What goes up, must come down

Locks. In our first month of looping, we have encountered nine locks. Over the course of our trip that number will grow to more than 170! Most of our lock encounters will happen throughout the western rivers (those tributaries and inland rivers that flow to the Mississippi) and the New York and Canadian waterways and canals. The majority will be during our travels this summer and fall and then again, when we head to the Great Lakes. Locks are a bit daunting at first, but one starts to get the hang of it after a couple of locks, but never want to let your guard down. We have had a couple of Oh S&#! moments thus far and we know there will be more. A few of our friends have asked questions about the locks, so we thought we would share some information about locking.

What are locks and why do we have them? How does one go about locking through?

Rivers move water collected at higher elevations to areas of lower elevation.  Prior to the mid 1800’s or so rivers were not controlled, and they flowed at will, meaning spring floods and often summer and fall droughts. Boats often would be grounded and unable to move causing delays in shipping and destroyed perishables.

Dams were then created to create “pools” or “lakes” where the water would remain deep enough to facilitate year-round navigation however vessels were unable to traverse from one to another to allow long distance shipping. Locks were built to allow vessels to move from one pool to the next.

An example this the area that we have been navigating on the Cumberland River. The Cumberland River begins in Harlan County in Eastern Kentucky and flows through southeastern Kentucky, crosses into northern Tennessee, and then curves back into western Kentucky before draining into the Ohio River at Smithland, Kentucky in Livingston County. We started on the Ohio and traveled as far as Old Hickory Lake (just east of Nashville) going through four locks, Smithland, Barkley, Cheatham, and Old Hickory. Those are also the name of the “pools”.

Old Hickory Lock and Dam holds the water in the Old Hickory pool and allows boats to bypass the Old Hickory Dam. The boat exiting the lock going down river would now be in the Cheatham Pool or Lake through Nashville. It is named Cheatham Pool because the water is held back by Cheatham Dam. You then go through the Cheatham Lock and enter Lake Barkley. It is named Lake Barkley because it is impounded by what? The Barkley dam of course. Make sense? All of these “pools” or lakes are actually part of the Cumberland River. So even if you are on Lake Barkley you are still on the Cumberland River.

So how do they work? You could Google it and see some great demonstrations but let me give it a shot as if you were leaving Nashville, TN and navigating up river to Old Hickory Lake (east of Nashville).

We approach the lower gates of the lock and contact the lockmaster who will put us in the que. There is a priority system that places most non-pleasure vessels first. Once it is our turn the lockmaster will open the gates, sound the horn, and turn the green light on. We can then enter the lock and tie up to floating bollards.

These bollards, when working, go up and down with the level of the water. At times they may stick and can seriously damage your boat. A seasoned boater will never tie a knot into his lines but instead loop it a time or two so that it can be released. A sharp knife can prevent a disaster.

Here we approach the lower gates of the Old Hickory Locks from the Cheatham pool. We must wait as a down-bound tow is locking through as they have a higher priority. If you look closely, you will notice that there are men standing on the barges holding lines to the lock walls. Look in the top left portion of the photo and you will see their tow boat ready to lock down with more barges at which time they will all be connected, and they will move on.

Now that they have left the lock it is our turn. We enter and tie off to a floating bollard on the lock wall while the lockmaster closes the lower gates behind us. Notice how high the walls are right now.  Also notice that the upper gates are all that will open meaning that our boat bottom must be higher than the block lock wall in front of us. As soon as the lockmaster begins filling the chamber, we will be going up 60 feet!

The lockmaster closes the gates behind us as we enter. Once in and tied up, the lockmaster will fill the chamber and hopefully the bollard will go up at the same rate.

As we start to rise Tasha has a tough job. Notice she has secured our boat to the yellow floating bollard and put out fenders (fenders not bumpers!) She will monitor our progress and attempt to keep us off of the wall as best as she can since the fenders get filthy and as they turn transfer the dirt to the boat. These long chambers often act like wind tunnels, and it is tough to control even when tied up. The captain typically remains at the helm to use the engines and thrusters if things get out of hand which can and does happen.

Once we are up to the upper river’s level the upper gates are opened and out we go.

Here we are, we have not moved except to go straight up.  Remember that high wall? These gates are all that are visible as everything else is underwater.

Once we are up to the upper river’s level, the lockmaster will open the gates and blow the horn to signal for us to leave.

OK, all done. Here we go into that beautiful Old Hickory Lake. 

Here is a short time lapse video showing us on the return trip going down the Cheatham lock.

This locking system is very much the same in the rivers, we are looking forward to the adventure into the New York and Canadian waterways and canals for some really unique locks. Are you ready to lock through with us?

Cheers!  D, T & R