news.  One of the big ships lost control in Lock 7 and took out the arresting cable that protects the lock gate.  The repair time was unknown for today, a crane was needed to be brought in to repair the cable.  Terry reported the news to the other cruisers waiting.  We did not want to lock down through the night, so the decision was easy. With the permission of the  lock operator we will spend the night at the waiting dock in hopes to move tomorrow (Thursday).  Jamie said this happens about twice a year.
A walk through town across the street, Terry made friends with with "Canalside Pub" owner Greg.  He welcomed us to hang out in the pub as long as we like, for WiFi, etc.  All of the other stranded sailors also joined us at the Pub. (English Style) This is the only reason we are able to publish  this post,  no phone, no Internet sitting outside the canal entrance.   And now..... thunderstorms and hail are approaching.
Standby..........

"Trouble creates a capacity to handle it."  

Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ships, ships and more ships pass us by....one of these guys took out Lock 7 and so we wait.  Interesting the western half of the Erie Canal is closed now as well.

Crew from S/V "Eastbound n Down"

Dunkirk, NY to Port Colborne, ON

August 7, 2012 Tuesday 

A sailing we will go, a sailing we will go.....southwest winds 5-10 kts predicted with  waves, 2 feet or less, from Dunkirk, NY, crossing the eastern end of Lake Erie to Port Colborne, Ontario.  What a beautiful day at sea.  It was a jib alone (broad reach) sail.  As usual, NOAA predictions were not accurate.  Winds picked up to an actual 20 to 28 kts - and were screaming.  Waves in Lake Erie with 20 kts + winds out of the WSW (240 mile fetch) will not be 2 feet or less for long. And so it was....4 footers with occasional 5's, but no worries for "Chasseur", they were pushing her.  We made Port Colborne, just soon enough to avoid being uncomfortable.  We had to wait for the Canada Steamship Line ship to clear the channel into Port Colborne and for our first time on "Chasseur" we got pooped by those Lake Erie waves! (for you landlubbers, "pooped" means (green water) waves coming over the back or stern of the boat and  right into the cockpit)
 We spent a lot of time interviewing and listening to the Sugarloaf Marina manager about "locking through" the canal.  We appreciated the advise.  We got to port early enough to "recon" on foot the town and locks.  It gave us valuable information for the big day Wednesday.  We went to the look out for Lock 8 and met Jen Scott, wife of the pilot of the ship "Stephan B. Roman" coming through the lock.  She was there with her children (playing in the fountain) waiting for her husband to come home from out at sea.
Down the dock from us we met local sailor, James Shirk (not sure of name spelling), who has gone through the locks several times and offered us more advise.
Coming to port we received the "St. Lawrence Seaway Pleasure Craft Guide" that requires study before you enter the canal.  It is like studying for your first drivers license, only the guide teaches you how to "drive"  through the locks, equipment required (fenders,etc.), and signal light system to pass under bridges and entering and leaving the locks.
We had to clear customs which was quite simple via a phone call at a designated phone on shore.  Everyone we met in Port Colborne was very helpful and pleasant.
It was dark when we came back from town and we still had preparations for the locks yet to do.  We could not find the bicycle pump to inflate the fenders so as all sailors must do, Terry came up with an alternative (only a tuba player could do this), see photo.

"For there is a time for every purpose and for every work."  Ecclesiastes 3:17b

Sailing to Port Colborne

Waiting for Canada Steamship Lines to clear channel 

Port Colborne outer marker

Inner marker to Port Colborne, Grain elevators

Cruiser navigating through Lock 8

Jen Scott, wife of pilot on the "Stephen B. Roman"

Scott children playing in the fountain waiting for father's return from sea

Lock 8

Traffic signal for the Locks

Boys and their toys

Clearing the bridge into Lock 8

Closing of the lock gates

Inflating the fenders

Still in Dunkirk

August 6, 2012 Monday

We are staying in Dunkirk, NY one more day.  A cold front is working it's way through the area which would give us wind and waves on the nose for Port Colburn, Ontario.  Yesterday we had a big storm come through with winds as high as 60 kts.  "Chasseur" lifted up and heeled over almost 15 degrees at the dock...sure got our attention! The rainy afternoon gave us the opportunity to study canal and lock travel, reorganize the "garage" (aft cabin), and clean house (swab decks and make ship shape).
 Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are 577 feet above sea level. Lake Erie is 569.2 feet above sea level.  Lake Ontario is 243.3 feet above sea level.  We will be dropping down through the Welland Canal locks a total of 325 feet to enter Lake Ontario, getting much closer to sea level since departure.  We are looking forward to our adventure through our first set of locks.  We have purchased our second boat hook and the gloves needed to handle the slimy lines we have to hold while "Chasseur" drops down in the 8 locks.  We hope we can get photos of us doing this, but we think we will have our hands full and rather busy.
Getting things you  need is not a simple thing when living on a sailboat.  We walked 3 miles (one way) on busy surface roads and a highway to buy a new iPhone charging cord.  Suzanne noticed county buses on the roads and was determined not to walk that same trek back.  She kept a vigilant look about the parking lot until she finally saw a bus and ran after it flagging it down.  Because Dunkirk is as close as we will be to Buffalo, Terry has found his "Beef on Weck" sandwich here in Dunkirk (see photo).  "Beef on Weck", as well as "Buffalo Wings", are famous specialty foods of the western New York region.

