Thursday; Port Weller, ON, to Port Colburne, ON, via the Welland Canal: Boy, what a day. It took us 13 hours to do the canal counting the delays and it cost $200.00 for usage fees. Once you are in the canal you have to complete it without stopping and when going up the canal you are required to have a minimum of 3 people on the boat. I was really glad we had 4 on board because I could not have done the ropes and held the boat away from the canal wall by myself. We had Ted and Pam Garrett on board with us. We met them last September at Aqua Yacht Harbor on the Tenn-Tom. Pam and Ted completed their Loop the end of May and they live in the Port Weller area and agreed to help us do the canal. It was supposed to be a nice day without rain until evening. We were ready to go by 07:00 and we checked into the lock, paid, and they said they would call us back. At 07:35 they called and said there would be a 5 hour wait due to canal maintenance, so we waited. While we were waiting a sail boat from Kingston, ON, got there and waited with us. By 12:35 the 2 boats finally went through Locks 1 and 2; then they called and told us we had wait again due to divers, this time it was an hour and a half.
We started Lock 3 by 15:15 and my arms were sore already. We didn't have any stops after that and there was no commercial traffic. Locks 4, 5, and 6 were really hard on me and by then it was raining. Pam and I were doing the bow, Ted did the stern, while Keith was on the bridge. I was really glad to have Pam up front helping me. I thought we had it made by Lock 7 but that one had the most turbulence of all and I almost took a header in the water; a little scary, but we made it. We floated Lock 8. It was a long, long, day. We were so keyed up we didn't get to bed until 23:00.
N42 52.546
W79 15.439
CO's comments: It was well worth the experience to do the Welland Canal. Once is enough!
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Keith and Ted checking in at the Welland Canal just before Lock 1 only to
find out that we would have to wait 5 hours before we could start locking through |
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| Tied up just before Lock 3 and waiting again; An hour and a half this time. |
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Killing time while we wait for the divers to get out of the water at Lock 3.
Pictured are from left: Keith, gentleman from Kingston, ON,
on sail boat-First Flight, Ted, and Pam |
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| Water emptying out of Lock 3; it won't be long before we can get going. |
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Inside Lock 4, 5, and 6. These 3 locks are consecutive;
finish one and immediately start the next |
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| Inside Lock 6 and it started to rain. |
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| First Flight in Lock 5; they had 5 men on their boat helping |
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At the top of Lock 7; Lock 8 is 12 miles from here
and it only rises about 3 feet so they let you float. |
Friday: Port Colburne, ON, Canada to Erie, PA, Wolverine Park Marina: We were up at 05:00 again and took off for Erie, PA. It looked like the weather was going to be fine but by the time we got to US waters it got pretty rough. This was another long day with little rest but we both were really glad to be back in the US. We got to Erie, PA, by 19:30. This marina and fuel set up was very strange. We called for directions into the fuel dock and they sent us to Presque Isle State Park (about 2 miles across the harbor) for fuel; after fueling, they sent us back to the mainland to the marina. It was very confusing and it would have been nice if they told us ahead of time what was happening. Come to find out; due to some City regulation the mainland doesn't have marine fuel so Wolverine Park Marina owns the fuel docks at the state park on Presque Isle. Erie has a very busy water front and the whole area is beautiful. I was too tired to cook so we went out to a restaurant called "Smugglers on the Wharf", it was very good and very popular with the locals.
CO's comments: There is a real neat anchorage by the fuel dock. We would have anchored but Preque Isle's Customs phone was out of order so we had to go to the main land. By then we were too tired to go back over and anchor.
N42 08.137
W80 05.409
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| Port Colburne, ON, Sugarloaf Marina |
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| Ship coming in off Lake Erie on their way to do the Welland Canal |
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| Leaving Port Colburne on 6-17-2011 on our way to Erie, PA on Lake Erie |
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| Sunset on Lake Erie on 6-17-2011 |
Saturday: Erie, PA to Geneva State Park Marina, OH: We did the same today; up at 05:00 and we went as far as Geneva State Park Marina, Ohio. About 08:30 a Customs and Boarder Patrol boat boarded us. They were real thorough but nice. This was our first boarding since we started last August. We got to our marina by 14:30, it was a beautiful day on the lake, and we were glad to be here at a decent hour. You never know when Lake Erie will be nice to you so you have to take advantage of good days. We still don't know if we will be going further tomorrow or not; right now it could go either way.
N41 51.389
W80 58.336
CO's comments: I never would have found the inlet to Presque Isle because it was so hazy and there were no markers. Luckily a TowBoatUS heard our call and came over and guided us in. That was good, as he warned us of some bad shoaling at the entrance.
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| Sky walk bridge you have to go under to get to Wolverine Park Marina |
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View from our slip at Wolverine Park Marina
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Sunset at Wolverine Park Marina on 6-18-2011
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