Locks, lifts, inclined planes & similar contraptions. What've you seen & experienced?

[ScottC]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Sea-Duction

Wow that is beautiful. So Europe has a network of canals so you can travel from northern Europe to the Med? I would imagine there are height and width restrictions?

Indeed. There are MANY ways to do it. While most canals and locks are wide enough to handle the typical 30-65' trawlers on this forum, the overhead clearance can certainly be a restriction on some of these routes.


You can get a quick overview here. Zoom in to read the height/depth numbers (meters). Take a close look at the legend.

https://www.unece.org/fileadmin/DAM/...ays_-_2012.pdf
(Takes some time to download to full & crystal-clear resolution)

It's a huge network of canals and rivers. I've met people who have been pleasantly lost in this network for years, exploring every nook and cranny.


I saw a number of yachts from Canada and the US on our trip south. People who have shipped their boats abroad in order to spend some years exploring Europe.
I have also met people from North America who came to Europe and rented/chartered boats for a few months of exploration. There is a wide variety of companies offering rentals/charters. Most rentals do not require any formal qualifications (Which is somewhat amazing. Watching the rental boats try to maneuver into locks and under the bridges often serve as the day's entertainment).


If anyone is interested in further, in depth, detail about cruising the European canals (from an American perspective), I can highly recommend this site. There is some small cost, but I'm guessing some type of free, brief, trial periods may be available(???). Ask Tom.
https://www.eurocanals.com/

[Crusty Chief]

Originally Posted by Alaskan Sea-Duction

One of the 8 locks on the Columbia River and Snake River. About 100 foot lift.Attachment 104512

Hey the boat in the lock looks familiar!

[Alaskan Sea-Duction]

Wow never knew that Europe had all that. Cool.

Crusty a new Itinerary for you. Do the loop, then ship Pairadice over to Europe!!

[Crusty Chief]

If we complete the loop, pretty sure our cruising days will come to a screeching halt. Pretty sure we will move on to some other form of travel.
But ya never know......

[ScottC]

The "Grand Loop" (my term) for us would be: Sweden>Southern Baltic>Kiel Canal, Then, via canals & rivers: Germany>Netherlands>Belgium>France>Then, via Mediterranean:>Monaco>Italy (including Corsica, Elba, Sardinia & Sicily)Malta>Greece & some Greek islands>Turkey>Black Sea>Danube back to Germany, then Rhine, North Sea, Kiel Canal again, Baltic again and home to Sweden.


We did the first part of this loop in 2019, ending in France, on the Mediterranean. This year was supposed to be France/Monaco/Italy, ending in Malta for the winter. That did not happen this year due to Corona. Boat remained on-the-hard in France. So, hopefully, in April 2021, we will continue. We will definitely go as far as Greece. By then, we will need to have made a decision about whether to backtrack to Sweden roughly the way we came, continue on to complete the "Grand Loop" via the Danube or put the boat on a truck and have it shipped back to Sweden. All in all, about a 4-5 year loop.


Returning via the Danube, however, is looking really doubtful. I don't like the idea of traveling that incredible distance against the current.

[ScottC]

A bit of a stretch for the title of this thread, but I'll include it anyway...


A particularly attractive pedestrian bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel (yes, THAT Eiffel).
Canal de Briare, Montargis, France.

[alormaria]

Originally Posted by ScottC

I had to Google Carillon Canal to see where it was. I was shocked to discover I must've been through that lock ~40+ years ago while traveling from Ottawa to Montreal on the Ottawa river (not on my own boat...didn't have one then). Memory dims a bit, with time, I guess :-(


The floating docks in the large locks are very nice and certainly make a simple job of it.

Cute lock tenders too!

[ScottC]

Also a bit of a stretch to include in this thread... but I thought it would be of interest.


River Rhône. Saint Benezet's Bridge - its unfortunate history begins in the 1100's-1200's. You can read more here:
https://www.avignon-et-provence.com/...bridge-avignon

[Bacchus]

Scott
Very interesting... I guess I knew there were several European canals but never appreciated the extensive network.
Don

[ScottC]

This is one of the larger locks we went through on our way to the Mediterranean in 2019. It is in Ittre, Belgium on the Brussels-Charleroi canal.



Lift: 44.5 feet.


