Erie and Oswega Canals

Kim’s Korner:
So far on this trip, we've done 53 locks. Yesterday, we did 8 locks all of which were lowering us. When we entered a lock, we were at the top of the lock and we would have to lean over to grab the ropes (I added red arrows in one picture to show the ropes) - we grab one in front and one in back and then hold them as we are lowered. At times, whether the lock is lowering or raising us, when we are at the top of the lock it can be difficult to hang onto as the wind can catch the boat and start to push it out. We had four boats, two on port and two on starboard. Normally, I grab a rope from the bow using our boat pole and walk the rope back to David who is still at the helm. As Overtime continues to move forward slowly, I'll grab a second rope that I hang onto from the bow. At that point, David moves to the stern.

Yesterday, Lock 6 and 7 were the most difficult we've ever done. At lock 6, the wind caught Overtime just as I handed David his rope and her stern swung out from the wall. I had to quickly grab another rope from the bow as David did his best to hang onto the one at the stern - even though he was hanging on at the very end of the rope. He was able to hang on and was able to cleat it. You don't normally cleat the ropes when locking but in this instance, he couldn't hang onto it otherwise. Then he was able to pull the stern back in and uncleat it. The other boats were also having problems - thank goodness we were all able to finally get things under control without hitting each other - but it was definitely close! It really shook us all up.

Then came lock 7 only 1/2 mile after lock 6. There were not many ropes in lock 7 and those that were there were spaced widely apart. It was clear we would have to lock through with only one rope to hold onto. David maneuvered the boat close to the ropes and I tried to grab one with my boat pole - problem was, we were too high and I couldn't reach it - I got hold of one but the wind caught us and the rope was at a weird angle and wouldn't slide along the boat pole. It reminded me of our mooring incident where I injured my fingers - one of which is still messed up. I was able to finally drop the rope and we aimed for the next one - we had to get the next one as it was the last one in front of us. I was squatted down as low as I could and leaning over - if I'd leaned anymore, I would have fallen in. We've never run into this before. The other three boats with us were also having trouble. David had to grab a second boat pole we have which extends (it's old and ornery and it refuses to extend for me) - all while the wind was blowing us and we were quickly getting really close to the boat on the port side - who was also having problems. He extended the pole, gave it to me and went back to the helm to try to get Overtime back to the starboard wall. This time, I was able to grab the rope from about 8 feet out, the rope slid towards me and I was able to grab it with my hand and hang on for dear life. David took the rope and was able to get Overtime back to the wall and hang on from midship until the lock lowered us enough so the wind wasn't an issue. Wow - two bad lock experiences within one mile. We were dreading lock 8 which was only about another 1/2 mile away but we locked thru it with no issues. Of course, I will say that the lock master at lock 8 handed the ropes up to us. This is not his job but we sure did appreciate it. Whew - Oswego Marina was our destination which was only a mile from lock 8 and within a stone's throw of Lake Ontario. We were certainly ready to call it a day - all 4 boats.

Not to mention that we had to wait on Lock 3 due to a child falling into the lock. An ambulance was called and the lock stopped operation until the ambulance had left. Also, the marina had no record of our reservations so it was really painful getting that squared away. Thankfully, they had room for us. Once we finally got into our slips and tied up, they made one of our four boats move to another slip. Thank goodness it wasn’t Overtime but still… what a day! Glad we haven’t seen many like that!

Pictures!