Locking thru dams

[Mirwin]

i know many of your are following our journey from Cape Coral to Chattanooga...I thought the hard part was behind us but as usual, I was wrong. I knew we were going to be going through many dams to get home...I have locked through dams in our area many times with different boats...I never enjoy it but we always manage to come through with our boat unscathed....until now. Do any of you have suggestions on how to tie the 310 to the bollard? We do not have a mid-ship cleat. What we have done so far is to run a line around the bollard through the gate Stantion and back to the winch. The water is very turbulent and the back end swings into the wall even though Scott is pushing off with a boat hook. We will need fiberglass work when we get homeNeedless to say, we are very frustrated and would appreciate any help or suggestions.
Thanks,
Marilyn

 

[jssailem]

Marilyn.
Here is what I used to go through the Ballard Locks

to get from freshwater lake in Seattle to the salt water of the Puget Sound.

Get two of them. Set them against the lock wall on either side of your boats mid beam. They are round and will go up and down the wall as the boat rises or falls.
Run a line around the bollard and back to the boat. At Ballard these are required. Minimum 50 feet. I like 3 strand twisted nylon. I cleat one to the bow and one astern. Toss each to the lock keeper to put around the bollard and return to the boat. You will tend the line drawing in or letting out line as needed. Some lock keepers want a line with a loop spliced in it so they can throw the loop over the the bollard, but that can get messy if they do not get it on the bollard or back on the boat after passage.

In the picture this is the small lock. They have convenient lock slides that rise and fall with the water level. You can see the yellow bollards. You throw your line over the bollard and snug up. The large lock is not so equipped so the large round fenders help to keep the boat away from the wall. Better yet you sometimes get to buddy up with a mega yacht. They have great fenders to ride next to.

 

[Jackdaw]

What JS said. Big-ass round fenders are great for this type of job, and are also the bomb for springing off a dock when presented with adverse wind or tide.

But they are big. A solid plan is to get one or two inflatable ones to use for these purposes alongside your regular ones. Deflated they take up very little space. We use:

http://www.aerefenders.com

 

[AllenC57]

Wow. Locking doesn't sound too fun. Sounds like you can't have too many fenders out. BTW, our 310 has midship cleats. But you might be able to add an adjustable cleat on the genoa track and position it where you need it... just a thought. Our boat has those too, but I removed them because the jib sheet sometimes hangs on them. I can see some sailors not wanting a fixed midship cleat for that reason, but ours are outboard enough I haven't snagged them with the jib sheets (yet)! Sorry your new boat got scratched up :-(

 

[Alansails]

OUCH, Scratches are Not good especially on your new baby!
Are you locking through by yourself or with others? if there are others maybe you can borrow an extra fender or TWO?
Is there a lockmaster that may have an extra fender?
Is there a marine consignment shop near you at some point or like Others have said somewhere to buy them?
How many more locks do you have to go through?
That may determine if you spend the night or two if there is a marine chandelery nearby.
We have a midship cleat and that is what we use as a mainpoint for docking with a breastline or midship line, for us its a boat saver.

 

[Mirwin]

Good morning,
We have a total of 20 or so dams to get through more or less. We have been through two. We will always be in the dam as it is filling which means turbulence. We have four fenders and a large blow up one. It is just the two of us and as of yet, we have not seen other boats in the locks. It is very remote as far as shops go. Demopolis had a shop though they were closed. We are going to try using the furling pulley as that can be positioned mid ship.

The back of our boat now has a few chunks in it. We have put duct tape over hem so now we look real red neck! Scott tells me it can be repaired. He has even thought of seeing about a strip of stainless steel to protect he out edge of the sugar scoop.

I will keep you posted on our progress.

Marilyn

 

[Alansails]

Glad to hear that it is only minor nicks to your baby!
We hate them but if it has to be.. it is better to be minor, you will get expierence with fiberglass and gelcoat.
Minor is better than sinking .

 

[Mirwin]

Thanks...we have gotten better with the dams. Tomorrow we will go through three.

 

[jssailem]

That sounds like fun for you.