How do you tie up in the locks?

[GFC]

In a thread about delivering a boat from FL to the Great Lakes there was some discussion about whether a third person is needed when going through the locks. General consensus was that only two are needed.

That brought to my feeble old mind the question of how all of you tie up in the locks.

When we go through the locks on the Columbia and Snake Rivers we're in locks where the lift is usually around 100' or higher. Many boaters tie up to the bollards using a bow line and stern line and adjust them as needed.

We use only one line from our mid-ship cleat to the bollard and we make it as short as possible, keeping the boat as close to the wall as possible (we use lots of large fenders). My wife handles the line and all I have to do is position the boat as close to the wall as I can.

What say you? One line or two? One crew on deck or two? How high is the lift in the locks you usually pass through?

 

[Comodave]

The ones we have gone through have not been that high a lift and most do not have floating bollards but rather vertical lines or cables. We loop a line forward around the line or cable and one aft.

 

[Lou_tribal]

That's depend on the lock type. Ones with vertical cables no tigh needed. My wife is on deck for the approach, she grab front cable and line, when done I move down and do the same aft.
For lock with floating dock, well nothing different from any docking.

L

 

[DDW]

In the Welland Canal (Niagara Falls) upbound, you are required to have a minimum of 3 adults onboard to handle lines, and you need them. Downbound, 2 is enough. On the St. Lawrence I've only been downbound, but I think 2 would be enough either way. In the American run locks there are floating bollards to tie to, which makes it easy. The problem in the Welland is they throw lines down from 80 or so feet straight up, they do little to control the boat when that vertical and you have to tend them for the 80 ft rise, significant turbulence during the fill bounces the boat around. Down, it is pretty calm.

 

[Jeff F]

Wow, 100 foot lift in a single lock. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like that east of the Rockies. Happy to be corrected though.

On the Erie I think the biggest single lift is about 40' but most are 10-25 ft lift. Most have vertical cables anchored at the bottom. A few have hanging weighted ropes that you are supposed to hang on to. Yucch. I think a few of the bigger lifts have floating recessed bollards. Easy to do solo in my experience, with no particular rules for tying up, relaxed lock tenders, and very little boat traffic. I use a single midship line there.

There are some pretty cool flights of locks and IIRC there's a double lock on that route too. Lots of variety, but none of it particularly challenging for boaters.

 

[Bacchus]

On our boat with helm door its easiest to tie mid ship and stern and that works best in most situations. In those where lockmaster recommends a bow line I will add that after we are secured before they start to fill.

Largest single lift I have seen / experienced is on the Trent Severn Waterway... just under 50 ft. It has floating bollards which help and it is very well designed and little turbulence filling.
Some of the hydraulic lift locks are taller 60+ ft but with them the chamber raises / lowers and there is no turbulence... then there is the marine railway which is a whole different experience.
I can easily single hand my boat but would not want to try the TSW single if its spring and high water as it adds a challenge around the locks.
Problem with the St Lawrence locks with bollards is there's only one per vessel, unless much larger, and it is best to run bow and stern lines to it instead of one mid ship line. Two provides much better control but you need to know and plan ahead to have longer lines available.

 

[O C Diver]

Wow, 100 foot lift in a single lock. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like that east of the Rockies. Happy to be corrected though.

On the Tennessee River, the Wilson lock lift is between 93 and 100' depending on lake levels.

Ted

 

[O C Diver]

In a thread about delivering a boat from FL to the Great Lakes there was some discussion about whether a third person is needed when going through the locks. General consensus was that only two are needed.

That brought to my feeble old mind the question of how all of you tie up in the locks.

When we go through the locks on the Columbia and Snake Rivers we're in locks where the lift is usually around 100' or higher. Many boaters tie up to the bollards using a bow line and stern line and adjust them as needed.

We use only one line from our mid-ship cleat to the bollard and we make it as short as possible, keeping the boat as close to the wall as possible (we use lots of large fenders). My wife handles the line and all I have to do is position the boat as close to the wall as I can.

What say you? One line or two? One crew on deck or two? How high is the lift in the locks you usually pass through?

I've been through locks from Okeechobee waterway (Florida) to Lake Superior including the Erie canal. Have done floating bollards (easiest), pipes, cables, lines from above and my lines around a bollard on top and back down. Managing a single line from the top of my boat deck to the top of the lock wall, keeping my boat against the wall was the toughest. I've done all of these solo. I haven't done all the different canals in the Great Lakes.

