Learning to Lock

We landed in Oswego on October 28 and stayed until October 31 just to get some rest, wait out the windy weather and get our mast down.  Dave's going to write about the mast and other techy-type things.  I'm going to start by telling you a little about the New York Canal System, Oswego and Phoenix (where we are currently docked.)

Oswego gets its name from the Native American word meaning "pouring out place" since the river pours out into Lake Ontario at this location.  The Oswego River is one of the few rivers in the States that flows north.  The area is widely known for its great fishing.  Fort Ontario is located here, and it has a long history.  It was originally built by the British and was also actively used in US conflicts including WW 11.  In 1944, 982 refugees fleeing Nazi Germany were brought to live at Fort Ontario. The fort became known as "Safe Haven", and it was the only site in the US to house Holocaust survivors. The children at the Haven attended local schools, the men learned woodworking and the women learned hairdressing. They all attended English classes and put out their own newspaper.

The city of Oswego has the most northerly and final lock in the Oswego Canal. This is where most of the boaters from Ontario start their journey south. The Oswego Canal is part of the New York Canal System which also includes the Erie Canal, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal and the Champlain Canal. The following is a picture that shows where all of these canals are and how they interrelate.

The Champlain Canal was completed first, and it goes from Lake Champlain to the Hudson river. It also provides access to the St. Lawrence River and Canada via the Richelieu Canal which runs north of Lake Champlain. The Erie Canal was built in 1825, and at the time there was not a single school of engineering in the US, so it was quite a feat. The Oswego Canal was later opened in 1828. Once the Cayuga-Seneca Canal was completed, New York City became the biggest commercial harbour in the States. You can see from the picture how easily goods could be shipped to and from New York City. Freight rates by canal from Buffalo to New York City were only $10 per ton compared with $100 per ton by road, so almost everything was moved through the canals. The commercial traffic in the canal system declined once the railroads took over in the latter part of the 20th century.

Initially, the canals were just ditches filled with water which were dug beside the rivers. Mules and horses would pull the barges through by walking along on towpaths bedside the ditches. When it was necessary to cross a river or a creek, an aqueduct was built to carry the canal water and the towpath across. Because the elevation of the land changed along the river course, locks were created to essentially raise or lower the barges to the new elevation. For instance, Troy (at the Hudson River) is at sea level, but Buffalo is 565 feet above sea level. The elevation at the southern end of the Oswego Canal is 353 feet above sea level, and it drops to 245 feet above sea level at Lake Ontario (at Oswego). Since we are travelling south from Oswego, we will be lifted up at each of the locks on the Oswego Canal until we reach the Erie Canal.

So, let me tell you about locking and our experiences so far. For those of you who have already got experience with this, you can probably skip this part.

Here are some pictures that show how to enter and tie up inside the locks.

Most locks have pipes, cables or ropes to secure your boat while the water goes up or down. The boater pulls up alongside the wall and the pipes/cables/ropes. The boater uses lines (ropes) which are attached to the boat and loops them around the pipes/cables/ropes which are attached to the wall of the lock.

We had planned to take some pictures as we entered, tied up and left the locks, but we were too busy (and too nervous) to take them. I can tell you what we saw, and I will explain what happened for us.

As we entered every lock, we could see markers (generally the markers were buoys) in the water to show the way to the lock doors. Often, we could see the dam or the rapids to one side or the other of the lock itself. The lockmaster can usually see the boats coming, and he/she may have the doors open and ready for the boaters as they approach the lock. If not, the doors are closed, and the boater has to wait at the entrance, call the lockmaster by telephone or marine radio or sound a horn three times. When the doors are opened completely, the red light on the side of the lock turns to green, and boaters can start entering.

Our first lock was Lock 8 in Oswego. The locks are numbered from south to north. The book said Lock 8 had ropes and cables, but we only saw ropes. We pulled up to the wall on the port (left side), and I was able to grab a rope while standing at the back of our boat. Dave quickly moved from behind the wheel to the front of our boat and grabbed a rope there. We had expected the ropes to be attached to the wall at the top and at the bottom, but they were only attached at the top. So, we had to hold on to the ropes by hand for the duration of the lift. It took some strength for us to do this because our boat weighs about 35 tons, but in the water, it is much more buoyant, of course. I was glad we were alone in the lock, so that we didn't have to worry about other boats, and we were really glad that we had gloves on like suggested in the books because the ropes and the walls were slimy and dirty. Besides, it was a pretty cold day, and the water was cold too.

Once the water had filled the lock, we had a chance to talk to the lockmaster, and we showed him our paperwork and paid the fee. The NY Canal System fees are really cheap compared to the Trent-Severn Canal in Canada. It was only $20 for two days of locking. The lockmaster was really nice and said he would notify the following lockmasters that we were on our way, and they would open the doors for us. Lock 8 lifted us up 10 feet.

