Locks, lakes and rapids
Belinda Chesman faces floods, commercial shipping and occasionally unhelpful lockkeepers in a voyage through the St Lawrence Seaway
Belinda Chesman enjoys a lively cruise in Canadian and US waters
After two seasons cruising on Lake Ontario and among the Thousand Islands we were feeling the lure of the sea and keen to have saltwater under our keel once again.
It had been a wonderful experience; freshwater sailing has definite advantages, not least that on winter lift-out the hull below the waterline emerges almost as clean as when it was launched; no barnacles or crustaceous growth to scrape off! The brightwork had remained clean, shiny and salt-free and the running rigging pliable and soft to the touch.
However, it was time to move on and consider route options from the Lakes to the Atlantic. The obvious one was to return the way we’d come; mast-down through the Oswego and Erie Canals and down the Hudson River to New York. Alternatively, we could negotiate the more challenging route, mast-up, down the St Lawrence Seaway and River, and through
Quebec Province to Nova Scotia.
It was no contest really; the latter option won hands down, particularly as we enjoy exploring new territory and sailing into new ports.
We’d carried out much of the research for the passage over winter and returned in
May to Irondequoit on the Genesee River, Rochester NY, where Quilcene – our 40ft Bowman cutter – was waiting on the hard. She’d survived the hard winter very well and a light sanding was all the hull needed before we applied the marine antifouling necessary for the return to saltwater.
Launch day came around – always a tense time wondering if all is watertight and functioning correctly – but it went smoothly and soon we were afloat once again and tied alongside the dock.
Flooded lakeshore
Rochester has fixed docks as the Lake is not tidal, but this year (2019) they were often an inch under water and we had to paddle along the pontoon to get on the boat. Fendering was tricky as the fenders kept floating up. The electricity supply we’d used the previous year was also underwater, so the marina had installed new shoreside posts to hook up to. The Great Lakes’ water levels were at a record high after an unusually wet spring combined with the snow melt. There was flooding all around the lakeshore and a state of emergency was in force for NY State counties on the lakes. Many local boat owners had delayed launching due to high water levels. We’d seen severe flooding in 2017 too, and at the time it was said to be a ‘100-year occurrence’.
Anxious to be on our way we fitted the sails and crossed the lake to Canada at the end of May. It was a calm but bitterly cold 12-hour passage. Despite bright sunshine it was only 7°C in the cockpit and the breeze across the water felt icy.
Port Whitby
We arrived at Port Whitby, our destination in Ontario, just before dark. Unable to raise the marina on VHF we spotted an empty berth and tied up. Next morning we found we’d picked the very one they’d reserved for us when we booked – more by luck than judgement.
Port Whitby has floating docks secured to the bottom with chains, so the high water level wasn’t causing too much of a problem. Facilities in the marina are good too, with washing machines, dryers, and lovely warm clean shower rooms.
Our plans to head down the St Lawrence had to be put on hold for a few weeks as parts of the River and Seaway had been declared hazardous to small craft because of flooding, increased flow rates and debris in the water.
We spent the time visiting Kit’s brother Peter and family who live just a few miles away from Port Whitby, and carrying out a spot of boat maintenance. Most importantly, Kit fitted a much-needed new heater in the boat. The previous May in Ontario had been much warmer, and we longed for summer to arrive.
Despite the chilly weather, boat owners in the marina were busy preparing for the coming season, and intrepid fishermen were out in force; we were most amused by the array of fishing rods carried by relatively small boats!
Mast jobs
There were several jobs to be done on our mast so we had it lifted down and laid across trestles in the boatyard where it was easier to work on. There was jammed in-mast wiring to be freed, lights to be changed, a jammed halyard to retrieve and VHF radio antenna and wind instrument to be replaced.
‘The Great Lakes water levels were at a record high after an unusually wet spring’