Ted

 

[jleonard]

That's depend on the lock type. Ones with vertical cables no tigh needed. My wife is on deck for the approach, she grab front cable and line, when done I move down and do the same aft.
For lock with floating dock, well nothing different from any docking.

L

That's basically how we do it also. We've done a few hundred locks.
Got "scolded" in Canada a couple of times for taking a line half a turn around a cleat to help hold.

A couple pair of gloves needed per person as the lines especially in the NY canal system are slimy and wet.
Boat hook at the bow and stern also needed.

 

[CaptTom]

We did the aforementioned Wilson lock (around 90') with two people a couple of years ago. A trawler owning friend of ours single-hands through locks all the time. He generally handles two lines from midship. We almost always take two lines, fore and aft, although on shorter lifts we've gotten by with just one. Sometimes the lock tender will tell you if there's a lot of turbulence in that particular lock, and even suggest where to stop to avoid the worst of it.

In the Welland Canal (Niagara Falls) upbound, you are required to have a minimum of 3 adults onboard to handle lines, and you need them.

This is the first I've heard that there's a requirement for three adults on the Welland. If I understand it correctly, doing the Great Loop would be going up-bound. Lots of couples do the loop. Does this put the Welland off-limits for looping couples?

 

[rslifkin]

Welland requires 2 down-bound, 3 up-bound. IIRC, the expectation is 2 on lines, 1 at the helm while going up-bound.

 

[BandB]

In a thread about delivering a boat from FL to the Great Lakes there was some discussion about whether a third person is needed when going through the locks. General consensus was that only two are needed.

That brought to my feeble old mind the question of how all of you tie up in the locks.

When we go through the locks on the Columbia and Snake Rivers we're in locks where the lift is usually around 100' or higher. Many boaters tie up to the bollards using a bow line and stern line and adjust them as needed.

We use only one line from our mid-ship cleat to the bollard and we make it as short as possible, keeping the boat as close to the wall as possible (we use lots of large fenders). My wife handles the line and all I have to do is position the boat as close to the wall as I can.

What say you? One line or two? One crew on deck or two? How high is the lift in the locks you usually pass through?

Similar to you. One line, although run from forward of midships to aft of midships. Just over the bollard. One person handles the line. Other person, the helm. That's all required and we've done all heights of locks.

Now, there are places this won't work, where you're handed lines to hold or have to pass up lines. Panama Canal, Welland Canal are just two examples.

 

[syjos]

At the Ballard Locks in Seattle, there are two parallel locks. One large and the other small.

You do what the Lockmasters tell you exactly or suffer the consequence.

One line at bow and one at the stern.

At one lock, you tie to the bollards and at the boat, loop around a cleat and either let out line or take it in as the water rises or falls.

At the other, the bollards slide up and down with the water level but you loop loosely and be prepared to untie in case of it getting stuck.

 

[BandB]

This is the first I've heard that there's a requirement for three adults on the Welland. If I understand it correctly, doing the Great Loop would be going up-bound. Lots of couples do the loop. Does this put the Welland off-limits for looping couples?

No, it means they hire a pilot for the Welland. A good idea regardless as it's a very different creature. There are pilots who make their living helping pleasure boats through the Welland, both ways.

 

[Lou_tribal]

Wow, 100 foot lift in a single lock. I'm pretty sure there's nothing like that east of the Rockies. Happy to be corrected though.

On the Erie I think the biggest single lift is about 40' but most are 10-25 ft lift. Most have vertical cables anchored at the bottom. A few have hanging weighted ropes that you are supposed to hang on to. Yucch. I think a few of the bigger lifts have floating recessed bollards. Easy to do solo in my experience, with no particular rules for tying up, relaxed lock tenders, and very little boat traffic. I use a single midship line there.

There are some pretty cool flights of locks and IIRC there's a double lock on that route too. Lots of variety, but none of it particularly challenging for boaters.

From great lakes down east the highest lock is Carillon on Ottawa river with 20m (about 65 feet).

L

 

[Crusty Chief]

Mike, your tips got us and ASD through the locks of the Columbia and Snake a few years back. The first lock going up river, Bonneville, was the most nerve racking. The rest were a piece of cake. If all goes well, in a few years we may get to do the Trent, assuming were still cruising then, ya never know.
Thanks again, and Cheers!

 

[Zoar]

is there any online coarse or an online guidebook on how to tie up in a lock? I will be doing the Erie Canal from Hudson River to the Finger Lakes summer 2020 and would like something to study this winter.

