Locking problem at the St. Lucy Lock Florida

[thataway]

One of the main reasons I had to give up owning Cdorys is that I no longer felt "safe". I have weathered winds of 90 knots at sea and anchor. I have weathered breakers & seas of 40 to 45 feet in height at sea...

But falling off a C Dory 25 at a dock trying to go forward to adjust a line I fell of the boat, and only survived because quick action by Marie.

As we age, simple tasks around a boat may become dangers. I believe there is a "smart" time to stop boating at least in certainly types of boats. I had that happen to sailboats fully fit out for World Cruising. I had that happen to 42 foot trawlers, and more recently C Dorys.

I have through hundreds of locks including 3 Panama Canal transits in my own boats, some in Europe: Kiel Canal, Corinth Canal among others. and --some east coast, Gulf Cost, Heartland USA.

There is no one standard procedure. There also can be mlvric lock masters. I know of several who were fired in Florida eventually after long and arduous safety conscious boater's campaign. Tom of C Otter needs to be recognized for the work (many hours) to have a safety procedure approved and become SOP in a lock.

Thanks Tom and Joyce (I suspect she played some roles here)!

[Avidmagnum12]

Thomas
The lock tender was breaking Corp of Engineers rules. Plan and Simple. Two Corp of Engineers supervisors confirmed that. The rules specifically state that no one is allowed to be on the bow or roof of a boat when locking. The issue is safety. You were not there at the time of either incident.

As a gold looper I have locked through the entire loop and only had a problem with this one individual who was NOT following rules.

We only have one rule on this forum and that is to be nice.

I’m not going to argue……I’m sure you’re just having a bad day.

[Avidmagnum12]

Thanks for the kind words Dr. Bob but Ken Elliot really did the most work on this. I made some contacts with the supervisor when things got slow but Ken really pushed this along. C-Dory operators need not to be at risk of falling off the bow in a lock. I always remember some of the best information I was ever given came from you and I quote “The best first aid is to not get hurt “.

As you pointed out there will come a time that to boat as we do now will not be possible. Yet, we want to boat as long as possible. I think of Cliff Harbin and his handicaps and how he enjoys his boating on his C-Dory. What we don’t want is a bully to turn someone like him away because he can’t crawl up on the bow.

For Ken and I it was never about us….its for those that have an injury or handicap that would be affected by someone that was breaking the Corp of Engineers rules.

Colby ….thanks for posting the new guide lines for all to see. Always appreciate you.

Tom on the C-Otter

[Avidmagnum12]

SoBelle
Sorry that I did not post an answer earlier. The lock has supplied lines about every 25 ft so no problem using one line through the window and one at the stern. Every lock on the Okeechobee waterway is configured in this manner. It’s only at the St. Lucie lock where one lock tender made someone get out on the bow. Every other lock just let us choose where to handle lines.

And yes, you are correct that one should not tie off in a lock. On some locks there is a long fast drop with lots of turbulence such as a couple on the Oswego Canal that will rip the lines out of one’s hands. In this case we use the cleat for leverage but do not tie off. We also keep a sharp knife at each position…..just in case.

I asked the unnamed lock tender at St. Lucie what he would do if someone single hands through. He stated that the operator would have to go back and forth from bow to stern and secure the boat as the lock was operated. Tough enough going back and forth from the cockpit to the cabin but having to travel to the bow….difficult to say the least.

Ive communicated with other lock tenders at the St. Lucie lock and they are very accommodating. Unfortunately Ken and I had to deal with someone that was not. Now other C-Dory owners that go through the lock should not have any issues.

Thanks….Tom