Lock Procedures

Upon departing the Iroquois Lock we made our way into the Chrylser Park Marina due to the heavy weather warning we received over the VHF and tied up for the night. The storm did not arrive and the morning brought with it another beautiful day so we were away early toward the 2 American Locks.  The process in these locks is quite different in that one must secure his vessel to the lock walls by way of a byte. The byte travels the depth (or height depending on the route) of the lock. The lock attendants pass the crew long lines where the lines are wrapped around the byte both on the bow and the stern of one's boat.  The vessel crew, which in our case consists of me and the captain,  handle the lines to make sure that the boat remains close to the wall of the lock.  The captain had our boat hook ready to make sure that Bridlewilde did not bang up against the wall in any way and we did fine. Once the our boat dropped to reach the proper water level the huge lock gates opened, the lock staff hauled up the long lines they provided us and we motored our boat out without a hitch.

Between the 2 Eisenhower and Snell Locks is a 3 mile canal that one must travel called the Wiley-Dondero Canal.  At the US locks we were informed that one must keep his boat in formation and that no boats were permitted to stop or overtake another vessel in any of the canals of the locks  system. So we motored on with the rules in mind and arrived safely in Cornwall as we exited the Snell Lock.