Lock 7 was less than 1 mile from Lock 8. We had just recovered from our first locking experience (and congratulated ourselves heartily) when we were faced with our second locking experience. Again, the book said this lock has ropes and cables, and again, we only saw ropes. We pulled in on the port side again, but we neglected to consider the strength of the wind. The wind was pushing us up against the wall, so it was very difficult for us to exit. As well, the Hope (nickname for our boat, the H&E Hope) does not leave a dock in forward motion. You have to swing the stern out first, back up a bit, then you can rotate the bow. Otherwise, you just bump along the wall. So, you can guess what happened with the wind pushing us into the wall. Yes, we scraped the side and back corner of our boat. We also burst some of the small buoys that were attached to the ropes. By the time, we got out of Lock 7, my heart was hammering in my chest, and I was already panicking about the next lock, which was only .6 miles ahead.

But Captain Dave always comes through! We checked the direction of the wind when we prepared to enter Lock 6, and Dave pulled in on the starboard (right) side of the lock this time. So this time, the wind pushed us off the wall when we left. Everything went smoothly, and my heart stopped pounding. This lock lifted us 14 feet.

Lock 5 was about 3 miles further along, and by now, we felt like old hands at this locking thing. We were lifted 20 feet by Lock 5.

There is no Lock 4. Apparently, a Lock 4 was planned but not needed, so rather than renumber all of the locks, they left Lock 4 out.

On the way to Lock 3 from Lock 5, we passed by Battle Island which figured prominently in the war between the British and French in 1756. We also passed Pathfinder Island, named after the lead character in James Finemore Cooper's, The Pathfinder. Six miles past Lock 5, we encountered Lock 3. This lock has only cables, so we learned something new. Or at least, we practised what we thought we would be doing all along - looping our lines around the cables. Lock 3 lifted us 27 feet.

Less than a mile later, we found Lock 2. This lock has a steel walking bridge over it, which is only 5 feet above the water once the lock is filled. When you are entering before the lock is filled with water, the bridge seems really high up, As we entered, the lockmaster reminded us to pull well forward of the bridge. Good thing or we would have been decapitated! Now, we were lifted another 18 feet.

It was about 9 miles to Lock 1, and we were hoping to get there before it closed at 5 PM. At about 4 PM, we heard a voice from our marine radio saying, "Trawler heading south. This is the Lockmaster for Lock 1." He wanted to know if we would arrive at Lock 1 before he closed. We thought we could get there on time. He hailed us again at about 4:55 to say that he was closing; we didn't make it on time. Consequently, we had to tie up on the free dock north of the lock and stay there overnight. We also stayed the next day too because Dave had done something to his arms, and he had no feeling in his hands. It eventually took about a week of rest for him to recover.

So, we had traversed all but one of the locks on the Oswego Canal in one day.

On November 1, we moved through Lock 1 (lifted 10 feet) and decided to tie up at the Phoenix town dock on the south side of the lock. Phoenix is a nice place. We had free 30 amp power and free WIFI, and the dock wall was right beside a park. Usually, they have free water and pumpout, but the water was shut off this late in the season. It is just a short walk to a cafe, a Laundromat, a convenience food store and the post office. A fellow named Mike came over to meet us, and he arranged for a fellow named John to drive us outside town to a regular grocery store. Mike suggested that since we had to wait for the currently closed locks to open, we might just as well wait in Phoenix! During the summer, there is a group of teens called the Bridge House Brats who care for the waterfront park, and they will delivers things to boaters for a tip. They serve free coffee and lemonade with all deliveries. Too bad we are so late in the season!

Here are some pictures. One of the three-story, white bridge house which was built in 1917, and a few of the park and one of our boat at dock.

Oh, and this picture is for you, Paul.  A nice little bar called "River Rock".  You should buy it!!

We had a nice, restful time in Phoenix.  Yesterday, we had a visit from the Lock 1 lockmaster. He told us to give the canal office a call because they wanted to tell us something. Our hearts sank, thinking they had decided the currently unopened locks would not be opened after all. But instead, we learned that they wanted us to come earlier! They want us at Lock 17 of the Erie Canal on or before November 20 (instead of November 24). So tomorrow, we will be heading out.  Another chapter of Pat and Dave's Retirement Adventure will be coming your way soon!

Now for Dave's techy side!

 

So, here we are, snuggled up to a dock in Phoenix NY. Very nice. 30 amps electric, nice new docks, Wifi most of the time (but S L O W). Is OK though, lots to do.

 

Alas, I've missed a couple steps. In order to get here, we had to go through 8 locks. Well 7 actually, there is no lock 4 – Pat explained it. We hadn't taken the 'Hope' through locks since we went through the Welland some 10 years ago and at that time we had lots of help. This time, it was Pat and I and Dude going through pleasure boat locks. Pat and I did the work and Dude barked encouragement – or something.

