Going through a Lock

[orion25]

This weekend I will need to go through the Wheeler Dam Lock in N. Alabama. How long should this take? Just looking for a rough estimate here. Also, anyone have any tips for going through a lock? This will be my first Lock experience.

The reason I ask is because by water the trip will be about 30 miles. Or I could pull the boat from the marina and trailer it to the other side of the dam. This would cut the water trip to about 5 miles.

 

[dave11]

Re: Going through a Lock

It will probably depend on commercial traffic. I'd take the boat just for a new experience.

 

[orion25]

Re: Going through a Lock

It will probably depend on commercial traffic. I'd take the boat just for a new experience.

Commercial traffic is not that great plus it will be on a Holiday. I am mainly looking for the times involved in changing the water height after I enter the lock.

 

[F_R]

Re: Going through a Lock

I have no idea concerning that lock, but I have gone through a few here in Florida and it doesn't take very long at all. Just a few minutes once you are inside and the doors are closed. Since it is a dam, you probably will be changing greater water levels than I have. They probably have some sort of signal to let them know you want to lock through, but every time I've done it the guy saw me coming. Hey, it's a fun experience. Don't pass it up.

 

[Bamboo]

Re: Going through a Lock

Don't know the exact protocol for the locks in your area, but in my area they make you secure your boat to cleats located on the walls of the lock. This is to keep your boat from getting flushed into the lock gate when they open them.

Tip: If securing is the protocol in your area, be sure to leave the lines plenty slack to account for the lowering/raising of the boat in the lock. If you don't you may have your boat pulled down, or suspended by the cleats. Lots of folks just loop the line over the lock cleat and then keep the other end of the line in hand to play out/take up the slack. Once in a while someone will forget this and have a cleat pulled out of their boat. If you don't tend the lines, keep a good knife handy in case you have to quickly cut loose as once the tension gets high on the line there is no way to get it off the cleat quickly enough (unless you tie one of those fancy-schmancy quick release knots...and even then?).

Enjoy!

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Going through a Lock

Locking through, especially for the first time is great fun. Leave yourself some extra time to enjoy it. If you're in a rush and pressed for time then trailer around the dam.

Tips for locking

I'd suggest sailing gloves for you and your crew, the walls and lines can get slimey

a telescoping boat hook, easier to grab a downcable or can if you drift off the wall, I've seen more than one boater fall in a lock when reaching for a downcable

wear your PFD's especially if out on the bow, see above

turn the stereo down so you can hear instructions from the lockmaster

fenders, plenty of fenders, both sides of the boat, you may have to raft up with other boats or switch walls depending on traffic

GO SLOW, it's not a race

The highest lock we've done is the Carillon lock on the Ottawa river. Total lift is 80' I think. We had the lock all to ourselves early in the morning so the whole process took less than 20 minutes. The last lock through the previous evening took well over an hour to cram 30 boats in the lock. The lowering process took all of 3 minutes.

Again, most important of all is just enjoy it.

 

[Knot Waiting]

Re: Going through a Lock

I went through several on the Mississippi River. Most of them have a signal light (red, green) on the outside to inform boaters when to approach. You want to keep clear of the dam while waiting for the lock to open, as it has a strong current, and never set anchor.

Once inside you shore off to the starboard side and grab hold of the rope dangling down the sidewall of the lock. Hold onto those slimy gross rope to keep yourself on the wall and enjoy the ride. Most took 10-30 minutes.

**Note: I watched a rookie make a horrible mistake once. Rather than simply hold the rope to keep is position he tied off to a cleat on his boat. Well.... as the water level lowered, for obvious reasons, his boat... didnt. He got nearly vertical on the wall (hull pressed firmly on the slime and dangling by its cleats) before the lock hands could cut the ropes sending him splashing to the water below! Big spectacle. Lesson learned: never, tie off in a lock, lol.

 

[KnottyBuoyz]

Re: Going through a Lock

Locking through can be intimidating the first time in a commercial waterway. Here we are entering one of the St. Lawrence Seaway locks, don't know how they compare to the locks on the Mississippi but I think they're close in size. You really REALLY get a feeling of being small once inside where the lake ships fill these locks!

 

[Mark42]

Re: Going through a Lock

If you have fenders, hang them over the sides. The waters are very turbulent as the water rises and falls, and the boat will move around a lot, even though you may have it tied.

 

[orion25]

Re: Going through a Lock

Thanks for all the advice guys. We went through with no problem. The places to tie off in the lock were floating so I only had to use my dock lines. Coming back through was a different story........... We got hit with a thunderstorm about 1 hour after we went downstream through the lock. Waited it out for about 45 minutes at a local resort's slips. Then hauled ***** back to the lock in a moderate rain, waited 20 minutes to get in the lock, 20 mins to get back up, and about 10 miles to get back to my marina. Nothing like rain hitting you in the face at 30 mph........ At least the hail was over before we left the resort.

 

[Five O'Clock]

Re: Going through a Lock

just the other day i watched a video on Saltwatersportsman.com on going through locks. I personally have never performed it, but it seems easy, check out the video, it has a bunch of other great videos as well:

http://www.saltwatersportsman.com/article.jsp?ID=1000008094


specifically:
Running Locks
How to best maneuver your boat through locks