More on it here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brusse...harleroi_Canal


The first picture below is mine. The second one is a view I borrowed from the internet.

[ScottC]

Yes, I know. Only very loosely related to the thread title...


Locks, bridges, river banks and the like seem to provide endless opportunities for those with green thumbs. The photos below were taken in July-Aug 2019 on our trip to the Mediterranean. Most are from Canal du Centre & Saône River vicinity. The last one (horse w/ birds) is in the Camargue, on the banks of Canal du Rhône à Sète. The Mediterranean is only about 500 meters away, on the other side of the canal bank.

[ScottC]

Connecting the Canal Latéral à la Loire to the Saône River is the Canal du Centre. It is about 70 miles long and was first opened to navigation in 1793. Most of today's 61 self-service, electrically powered locks are 126' long x 17' wide. Lifts/Drops are typically 6-10 feet, with the exception of the lock at Chalon-sur-Saône, which has a lift/drop of about 35 feet.

You can read more on Canal du Centre here:
https://www.french-waterways.com/wat...ab-content-0-0

During our 2019 trip, this fairly short canal was actually quite a challenge for us for a number of reasons:


1) Due to drought and days of excessive heat (100-110 degree F), the canal authority was unable to maintain the published depth of ~6 feet. Our boat takes 3 feet and we found ourselves bumping along the bottom on a number of occasions. We have fixed stabilizing fins on the bottom which extend well below the prop, so fortunately, the prop never came into contact with anything.


2) Just before entering this canal in early August, we learned that it was going to be closed FOR THE SEASON in 3 days. If we didn’t get through this canal in three days, we would have been stuck here over the winter. The reason for this closure is related to the first point above – the water reservoirs for operating the canal were about to run dry. Even though the locks are self-service, they only operate approximately 08:00-18:00 every day. As such, each day was a race to knock off as much distance and as many locks as possible. In the end, we made it to the Saône River in 2.5 days. We set a record for ourselves of 32 locks in a single day.


3) In trying to get through the canal in record time, so as not to get trapped, roving canal staff were helpful. They let us operate through the lunch period (when locks are normally closed), they were "loose" with the operating hours here and there, they turned a blind eye to obvious “stretching” of the speed limit (~3 knots) and they tried to manage traffic so as to minimize wait times for us. We found that trying to go ~5 knots in a narrow canal with insufficient water is nearly an exercise in futility due to the significant hydrodynamics at play (“Squat effect”).



4) Many of the locks had floating bollards, which are always nice. BUT one must stand by and monitor closely, as they cannot always be trusted. We had one get stuck while descending in one of these locks and had to use the emergency knife -- for the first time, ever!


Explanation of pictures below:
1) Map of Canal du Centre
2) In one of the locks
3) The floating bollard that misbehaved
4) A Dutch canal boat stranded due to lack of water
5) A Dutch canal boat stranded due to lack of water
6) Entering the final lock at Chalon
7) Exiting the Chalon lock, heading to the Saône River
8) Looking back at the Chalon lock

[ScottC]

The navigable Saône is a 135 mile high-capacity waterway with five locks. Navigable depth is about 5 -10 feet, depending on location. Locks are about 40 feet wide and 600 feet long, accommodating a fair amount of commercial traffic. Lift/drop on these locks is only ~10-13 feet.

You can read more about the navigable part of the Saône here:
https://www.french-waterways.com/wat...ab-content-0-0


Explanation of the photos below:
1) Map
2) Welcome sign found at the entrance of each lock. I find the wording "...must be moored." a bit distressing. What they mean is that boats must use lines while going up and down in the locks.
3) Entering a typical Saône lock
4) A side-canal to the pleasant town of Pont de Vaux
5) Entrance to the single lock on canal to Pont de Vaux. Self service!
6) An older, abandoned lock on the Saône that has been turned into a small marina
7) Crew member meeting the locals at the fine marina in Lyon
8) On the Rhône looking back at the confluence of the Saône and the Rhône.

[ScottC]

There are 12 locks on the Rhône. Mostly 640’ long x 40’ wide. Lift/Drop ranges from 30 to 72 feet. Minimum navigable guaranteed river depth is 10’. Navigable length is about 192 miles. The locks operate on demand, but commercial craft have priority.

