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

Canal Flora

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.

Canal du Centre

[FONT=&quot]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.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]You can read more on Canal du Centre here:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]https://www.french-waterways.com/waterways/central/canal-centre/#fw-tab-content-0-0[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]During our 2019 trip, this fairly short canal was actually quite a challenge for us for a number of reasons:[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]1) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]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.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]2) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]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.[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]3) [/FONT][FONT=&quot]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”).
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[FONT=&quot]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!
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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

La Saône

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/waterways/south-east/grande-saone/#fw-tab-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.

Le Rhône

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/waterways/south-east/river-rhone/#fw-tab-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

caltexflanc said:

The Falkirk Wheel always comes immediately to mind.

https://youtu.be/x3EzijS6ivI

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

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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.

No lock? No canal? No problem!!

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/dalsland/articles/the-dalsland-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!

Norway: The Telemark Canal

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)

Säffle Canal - Sweden

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/lock-opening-hours-saffle-canal-vikingaleden-56324

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.

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.

Hjälmare kanal

The Hjälmare canal connects two beautiful lakes just west of Stockholm: Mälaren and Hjälmaren. Due to the existence of this canal, one can cruise from Stockholm, on the Baltic coast, all the way to Örebro, an attractive university city near the center of the country.

The canal has 9 locks measuring 98’ long x 23’ wide. Navigable depth is 6’. No height restriction. Total level change for all 9 locks combined is about 72 feet.

You can see more about it here:
https://www.sveaskog.se/upplev-skogen/besoksomraden/hjalmare-kanal/
(Sorry – it’s in Swedish, but you can see a lot of interesting pictures with some clicking around)

There is also a lock in Örebro through which one must pass to get to the center of the city and the dock area. We had a first-time-ever experience passing through this new-ish, but manually operated lock. The lock was empty and we entered when the doors opened. We positioned our boat in preparation for the lift. The lock tender opened the gates/paddles in each of the lock doors, which created a shockingly strong current. It was a struggle to keep the boat properly positioned in the strong current and simultaneously go through the process of paying the lock tender for transit. We suggested to the lock tender that things might be a little easier for all of us if he first closed the lock doors on the downstream side (!!!). This is probably when he came to full consciousness from what must have been a severe hangover!

Explanation of pictures below:

1) Map. Red arrow shows the Hjälmare Canal. Green arrow shows Örebro.
2) First lock on north end of the canal
3) A disused lock in the vicinity of today’s canal
4) Another disused lock
5) Typical Hjälmare canal lock
6) Another typical lock
7) View from our marina at Hjälmare Docka (former ship dry dock) mid-way long the canal
8) Örebro castle. Oldest parts of the castle date from the 1300’s.
9) Former power station in Örebro – at the falls
10) Örebro lock (picture borrowed from the internet)

Södertälje canal

The Södertälje canal connects the Baltic Sea to Lake Mälaren, just outside of Stockholm. This short canal passes through a rather drab industrial area and is sized to handle large ships. A single lock.

Stockholm: Karl Johansslussen

Karl Johanssluss, right in the heart of Stockholm, connects the Baltic sea to the eastern-most part of Lake Mälaren.
It was built between 1930 and 1935, along with much of the complex highway system around it. The lock has a long history, which you can read more about here:

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

There are two other ways to get from the Baltic to Lake Mälaren. One is via the Södertälje canal (see pictures earlier in this thread) and the other is the lock at Hammerby.

