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sedentary · 13-04-2015, 15:57

Did you get there? I'm about to do the same thing may 8th. Any suggestions?

sedentary · 13-04-2015, 17:46

Depends on whether you're heading to lake erie or lake ontario. More are needed heading for erie. I think due to turbulence from the currents from rushing water. As water is escaping on the way to Ontario it's less turbulent. I think it's one two for enroute to ontario and three to four enroute to erie.

Mike OReilly · 13-04-2015, 18:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by sedentary

Did you get there? I'm about to do the same thing may 8th. Any suggestions?

Hi sedentary, you're tapping into an old thread here, but we did the down-bound Welland last season. Two crew for down, three for up as a minimum.

Tips? Going down was not hard, but it was tiring. The three middle locks were the most challenging b/c of the way they cycle the waters. These were quite turbulent, but nothing too concerning for the down bound route.

We started at about 4-5 pm, and didn't exit until around midnight, so most of it was done in the dark. Everything is well lit, but I'd rather do it all in daylight if I could. And while two is OK for down bound, it is tiring work. More crew would not be a waste.

We used a fender board. Not essential for down bound (I think it would be for up), but it did save our fenders from a few nasty scraps on the walls. Most of the walls are fine, but there are some large crevices in some.

Happy to share other info if you want. Just ask.

FamilyVan · 13-04-2015, 19:09

Looks like this old thread is being revived, may as well jump in since I'm currently a St Catharines sailor (for right now any way) and could hit the canal with a snowball from my winter storage (which I'm still stuck in for another week or two).

I would tend to agree with O'Reilly, the ride up is much more turbulent, just due to the physics of how a lock works. Some locks the gates will be on the same side as your tie up and it's easy as pie, because the outflow holds you nicely off the wall and you just take up as necessary, but if the gates are on the opposite side, the boils slam you hard against the wall and keep you pinned there.

A nice alternative to fender boards is bits of Cedar log about 5" in diameter maybe a couple feet long wrapped in polypropylene or natural fibre rope (like hemp), forming a fender. They are much cheaper and easier to manhandled than a big beast of a fender board. Sturdy ball fenders work well too.

If you need crew upbound, you can check the corkboard in the office at Port Dalhousie Pier Marina, or downbound at the marina in port colborne, there are guys that will come on as crew for the day, usually cheap, they're just looking for beer money and something to do.

Best to start the canal early in the am, a typical transit is 8 hours plus and pleasure craft are at the bottom of the priority list, canaling can be exhausting, not that fun at night for a pleasure craft crew.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Seymore · 13-04-2015, 19:53

In Port Colborne, tie up to the wall downtown and drop in to Minor's Fisheries. Good fish and chips.

I used to live there, a few doors up.

tempters_choice · 22-04-2015, 07:52

I have done both directions on the Welland Canal. I used 2x2 inch wooden poles that are taped at one end to keep the boat away from the wall. You can discard them afterwards. The poles are three feet long. They are stronger than boat hooks. Don't forget the minimum speed limit for the canal. Good luck.