 

[DDW]

On the Welland upbound, you are passed two lines from the curb above (way above....). The locks fill from the side you are tied to, the incoming flood (5 million gallons a minute) bounces off the far wall, rebounds, and slams your boat into the (now moving) wall. Main challenge is to keep the boat from moving too much, while fending off the rough concrete which is trying to rip your fenders off. This is made more complicated if you go through with a raft of pleasure boats (as is the custom during the day in season). If you are the larger boat, there may be two or three boats rafted to you and you are controlling them all. This is a good reason to go up overnight, as you will most likely be alone in the lock.

If you do go up, take the time to make a fender board, simply a 2x6 sufficiently long to span 2 or 3 fenders. It is hung outside the fenders and scrapes the wall, taking much of the punishment. We had several very large inflatable fenders and were very happy to have them, but did not heed the advice to make a fender board - will for sure if I do it again.

Downbound, it's easy, two of us did it with no drama or worries.

 

[rslifkin]

When traveling anywhere with locks, I bring an extra set of fenders (ball fenders of 2 sizes). That keeps the dirt and abuse off my normal docking fenders. I typically place them as large balls down near the water line forward and aft and then a few of the smaller ones tucked right under the gunwales.

That setup makes it basically impossible for any part of the boat to touch the walls. And after the trip, the fenders get deflated and come back to the house for storage. And it's less unwieldy to move or adjust than fender boards, plus if there are rough lock walls, the ball fenders still slide pretty well, while a board might be more likely to hang up.

 

[Bacchus]

is there any online coarse or an online guidebook on how to tie up in a lock? I will be doing the Erie Canal from Hudson River to the Finger Lakes summer 2020 and would like something to study this winter.

The Erie is not difficult except that tie ups are not consistent... some are pipes recessed into the wall, some are cables fastened top & bottom and some have all or part ropes hung from the top only. All have a ladder at either the front and/ or back end of the lock. Some prefer a tie to the ladder but you have to keep moving the line as you raise / lower. Up bound is the challenge where turbulence moves you around.
Most Erie locks are dirty and slimy so gloves and fender boards are helpful. Some just use garbage bags or cheap xxl sweat pant legs as cheap disposable fender covers (the waist works well on fender balls).
Where you only have a rope it can be challenging at times... turbulence or wind are the enemy. It helps to walk the line away from the wall to the opposite side of the boat at stern or bow. The angle keeps you closer to the wall. A half wrap around a cleat also helps but be sure to tend it full time and dont get distracted. Also a good idea to keep a sharp knife close by. I have seen boaters going down and the weight at the bottom of the loose line gets caught in the cleat and you need to react quickly to cut the line or risk damage to the boat and or injury.
All locks will be flying a flag and they make an excellent wind dir & speed indicator. When we are faced with one fixed cable and one loose rope I try to position the windward end on the fixed cable and the leeward end on the loose line... much easier to control. Also be aware that when wind is crosswise to the lock the effect will be opposite at top & bottom as the wind will hit the opposite wall when down and blow boats opposite what happens when up and wind is directly on the boat.
Locking is not all that difficult but every boat is different and I have seen very different techniques work successfully. Don't be afraid to try a different approach if you have difficulty. It also helps to observe how others are doing it and use their approach if your boats are similar.
We have done a lot of locking on 3 different boats and had to adjust our technique to fit the boat.
If you get to Seneca Lk let us know and/or plan a stop at Sampson Park Marina... it was rebuilt last year and a very nice marina now.

 

[Zoar]

VERY HELPFUL ADVISE! Makes sense. the concrete walls i have seen in these locks looks like Coral, very rough.

 

[Bacchus]

VERY HELPFUL ADVISE! Makes sense. the concrete walls i have seen in these locks looks like Coral, very rough.

They vary a lot and you will likely find some much better condition than others. Where is home port?

 

[rslifkin]

For the Erie Canal locks, as Bacchus said, availability of pipes, cables, etc. varies. They all have weighted lines hung, however.

For some of the taller lift locks, the lines aren't great when going up, as you get pushed around a bit until you're far enough up due to the angle. If they're long enough to hold from the outboard side of the boat, that can help, provided you don't also need to fend off the wall. On the short lift locks going up they work just fine.

Going down, the weighted lines are nice and easy, as you just grab a pair with a boat hook and hold on as you drop (much less turbulence going down, so you move a lot less). They're also spaced somewhere around 30 - 40 feet apart, so getting a line for each end of the boat is easy. If you go for pipes and cables, you usually just get 1.