Explanation of pictures below:
1) Map (red arrow shows location of Karl Johanssluss)
2) This photo (borrowed from the internet) shows the lock (red arrow) and its position within a complex highway system. This entire setup is under reconstruction today. The lock remains closed until 2021.
3) Looking aft as we pass through Karl Johanssluss. Note the unusual “flip” gate.
4) Another view of one of the unusual gates
5) Drottningholms slott. There a number of royal palaces in Sweden, but this is the one where the king and queen acutally live. One passes it in Lake Mälaren shortly after leaving Karl Johanssluss. https://www.kungligaslotten.se/english.html

Trollhätte Canal

The Trollhätte canal connects the Kattegatt (edge of the North Sea) to the large Swedish inland lake, Vänern. It was constructed in the late 1700’s and first opened about 1800. Today, it’s a largely commercial canal capable of handling ships up to 288’ long, 43’ wide and having a draught of 17’. There are 6 locks having a combined lift of 144’. You can read more about it here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trollhätte_Canal

The city of Trollhättan was the manufacturing home of Saab automobiles, when the brand still existed. The Saab museum remains today.

We passed through this canal in 2016, but unfortunately, the weather did not make for very good quality pictures.

Explanation of pictures below:

1) Map. Red arrow shows location of the Trollhätte canal
2) Lock approach
3) Helge leaving a lock
4) Lock
5) Lock
6) Bridges
7) The vintage cross-Sweden cruise ship, Diana. It’s one of three vintage passenger ships that still ply the 6-day route from Göteborg to Stockholm today. You can read more about it here: https://www.gotacanal.se/en/canalboats/diana/
8) Ruins from an original flight of locks in Trollhättan. These date from the late 1700’s
9) A “newer” but no longer used flight of locks in Trolhättan.
10) Notable window advertising in a café in Vänersborg.

Göta Canal

The Göta Canal is the most famous canal in Sweden. It and the Trollhätte canal together canal enable boats to transit from Göteborg to Stockholm, crossing the country.

The canal was built in the early 1800’s for military reasons. Total length of the canal (not including Trollhätte canal) is about 120 miles. It has 58 locks which can handle boats up to 98’ long, 23’ wide and 9’ deep. Overhead limit is 72’, which means this route is a favorite for sailboats. The locks, for the most part, are manually operated -- typically by students on summer holiday.

Today, it serves 99% pleasure boats, along with a few historic passenger ships. For a 33’ boat, a pass costs about $900 US, which includes all marinas, electric, water, toilets, showers, etc. for the entire summer. Boats are available to rent on a weekly basis for locals and visitors flying in from abroad. Typically 30-40’. https://gotakanalcharter.se/en/boats/

You can read more about the Göta Canal here:
https://www.gotakanal.se/en/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Göta_Canal

Below are some photos of locks (and other things) we encountered on our journey across Sweden in 2012.

Kinda Canal

As a ”side trip” from our Göta Canal trip in 2012, we explored the very interesting Kinda (pronounced “sheenda”) canal.

The canal, opened in 1872, connects a group of beautiful lakes and has 15 locks, with a combined lift of about 150’.
Locks are 80’ long, 14’ wide and handle boats with a maximum draft of about 5’. All locks are manually operated, mostly by retired volunteers and students on summer holiday. It’s a lot of work for them and they welcome help from any available crew members.

The canal, unfortunately, has a low fixed bridge which allows only boats with a height of 10’ or less to pass. With prior arrangement, the friendly lock keepers are agreeable to coordinating a period of temporary low water, so that somewhat higher boats can pass under this bridge.

Traversing this canal is a real back-to-nature experience. You are far away from high-season tourism. We were told by a lock keeper that the canal has only about 800-900 boats visiting each season.

You can read a bit more about the canal here:
https://visitlinkoping.se/en/explore/kinda-canal

Explanation of photos below:


(NOTE: CLICK ON THE FIRST PICTURE AND THEN YOU CAN SCROLL THROUGH THEM IN THE LARGER SIZE)


1) Map
2) Entrance to the Kinda Canal
3) Close up of a manually operated lock gate
4) Inside a series of locks
5) Inside a lock, looking aft toward the town of Linköping
6) Inside a lock. Fortunately most had better “walls” than this one
7) Moored in the distance waiting to pass through this series of locks
8) Moored for the night(!) in one lock. The lock keeper invited us to spend the night inside the lock, as it was closer to the electric supply. He had no standard power hookups, but brought his tools to temporarily tap off the power supply to the electric bridge ahead of us.
9) Inside a lock
10) Proceeding up the “staircase”. It’s interesting how they do this, letting the water in from the top with all the lock gates open. Saves time and effort for the lock keepers, though all the rushing water can be a bit dramatic to experience.