"The readiness is all."  William Shakespeare

Point Gratiot, Dunkirk Lighthouse, moon on the top right of photo

Bottom finger Dunkirk, top finger Port Colburn,  Lake Ontario at the top

Welland Canal Map

"Beef on Weck" Sandwich

Dunkirk, New York

August 3, 2012 Friday

Chasseur Cruising Statistics:
Cumulative nautical miles:      807
Days since departure:               44
Days underway:                       18
States Visited:                            3
Great Lakes transited:                3 (soon to be 4)
Hours of fun:                            Many
Hours of Terror:                       Few

The reasons we chose the Welland Canal and to ship our mast over transiting the entire Erie Canal are many:
1.  We wanted to be a sailboat longer. If we started the Erie canal from Buffalo, it's mast down.  We can keep the mast up through the Welland.
2  Terry wants to sail Lake Ontario (4th Great Lake).
3.  We can ship our mast for a lot less money from Ontario to New York - less trucking distance and we have a partner (S/V "Cool Hand") to share the cost of renting the truck.
4.  This route is highly recommended by professional  boat delivery crews.
5.  We can keep our cockpit canvas up.
6.  May have trouble clearing low bridges on western half of the Erie Canal with cockpit canvas and a mast frame.
7.  Damage to our Mast is quite possible in the Western half of the canal with 6 feet hanging over each end of the boat. (Of course the truck could get in an accident before delivery).
8.  We will still navigate the eastern half of the Erie Canal which is very beautiful.
9.  Just learned as we are composing this post that the western Erie Canal is closed temporarily (time frame unknown), something about a sink hole.

There are a few more costs to this transit.  The Welland Canal fee is $200.00 and we don't know what our slip costs will be on Lake Ontario compared to the other Great Lakes.  Terry decided to apply for marine radio licenses that are required in international waters, as in Canada (another $220.00), and we will need it when we travel to the Bahamas.
We do change our travel plans often.  Weather is always a factor.  Sometimes we just don't particularly like the marina where we tie up. Sometimes we just feel like moving the boat - we are happiest at sea and underway.  Reading our guidebooks and "Skipper Bob" books sometimes push us out one port in anticipating of the next cool place.  We often ask ourselves when looking at the weather patterns,  if we have to be "stuck" in port, where would we rather be, and then we go.  And sometimes it's all of the above which is why we left Erie, PA for Dunkirk, New York.
As we traveled along the PA shoreline and approached Dunkirk we notice a big change in the topography.  Rocky cliffs line the shore and we are starting to see hills and small mountains.
We will be in Dunkirk for at least the weekend waiting for Port Colburn, Ontario's "Canal Days" festival to be over.  Port Colburn told us not to come, there would not be any slips for us.  As weather permits, we will cross Lake Erie to the north and prepare for The Welland Canal transit (26nm and 8 46ft. descending locks).  While we are here in Dunkirk, we will be reading and planning the adventure of going through the locks.

"Only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find his right path."  Dag Hammarskjold

Rocky cliff shoreline

More rocky cliffs

Dunkirk Lighthouse

Approaching town of Dunkirk, hills in the background

Erie. PA

August 1-2, 2012 Wednesday  - Thursday


"Chasseur" was heading for Erie, PA for several hours, when we spotted a sailboat close behind us.  We were speculating who it might be because we had recieved an email from our Canadian aquaintences that "Nautical Dreamer" was in Geneva on the Lake.  We met "Nautical Dreamer"s crew , Dale and Patty Bensted way back in St. Clair Shores, MI.  The binoculars confirmed it was them.  Terry hailed them on the VHF ship's radio and they responded.  We both headed for Erie, PA.  "Cool Hand" was already there, so we had a brief reunion with our Lake Michigan friends.
Coming into our marina we had to clear a pedestrian walk over from the Sheraton Hotel to a convention center.  You could see people looking at you through the glass.  The clearance, they say is 68 feet.  It is always a  little disconcerting when your mast is going under a structure.  You really can't get a true perspective from below, it always looks closer than it is.  Our mast is not more than 50 feet, so we did fine.  We tied up behind both "Nautical Dreamer" and "Cool Hand".
Thursday was Terry's birthday.  It was a fitting gift to be here in Erie for the Maritime Museum that Terry had been anxiously waiting to see.  This is the Brig "Niagara"s home port and we were lucky that she was here until the half part of this day.  She was to set sail any moment when we got to her and we were again lucky to have a quick private guided tour.  Happy Birthday Terry!!
We need to make a correction to an earlier post about the "Niagara".  We had some inaccurate information .  This "Niagara" is a new boat built in the late 1980's.  There is however, a small amount of wood from the original that was included in this construction.   It seems as though the "Niagara" is following us on our Lake Erie trip.  This has been a great fun experience.  The maritime museum people said she is rarely in port.  Here we are again in port with her.
Tomorrow we will be entering our third state, New York.  When weather permits we will be crossing Lake Erie from Dunkirk, New York to Ontario, Canada.  We are planning our "LOCK" trip through the Welland Canal.  We have decided to have our mast shipped and are sharing the cost with "Cool Hand".  We will then leave Lake Ontario from Oswego to reach the eastern half of the Erie Canal.
Tonight cruising vessel "Timika" docked next to us.  We recognized her immediately.  She was docked behind us at Jefferson Beach and was for sale.  The crew is delivering her to the new owner in Rhode Island.  See photo below of crew members from St. Clair Shores- one is from just a few blocks from where Suzanne once lived....small world.

"Coincidences mean you're on the right path."  

Simon Van Booy, "Love Begins in Winter:  Five Stories

"Nautical Dreamer" coming along side of us

Erie, PA Harbor Pier head

Pedestrian walk over, 68 feet clearance

"Niagara" in port

"Niagara" deck

Takes two on the tiller

Huge lines On "Niagara"

Watch bell, rung when it was your turn on watch

Prisms added to deck to add light below

Prism below deck

Scottish built carranade cannon

Some of the original wood included in the new "Niagara" construction

Ventilation for below deck

Commodore Terry

Birthday dinner aboard "Chasseur"

Delivery crew of  "Timika" from St. Clair Shores