Lock and Roll

. . . Locks R Us

There’s not a lock in Canada we don’t like. Or that's what it seems like. By the time you read this, we will have locked through 101 Canadian locks -- virtually every lock in the eastern part of the country. That’s 10 locks on the Chambly Canal/Richelieu River, 2 locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway, 2 locks on the Ottawa River, 44 locks on the Rideau Canal, and 43 locks on the Trent-Severn Waterway. 

Add the U.S. locks, and we’ll have gone through 144 locks by the time we lock back home through the Chickamauga Dam in Chattanooga.

A lock is just an elevator device for boats to go around man-made dams from the water elevation at the top of the dam to the bottom, or vice versa. Here are a few of the most unusual locks and sights along the way: 

The Guillotine Lock
The second Ottawa River lock -- the Carillon --  is totally modern, very different from the historic first lock. Boats tie to a floating dock and raft up. What makes this lock unique is the gate to let boats in or out. It looks like a guillotine. Lock gates usually fold from the sides to open or close. 

Gravity sucks water down
Most of the locks we went through were old, well maintained and completely gravity- and man-powered. If we were in a lock to go up in elevation, water was released into the lock from the higher river or lake. It usually made a whirlpool in the canal as it filled the lock. The reverse happened if we were going down in elevation. Water was released from the lock into the lower river or lake.



Finally!! Gateway to the Trent-Severn

We finally reached the start of the Trent-Severn Waterway three weeks after entering Canada. If the Erie Canal had been open, we would have been here immediately after passing through Customs. 

By the time we started up the waterway, we were tired, behind schedule and racing through locks and countryside. That colored our impressions of the waterway at first. The more Trent-Severn locks we did, the more we appreciated it. The waterway is long, 240 miles, about twice the length of the Rideau Canal. Along the way, it goes through lakes that you’d expect to see on a Canadian tourism Web site. 

Trent-Severn Lock Number 1
The Trent-Severn has a mix of technology. Like the other Canadian canals, it has some quaint locks that the lock master cranks open, sometimes with push cranks like this.. However, it also has hydraulic locks, two pan locks – one at Peterborough, one at Kirkfield – that are the best locks ever made (to our way of thinking) and one railway lock, named Big Chute.

Just a pretty picture
Sometimes there's no reason to show a photo other than it's just a pretty picture. This photo was taken as we motored to the entrance of the Peterborough Lift Lock. 

Pan or Lift Locks are the Greatest!

The Peterborough Lock has two pans, one underwater while the other is raised. We motored Carina into the left side of the lock and tied her off to a side rail. The left pan was lifted while the right one lowered. All the while, we floated in the left pan.

Aurora, with Mike and Cindy, leaves the Peterborough Lock. It took about five minutes to raise the lock from the time we were all tied off. That's about three to four times faster than a traditional lock.

The Most Unusual by Far -- The Big Chute Railroad Lock

The Big Chute was originally created to eliminate invasive species from spreading, we understand. Boaters will see a resemblance to a Travel Lift which lower straps into the water, lifts boats and drives them to where they are to be placed.

The Big Chute "Lock" follow tracks that take it from the water on one side to the water on the other.

It sinks down into the water. The depth it sinks depends on the size and numbers of boats. Carina and Aurora filled the lock, but the lock master told us he'd lifted as many as six (small) boats at once.

Carina is moved toward the straps. Because of her 4-1/2-foot wing keel, she had to be raised more in the front than the lock operators would have liked. All went well with the lift, though.

Aurora is moved toward the straps. Unlike with Carina, her stern (back) was lifted higher.

Up and over the hill until we were both afloat again.

Since we were through with locks, it gave us time to enjoy the hundreds of "cottages" in what Canadians call Cottage Country. Some are more cottage like, such as this one, while others are more cottage-mansion-like.






After a brief stop at Midland, Ontario, to have the mast raised, we're off to Georgian Bay, the North Channel and the U.S.A.!