Kiel Canal

The Kiel Canal connects the North Sea to the Baltic Sea and is one of the busiest shipping channels in the world. Its origins date back to 1784, but the current channel is from 1895.

61 miles long. The lock complexes (one at the entrance to each sea) can handle ships up to 771’ long and having a beam of up to 107’. Controlling depth is 31’. While yacht-size locks exist, we have never seen them in use.

We have passed through the Kiel Canal several times. The pictures below are from 2015, where we entered at Holtenau, on the Baltic side and exited in the middle of the canal passage via the old and little used Gieselau Canal, which functions in conjunction with the Eider River. The Eider River passes through a large nature reserve. (Do you have “Eider” goose down in your pillows or comforters?)

You can read more about the Kiel Canal here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiel_Canal

Explanation of photos below:
1. Map. The red line shows where the Gieselau Canal leaves the Kiel Canal, following the Eider River and exiting to the North Sea near Tönning, Germany.
2. Approaching the Kiel-Holtenau lock
3. Approaching the Kiel-Holtenau lock. For perspective, note the small freighter and the large 3-masted ship already in the lock.
4. Inside the lock, looking aft. Gate closes from the side.
5. Departing the lock
6. Departing the lock. End view of the gate. It’s really “thick”.
7. Departing the lock, looking back at other yachts exiting. On the left, you can see the floating dock to which yachts tie.
8. Some shipping traffic. Also some dolphins(!!)
9. To my untrained eye, it looks like we might be passing a Nordhavn 60-something??? I’m sure somebody on TF will set me straight on this. It’s difficult to see where he hails from, as the flag is a bit wrapped. Upon magnification, the few colors I can see suggest possibly the Netherlands.
10. Here we are sitting in the mud in Tönning harbor, not too far from the entrance to the North Sea.

Kiel Canal - Addendum

Below is a picture of the lock complex on the North Sea end of the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel. The picture is borrowed from the internet.

Hi ScottC.
I came down through Belgium and France and somewhere on the TF is a post Windmills & Wine which will bring back memories for you.
If you are going to be around Gruissan for a while I suggest you go to Bezier where there's a flight of 7 locks at Fonserranes on the canal du Midi, there is an inclined slope beside it which is not working.
If you have access to a car there is also an inclined slope at Montech on the canal Lateral a la Garonne which is in the process of being refurbished.

Hi ScottC.
I believe you're in Gruissan at the moment, as Autumn is approaching you may be thinking of a winter berth with good rail, road, air connections.
If you wish to come back into the inland waterways, go across the bay to Port La Nouvelle, enter the port and continue past the marina on your left and under the bridge then turn immediately right and you will enter the canal du Robine.
If you continue up the Robine (2 locks) you will enter the port of Narbonne. The first boat you pass on entering is owned by Swedish liveaboards.
Its much cheaper to winter inland than on any of the seaports.
We'll be passing by sea on Thurs but have an appointment in the shipyard in Grau D'Agde.
If you need a lift out in Gruissan go to Bois & Yachting in the port, they have a chandlery, lift out and are much cheaper than the other chandlers in the port.
We personally use Allermands shipyard in Grau D'Agde as they are the best shipyard around, highly experienced with chandlery, workshop facilities onsite, they speak French, English and a little German and are very helpful.
Their phone no is 0033(0)467942419.
If you need anymore help my email is geoffwoolley@rocketmail.com

Irish Rambler said:

