Welland Canal Passage

[bonnelaine]

am looking forward to cruising the upper great lakes in the next two years 2012 thru 2013 .will be leaving lake ontario and traveling thru the welland canal into lake erie in may .i have been able to access some info but would like some feedback from people who have done this .
`also any sites where i can go to access some additional info .

how much does it cost?
can it be done singlehanded?
how long to get thru ?
any problems with the large ships?
depths and bridge clearances?

also after a stay in the bass islands on thru lake st .claire and thru the detroit river.

thanks for any replies ,
stardog
pearson 323
BonnElaine

[TheBilges]

StarDog,

Here is a link that should answer most of your questions - www.OffshoreBlue.com/cruising/welland-canal.php. If you have any other questions there are a lot of members here who would be glad to answer any questions you may have.

Jerry

[knottygurl]

I did it this year, cost was 200.00 paid at lock 3
Did all locks in under 8 hours
you need two people going from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario and Three for going up from Ontario to Erie.
We locked with a power boat, commercial traffic has first right, so you wont go up with a large vessel, and they will lock you by yourself if you are the only boat there and nothing is coming up within 30 mins.
Bridges lift and those are some big a$$ ship 300 plus yards long almost as wide and 80 feet high.
Depth was 20 + in channel and two feet below deepest keel on locking.
Had great time, use boat hooks to push away from wall, they toss lines down so you balance with hooks either way.
channel 14 on VHF hail Welland seaway canal and they will put you into the "Que" and hail you instructions, if you are locking through with another boat or few, they will designate a lead boat and only communicate with that boat but all other boats do as instructed.
this cuts down on traffic on channel.
Have fun was a great time.

[boatpoker]

Done it many times on deliveries. Fastest time 5 hours, longest time 26 hours.

[witchcraft]

You must as mentioned have crew. If you are full keel boat, you should inform the lock masters and ask for front spot in the locks when going up. It can make life easier. At least that was the experience and advice from the lock masters when transiting several years ago.
Have a great time and let us know how it goes.
Fair winds