Friday June 19, 2009

The Welland Canal. Big. Awesome. 850 foot Great Lake freighters. Massive locks. Exciting.

This canal and lock system is an engineering masterpiece. Built 75 +years ago it functions perfectly. Original owned and operated by the Canadian Government, the operation was outsourced to a private company. Today only 40% or so of the ship traffic passes through as was the case in the '60s and '70s. The cost of  a one way passage for a big ship is $23,000 to $$25,000. Big bucks but the only game in town.

We took on a third person as a deck hand, required by the Canadian authorities, and lucky we were to find the man we did. Rodger St. Amand, a recently retired 40 veteran of the canal, took us through flawlessly. Not only did he place us perfectly in each lock, knew all the operators, but was able because of his contacts to put in the cue early ahead of several freighters. A conversationalist and a historian of the canal systems, the time passed quickly. All in all it was a great experience and we finished the eight lock, 25 mile system in only six hours. 

Once through and out at Port Colbourne, ON., the southern terminus to the canal, it was straight across Lake Erie to a safe harbor at Erie, PA.  One foot waves and bright sunshine. Arrived at Wolverine Park Moorings around 7:30PM.