Hi ScottC.
I believe you're in Gruissan at the moment, as Autumn is approaching you may be thinking of a winter berth with good rail, road, air connections.
If you wish to come back into the inland waterways, go across the bay to Port La Nouvelle, enter the port and continue past the marina on your left and under the bridge then turn immediately right and you will enter the canal du Robine.
If you continue up the Robine (2 locks) you will enter the port of Narbonne. The first boat you pass on entering is owned by Swedish liveaboards.
Its much cheaper to winter inland than on any of the seaports.
We'll be passing by sea on Thurs but have an appointment in the shipyard in Grau D'Agde.
If you need a lift out in Gruissan go to Bois & Yachting in the port, they have a chandlery, lift out and are much cheaper than the other chandlers in the port.
We personally use Allermands shipyard in Grau D'Agde as they are the best shipyard around, highly experienced with chandlery, workshop facilities onsite, they speak French, English and a little German and are very helpful.
Their phone no is 0033(0)467942419.
If you need anymore help my email is geoffwoolley@rocketmail.com

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Thank you very much for the tips and recommendations, Geoff!
Unfortunately, we are stuck in Sweden, while the boat is in Gruissan -- all because of Covid-19. The boat is at BigShip/Nautiland, where we left it in October 2019. On the hard and, thankfully, inside a secure building.

Lock 6 on the Oswego canal, approaching from the north

Hi ScottC
For some reason the posts aren't updating on the TF site but I got your message. Sorry to hear you are like many other frustrated boaters stuck due to the Covid, we have people in the port from Hawaii, Ireland and Canada all in the same position. We know Nautiland in Gruissan and once you get back if you need any help just let us know. In the meantime stay safe.

rslifkin said:

Lock 6 on the Oswego canal, approaching from the north

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Memories! I've been through Oswego canal a few times. That was ~45-48 years ago, when I was the boy who had to climb the slimy ladders with a mile of lock line. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the Oswego canal from then.

Scott,


What interesting posts on your neck of the world. Sounds like a lot of cruising in very interesting places. I'm sure you have our attention and some of us are wondering if we could squeeze some time in over there.


Would love to get over there and do some cruising, but with the time I have left, I'm hoping to get in another loop trip, and a bunch of intercoastal waterway cruising.



However, planning on the Rideau and a second time thru the Trent Severn.


Perhaps, if I catch a sigificant second wind, I'll venture over to Sweden.

Hi Seevee,
One way you can "sample" this without too much time or financial commitment is via rental boats on the Göta Canal. These can be hired by the week.
https://gotakanalcharter.se/en/boats/

PM me if you get closer to trying the Göta canal or other European canals and I can give you some tips and assistance.

ScottC said:

Memories! I've been through Oswego canal a few times. That was ~45-48 years ago, when I was the boy who had to climb the slimy ladders with a mile of lock line. Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures of the Oswego canal from then.

Click to expand...

I'll pull out the big camera and get some better pictures on our way back through later this week, assuming I'm not too busy with the boat.

Well, I failed to get the real camera out once during the trip, but I did end up with a couple of other lock photos. Unfortunately, like the picture of lock 6, these were quick, poor quality cell phone grabs while I was at the helm.

First is waiting for lock O8 (Oswego) to open going southbound. The second is the westbound approach to lock E23 on the Erie Canal.

Hi, we did the trip from Dunkirk, up through Belgium, Holland, Germany and back down through France to the Med.
If you look back on an old post of mine the blog is called 'Windmills and Wine', if you want a hard copy the book it sells on Amazon, just type in the book title and my name Geoff Woolley and you should find it.
It will give you a full insight into the journey.
On the canal du Midi down in the very South of France the dimensions are 1;5 metres draft, 38 metres length and 2'5 metres height if you are higher can you demount some equipment to help you squeeze through the arches of a few bridges.
If you like to cruise the Med you can access the Mediterranean from 3 places on the canal du Midi.
If you need any help just ask.