Welland Canal, ON, Canada

August 15, 2017 The Welland Canal

The Welland Canal is a deep draft ship canal between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, located in Canada. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller to Port Colborne, it enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment and bypass Niagara Falls. The canal closes in winter when ice or weather conditions become a hazard to both navigation and shipping. More than 4,000 lake and ocean-going ships from around the world make their way each year through the 23-mile-long canal, which provides 326 feet of lift (or descent) through 8 locks. The average lift of each lock is 46 feet. The locks are 766 ft long and 80 ft wide with the maximum vessel length allowed to transit the locks of 740 ft. The cost for an average length pleasure craft to transit the Welland Canal is $200 CAD. There is a minimum crew requirement and life jackets are required for all crew in the locks and approaches.

Due to the Welland Canal’s main purpose of providing passage to large commercial ships, pleasure craft are at the back of the line when it comes to scheduling. Yesterday we stopped by the municipal docks and phone check-in location for boaters passing through the locks to familiarize ourselves with the game plan. We met owners/crew on 4 boats waiting to lock through the canal. At 3:30 pm, two of the boats had already been waiting more than 24 hours and the other two boats had been waiting since 7:00 am. We were crossing our fingers that we would be able to get through the canal today.

On the advice of Norm, our hired local line handler for transiting the Welland Canal, we left the marina early and arrived at the Welland Canal wait docks at 6:40 am to be ready for the 7:00 am shift change. The first thing we noticed was that the 4 boats from yesterday were no longer at the municipal dock! Yay (for them and for us)!!! Once in the canal, passage through takes from 8 to 12 hours, depending on traffic, and must be complete in one cruise. No overnight stays or anchoring is allowed in the Welland Canal. The number of boats locking through together increases the amount of time it takes for passage.

We made the call to the Seaway office at 7:00 am and were told to standby for a 7:30 departure! After hearing the number of times yesterday’s vessels were told to standby then to stand-down again, we were afraid to get our hopes up. Then at 7:30 we were told we were waiting for a U.S. environmental survey ship coming in from Lake Erie that would also be making the transit with us. Damn! We almost had the down bound canal transit to ourselves. Steve was the only vessel on his transit with Who Cares II 18 years ago. We were still crossing our fingers for a transit today without yesterday’s delays when, at 8:00 am, the research ship Lake Guardian came into view from Lake Erie and we followed her under the lift bridge and we were “in the system”!!!!

At 180 feet and displacing 850 tons, the research vessel Lake Guardian is the largest Great Lakes research and monitoring vessel owned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). AND IT WAS DWARFED by the freighters/lakers we pass in the Canal!! The Lake Guardian is operated by the EPA’s Chicago-based Great Lakes National Program Office, conducts monitoring programs that sample the water, aquatic life, sediments, and air in order to assess the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem. The ship is equipped with state-of-the-art data collection techniques and instruments for use during biannual spring and summer surveys.

Norm, our hired local line handler, was wonderful and a huge help!! He was retired from the Welland Canal system after more than 30 years of service and has been a hiring himself out as a line handler for many years. He knew everything about transiting the Canal and with his insider’s knowledge he was invaluable and made the trip stress free!! Thank you Norm!!!

Before today I had only transited one lock. It was in Stuart, FL on the last Who Cares in the summer of 2015. I knew that lock did not adequately prepare me for the experience of transiting the Welland Canal. It was very exciting! We were locking down so we pulled into a HUGE “bath tub” full of water. We were level with the lock tenders who handed both Norm and I each a line (fore and aft, I was on the bow) and we held Who Cares in position in the locks during our descent.

20 million gallons of water is released from the chamber for each locking. We started descending and descending and descending until the lock seemed like sitting at the bottom of the Grand Canyon!! With massive doors both behind us and in front of us! The doors behind us were holding back a tremendous amount of water and waterfalls were being forced through the smallest openings! There was a feeling that a tiny malfunction could spell disaster! Then the forward doors would open to a level canal (over 40 feet below our original position) and Steve would maneuver us out of the cavernous lock with the waterfalls at our back. Fascinating!!

Several times during our transit, we were instructed to pull over to the wall outside the lock to allow for a commercial ship to pass. Wow! They were “up close and personal” and huge! Our fantastic transit of the Welland Canal ended at 4:30 pm, 8 1/2 hours after it started!! Hello Lake Ontario!!