This morning Kelly and Deb joined us on Breathin' Easy for a trip through the Soo Locks. We had never been through a major lock before and we appreciated their help. The American Soo Locks are larger and all the freighters use them, whereas the Canadian Soo Lock is smaller and is used by the tour boats and pleasure craft. The process turned out to be straightforward. We entered the lock at the lock masters' instruction (green light was turned on) and came alongside the north wall. We looped two lines around vertical plastic coated cables at the stern and the midpoint of our boat. The doors of the lock closed and we were raised 25 feet as water entered the lock. The upper gates opened and out we went. The hardest part was keeping the boat in position in the river current prior to entering the lock. The process reversed on our way back as we were let down 25 feet to the downstream level.
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| Soo Locks, Canadian Lock on left (from Wiki) |
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| Canada Soo Lock (tripadvisor.com) |
After going through the lock we cruised up the St. Marys River to Whitefish Bay. We went as far as the Iroquois Point Light, just far enough to say we touched our hull into Lake Superior!
We returned through the lock and tied up at the George Kemp Marina again. After dinner we watched a concert of a large steel drum band and walked around Sault Ste. Marie ("walk around" a town usually implies ice cream was consumed). Kelly and I went to the observation platform to watch a huge freighter lock through the American Soo Lock. There appeared to be only a couple of feet clearance on each side!
