As we prepare to drop down eventually approaching sea level, we realize we are about to enter a world of a different scale than the Erie Canal and Oswego Canal. Same principles, but instead of a 20-foot rise or fall, we now will have close to a 40-foot fall. And instead of fitting in four pleasure boats, these locks can handle ocean-going ships of 600 feet or more. Remarkably, it goes smoothly.
Here's the view astern:
And off our bow:
Amidships, we tied to a canister that floated down with Brio as we dropped. It was ingenuous.
It ran in a tube-like channel. As long as we were snubbed up to it, we stayed next to the lock walls.
You can also see the dam that holds the Saint Lawrence River back, controls its flow and helps generate hydroelectric power for the region.
It is all of a different scale than the Erie and Oswego Canals!
After coming through the Iroquois Lock and the two American Locks, Eisenhower and Snell, we rejoined the Saint Lawrence and stopped at Cornwall at Marina 200 for restocking before starting down the remaining four Canadian Locks to Montreal.
One thought worthy of marveling on is the significance of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, with its straightening of the River, to help ocean-going ships reach the Great Lakes was done in the 1950s at the same time as the US interstate system was built. Together, these represented two huge government-funded efforts to make transportation in North America far more efficient. Remarkable!
And, 60 years later, we still enjoy the fruits of those investments.
Cheers,
Brio
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