St Lawrence Seaway lock info

[Bacchus]

We have cruised the St Lawrence at a leisurely pace and before the current "scheduled" recreational lock schedule system was implemented.
Currently looking at assisting new owner deliver a boat from Montreal back to NY Finger Lakes. We will have experienced Capt/crew to assist and can run long days to shorten schedule as much as reasonable. Boat is twin engine flybridge cruiser capable of 20+ kn cruising speed.
Looking for info on how many seaway locks is it possible to transit in a day?
If anyone has done the transit on a short schedule I'd appreciate any first hand knowledge or suggestions.

 

[CPD]

We learned the hard way last year that after transitioning the Beauharnois dual-locks just south of Montreal in the morning, we couldn't book the two locks in Montreal (St Catherine and Lambert) at the last minute for the afternoon. They had to be booked the day before. So I think the most efficient passage East to West would be, booking each day lockage a day in advance, Lambert/St Catherine in the morning and the two Beauharnois that afternoon. Then book for the next day the two US locks just West of Cornwall for the morning, and the Iroquois lock for the afternoon. Two days and you are on your way to Oswego.

 

[Bacchus]

Chris
Thanks for the response. I'm hearing mixed reviews of the reservation system... some saying not much different than the prior "system" where you show up and may / may not get thru at all in AM or PM as "scheduled". Others report showing up and getting put thru w/o a reservation and at times not "scheduled".

I guess the best option is to schedule as you suggest, hope for the best but be prepared for anything!

 

[CPD]

when reserving a day in advance, we were once let through 20 minutes early (Iroquois), and usually had to wait 30 to 60 minutes past the stated pleasure boat lockage time for the others. Now that I think about it the two US locks don't take a reservation, you show up and hope for no wait. We watched Marine tracker App to see if there was any commercial traffic approaching.

 

[Bacchus]

Chris
Good point on Marine Tracker App. When we did the triangle loop 20 yrs ago we relied on VHS (which lock masters refused to communicate w us) and Inet was futuristic?
Iroquois is sort of a non-event just a way to collect the fee. Last time thru they close upstream doors then open down stream after confirming you have paid. No tie up necessary.

 

[twistedtree]

I guess the best option is to schedule as you suggest, hope for the best but be prepared for anything!

Think this sums it up. Our experience dates back to 2012, and was that you might go through ahead of schedule, you might go through on schedule, or you might sit waiting all day. There was no way to tell, so you need to plan for all possibilities.