We were up bright and early the Saturday morning of Labour Day weekend 2002. We wanted to get an early start through the canal. There was still an outside chance we could make last call at QCYC if everything went our way.
Having checked out gas consumption from the previous day, we found that Hot Tamale's Atomic 4 engine was very fuel efficient. Eriks and Rob had taken a cab the night before to refill our spare fuel tanks, but we were fairly certain we would not need them.
We tied up at the entrance to the canal by 6:30 am and telephoned the operators to let them know we were there. They told us they had a laker due in by 7:30 and we would follow her through. This was not good news.
The lakers have now been designed to completely fill a lock. There is less than a foot of clearance on each side. Consequently, they have to be eased into the lock. Once in the system we had to follow her. Traversing the Welland Canal took 12 hours.
Being inside the canal was a novel experience. Since we were heading 'down' stream. We entered each lock with the water level at the top and were handed ropes by the canal workers. One rope each for the bow and the stern. As the water is pumped out of the lock, the ropes help maintain your position in the lock so you don't swing into another boat. Even with the ropes, the crew on the bow and the stern must be vigilant because there is still plenty of slack to drift into another boat. Sky took the bow, I was on the stern. Eriks and Rob fended us off of the wall. Having four on the boat decreased the stress enormously. It could be done with three, but I think everyone would be very tired and cross before the day was over.
One of the special things for me was being in the canal traversing the penninsula, rather than my usual perch of being in a car waiting for the bridge. As we approached the bridge at Highway 20, I gave my Mum a call and she came down to watch us go by and take pictures.
We finally exited the canal about 8PM. The light was quickly fading on our second glorious day of weather. Unfortunately, while we were in the canal a wind had blown up from the north east and we emerged into a 2 meter swell on Lake Ontario. Rather than having an uncomfortable evening sail home, we opted to pull into the Port Weller marina for a second night aboard. While we were loath to miss out on the pig roast, we decided beer and wings and a good night sleep, beat the prospect of an uncomfortable 8 - 10 hours overnight.