You can read more on it here:
https://www.french-waterways.com/wat...ab-content-0-0

Explanation of pictures below:
1) Approaching Écluse de Pierre Benité
2) Inside Écluse de Pierre Benité
3) Entering Écluse de Beauchastel
4) Inside Écluse de Châteauneuf-du-Rhône
5) Departing Écluse de Châteauneuf-du-Rhône
6) Inside Écluse de Bollène. 72' drop! Note the lock gates in front of us. These are fairly common in the middle of long locks, enabling operation for fewer/shorter boats and barges with less water. We went through many of these huge “double-gated” locks alone and surprisingly, the middle gates were never used…despite the drought conditions.
7) Leaving Écluse de Bollène
8) Sometimes gates come from the side
9) Sometimes from below
10) Finally arriving at the Mediterranean at Le Grau du Roi

[ScottC]

Originally Posted by caltexflanc

The Falkirk Wheel always comes immediately to mind.



https://youtu.be/x3EzijS6ivI

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falkirk_Wheel

An astounding piece of engineering, Caltexflanc! I would love to take our boat through this some day. UK is normally within fairly easy reach for us (i.e. when our boat is in its home port). We haven't prioritized the UK, however, due to the fact that so many of the interesting canals have locks that are far too narrow -- even for our boat. Then there's the problem of one crew member being the cat. This is an astoundingly big obstacle. Cat would have to arrive and be cleared at an "approved entry point" (meaning airport). Creates major logistical headaches. Maybe someday we'll rent an old-time narrow canal boat in the UK and travel that way for a bit. We did this once many years ago for a 4-day weekend and it was an unusual experience.

[ScottC]

And now for something completely different…



During the summer of 2016, we traversed the length of the beautiful Dalsland canal, in south-central Sweden. For the most part, the channels and the 31 locks connect a series of fairly long lakes, making for a wonderful cruising environment. We spent about 4 weeks in this system and could have easily spent an entire summer in it. The environment is pristine and the lake water is used by the locals for drinking.

Upon arriving at the town of Dals-Ed, which can be considered the end of the canal, one has a choice. Backtrack through the entire system of lakes and 31 locks or, take advantage of one of the numerous companies in the vicinity offering crane & transport services. We chose the latter option and you can see some of the pictures below.

We had a choice of routes and destinations and ended selecting Strömstad, which was about the shortest land route to Kattegat (i.e. the South Scandinavian side of the North Sea.) From here, it is only a three-day run to the southern tip of Sweden, where our home port is located.


You can read more about the Dalsland canal here:
https://www.vastsverige.com/en/dalsl...alsland-canal/

Explanation of pictures:

1) Map showing Dalsland canal/lake system (heavy red line) and truck route to Strömstad (heavy blue line)
2) Lift out in Dals-Ed
3) Preparing to depart Dals-Ed
4) Enroute in the cab of the crane. You can see the boat behind on the video camera screen
5) Launching in Strömstad
6) Launched!
7) A crew member happy to be back at sea!

[ScottC]

In 2014, we traveled into the very center of southern Norway via the stunningly beautiful Telemark canal.

The canal was built 1861-1892 for the purpose of transporting timber, stone and iron products. Eighteen manually-operated locks 98’ long x 21’ wide. All with lift/drop of less than 15 feet. Navigable depth is 5-6’. Overhead clearance is an amazing 42’ or more.

You can read more about the Telemark canal here:
https://www.telemarkcanal.com/
(Note – if some data/tables appear to be missing, switch the page language from English to Norwegian)

[ScottC]

Säffle Canal is a pleasant, 80km-long canal in south-central Sweden. Only one lock. You can read more about the lock and the canal here: https://www.visitvarmland.se/en/do/l...ngaleden-56324

[Kingston Mariner]

Fascinating thread! I have a good friend who plans to soon fulfill a lifelong dream of canal cruising Europe.


This weekend we toured another friends recently purchased Greenline 40. It is one of only two or three Greenlines in the Puget Sound area. Interesting boat. They are very green newbie boaters with zero previous boating experience but having a ball.

[ScottC]

Hi Kingston Mariner,
As your friends approach their Euro canal travel plans, I would be happy to provide any tips or comments regarding itineraries they are contemplating if they happen to cover routes I've been on. Just send me a PM.