When I did the Erie and Oswego this summer, we had 3 of us on the boat, so I was typically at the helm and we had a person on the bow and one on the stern as we came into each lock. I'd usually scout our position and indicate which lines I wanted them to grab as I lined up to the wall. That made it nice and easy. Doing it with 2 would be a little harder, but not bad. I'd just have to make a quick move from the helm to grab the aft line once we were positioned.

 

[Zoar]

Not an easy answer. i tried getting in Watkins this year but they said my boat is too big, no room for 40 foot trawler. i may have to dock at Ithaca marina in Cayuga. The one near the Haunt where sll the work is being done in 2020.. i work in Ithaca so not the end of the world. I called Steve and he said my 40 foot trawler will be no problem. but they will not have shore power. Since my first task is adding a much larger solar system this should be okay. I will need to run a generator to build out the larger solar system but once done i should be good to go. I have done 4 off grid solar/battery systems so i have a good handle on this first task.

 

[Bacchus]

Zoar
If you are looking for docking you might consider Sampson as they can accommodate 40 ft with little issue. Since the rebuild it is getting a lot of attention and expect they might be full this year so if interested, sooner better than later. If you want more info & contacts happy to provide. Probably best to PM and continue that topic via email. Sampson is actually not far from Ithaca via car.

 

[Zoar]

Thanks but i need the boat closer to me this year. So much to do to it. i live near Watkins but work in Ithaca. So i need to have the boat docked at the bottom of either lake. But THANK YOU for the offer!

 

[Bacchus]

Thanks but i need the boat closer to me this year. So much to do to it. i live near Watkins but work in Ithaca. So i need to have the boat docked at the bottom of either lake. But THANK YOU for the offer!

No problem - I understand. I know Village Marina in Watkins can't accommodate it seasonally but have you looked at / into the Yacht Club and or Billy Bob's just inside the bridge?
The yacht club requires membership and docks are owned but they sometimes have owners that will lease a dock vs selling it.

 

[GFC]

All the locks on the Columbia and Snake rivers are pretty much the same. The're all between 75' and 105' lift. Ice Harbor lock which is 11 miles up the Snake from its junction with the Columbia is the tallest at 105', but we've gone through it in the spring time when it was 118' lift.

Here's a pic of the lock when it's at the low level. That's my deck hand relaxing on the deck (DOH!) while waiting for the lock to start lifting.

Now before any of you make any snarky comments about the way she ties us up to the floating bollard, I judge her abilities on how quickly she can get us tied to the bollard, not how pretty her tie up is.

We use one line from the midship cleat directly to the bollard and try to keep that line as short as possible. We use plenty of large "sausage" fenders and a few ball fenders to keep us off the wall of the lock. I don't care if the fenders get scraped on the wall. I would care if the gelcoat suffered that same fate.

My wife gets mad when I make the claim that she's the best deck hand on the river. It embarrasses her. But she is and I'm proud of how she handles it. A couple of years ago I was approaching the bollard. I can't see it from the helm so I rely on her to tell me if I need to move the boat forward or backward.

When I asked her if we needed to move she said "it's handled". I again asked her and she said we were already secured to the bollard. She got it on the first pass and had us tied before I knew it.

She's kind of easy on the eyes too.

You go girl!

 

[GFC]

Now, a few comments on reducing the turbulence in the locks. I don't know about the locks back east, but the Corps of Engineers locks use a "tainter valve" to let the water in and out of the lock.

The water comes in at the bottom of the lock and is diffused through a series of channels that send the water to all parts of the lock. As the water level rises the currents in the lock are diminished somewhat but still can push the boat around quite a bit. This is a photo from McNary Lock when the lock was totally drained for maintenance. I got a tour of the lock so I could get a better understanding of how they work.

Now here's a little tip I figured out several years ago. If you are tied up at the "front" of the lock (the upstream end) the water, as it rushes in, pushes on your stern. If you're tied to a bollard like we have in our dams, that becomes the pivot point and that water pressure against the stern is trying to push the bow against the wall of the lock.

The way to avoid that is to tie up at the downstream and of the lock, that rushing water is pushing against the bow so it won't have the same area to push against and consequently won't be able to move the boat around.

And now you have it.

 

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Look at the wall and those rocks? We used five 12 inch orange balls as fenders. I did not use our regular fenders.

We tied a little different. 1 line mid-ship cleat line around the bit then tied back to the mid-ship cleat.

You taught us well GFC