 

Some of you may recall a lot of head scratching and hair pulling and many conversations trying to confirm two things. How tall were we above the waterline and, what was the air draft (distance between the water and the bottom of the bridge) below the lowest bridges on the Oswego and Erie canals. After a lot of measuring, surfing and emailing those who should know, we knew, 20 feet was as high as we could go. We were, 26 feet. How to lose 6 feet? First the mast, which held all our radio antennas, steaming light, anchor light, radar, GPS, antennas, deck light etc. would have to be lowered. Next the stack, where the exhaust comes out, had to be shorter.

 

To make a long story short, Pat and I figured out how to lower the mast (cutting almost 3 feet off the bottom in the process along with the top of the engine room fresh air duct) and our friend Mark suggested taking the top off the stack as there was a seam there. We had done a practice run in Hamilton and figured we could do it, which we did, in Oswego, albeit with more than a couple anxious moments until all was down and secured.

 

You may recall I had mentioned my dampish – OK wet – bilge. Now with no shape to the stack and the intake air duct to the engine room open on the top, no need to worry about a dry bilge. Rain, snow sleet and hail (all of which we've received today thank-you), goes right in there. Oh well what can you do?

 

The Oswego river has about a 4 knot current going north and we were going south running about 6 knots sooooooo, 2 knots of progress. This would not do. Cranked her up a bit and 6 knots it was. Very good.

 

Whilst in Phoenix, I installed our new VHF radio with AIS, programmed in our MMSI number and connected it to the GPS. Next, wired into the laptop that runs our navigation software (Polar Navy) then did the download from Active Captain and we're almost set. Still need to wire the AIS output into the chart plotter. So why isn't it done? Glad you asked. It's like this - after docking etc. and then trying to clean up the upper deck, I broke the GPS antenna wire. This is usually up in the mast out of mind and sight. However, not now. Just to make life a little more interesting, the day I decided to find out why the GPS would no longer give us our position (I know we are docked, we know our position) the GPS would not power on. Why, we don't know, but I reseated all the power and signal connections and up she came but no position so, traced it back to the broken antenna lead, fixed that, then did the radio connections.

 

I'd had enough by this point, so read a couple books, took some walks and enjoyed the fine weather and some piece and quiet. Phoenix is pretty well shut down for the winter, peace and quiet are not a problem.

 

One of the projects to be done prior to leaving was increasing the volume of air going into the engine room to improve the quality of life for the engines. I built this lovely array of fans to be mounted into the air intake duct on the upper deck. Fired it up in test, lots of air. 430 Cubic feet/minute. According to me (and if you know differently, please say) these engines when running 2000 rpm require about 200 cubic feet/minute each. 430 should be good considering we normally cruise at about 1500 rpm.

Anyway, made up the cable harness and thread it through the plenum, through the engine room and into the main electrical room. I then did something I cannot recall ever doing before. I had made the cable two feet short of what was required! Talk about embarrassing – here I was all set to impress the 'Admirable' (aka Pat) and I was cut off short – oh boy. I hate when that happens! Found a marine store in town but mostly they sold fishing lures and bait. Yes I could have spliced in some other cable piece and made it longer but, I don't like doing things that way so, we wait until we get to a bigger place that may have the correct cable in the length I need.

 

A maintenance item that had been hanging over my head was loose alternator belts. I had put on new belts prior to leaving Hamilton and now they need adjusting. I hadn't tackled this job at this point as I had done something to both my hands, wrists and shoulders that made it difficult to even lift a cup of coffee let alone a glass of rum. Fortunately that had passed and I was getting back into the swing of things.

In any case, tomorrow we're off to Brewerton NY for a couple days to stock up on water, get a pump out and maybe have some one look at my port engine which makes a rather unusual belching kind of sound sometimes when you back off on the throttle. Any ideas, let me know, I'm all ears.

 

Tonight, Pat, the 'Admirable” was making an absolutely delicious Cajun catfish dinner with stir fried cauliflower and broccoli, and a lovely Riesling when it slipped her mind we only had 30 amps .of power. Popped a breaker. Not on the vessel. That would have been to easy. The breaker was in the locked building we can't get at. It now was 7:30 so no one around to reset it. Someone would have to go out and find another outlet that worked. I then learned (from my mate) that she was an enthusiastic team player when it was comfortable but in this case, the job need to be assigned to the 'no one wants to do it guy' - me. On my own. Pitch black out. No one to hold the flashlight. Dude thought this was great fun. I, not so much. After rain, sleet and hail all day, the decks were slicker'n a trail of snail slime on dew laden grass. You get my drift?

 

Oh well, captain, engineer or toilet de-plugger I guess I'm it! Great dinner though – makes it all worth it. May finish the Riesling, 2010 from Columbia valley – bit sweet but after a few, not bad at all.

 

OK, all's reset and working. I poured another glass of wine!