12/16 - Lake Washington/Locks Cruise - CANCELLED

Lori Ann,

We keep our boat at Twin Bridges near Anacortes. We practically flew down Swinomish Channel and Saratoga Passage in smooth, calm water conditions, two hours to Everett. But it all depends of course on weather and water conditions and whether or not you're going down the west side of Whidbey (Admiralty) or through the east side via the Swinomish channel. Either way, you're looking at a 3-6 hour window. Plus, you'll probably have to plan on staying overnight and cruise back the following day given the short daylight hours in December. If you have the time and the water is flat, it would be a nice cruise down. Otherwise trailering down would be the better choice. I'd make my decision based on these factors.
 
Somebody said something about making reservations -- for the locks? How does that work? What's the cost, protocol, etc.?

Thanks,
Warren
 
Lori Ann":7bogfwim said:
Somebody said something about making reservations -- for the locks? How does that work? What's the cost, protocol, etc.?
Thanks,Warren
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Warren, no reservations are needed, there are no "costs", just show up in your vessel, when the gates open and you get the green light proceed in. You may find information through google on the particulars of the Ballard Locks (AKA Hiram M. Chittenden Locks). I don't recall what evening of the week it is, but the employees of the locks do put on a class that instructs boaters about the intricacies of lock passage. Or you can just go down and watch the locking procedure and ask the lock attendants any questions, when they are not busy.

Warren....I just "googled" Hiram M. Chittenden Locks and there is extensive information, to include what you need to be aware of/need to know in navigating the locks. Read it thoroughly, and then when you enter the locks, it is always helpful to inform the lock attendant the this is your "First Time Through The Locks".....that way they will demonstrate a lot of patience with you and assist you. The winter time is the best time to go through because the locks are not crowded and more individual attention may be achieved.
 
Marty is in charge of this thing, so what he says goes! But here is my $0.02 worth. I assume we meet up in Lake Washington around Husky Stadium at 10:00 a.m. and motor through the Montlake Cut to Lake Union. Jeff Messmer has graciously arranged for us to meet the Lake Union Sea Ray folks at their Lake Union dealership, and tie up at their dock. I for one feel this is very important to do, the old olive branch and all! For me, Jeff is the one constant at C-Dory in a sea change, and I think we owe it all the benefit of the doubt, let's go meet the Lake Union Sea Ray folks, get to know them, let them get to know us - it can only be positive! This MAY rule out doing the locks and/or lunch at Chinooks, it just depends on time and daylight. I would rather meet the folks at Lake Union Sea Ray than eat lunch at Chinooks - if we can do the locks, I would love to do that, even if we just go out, cruise around Shilshole and head back in. But if there is not time or daylight, not a big deal to me either.
 
I have some questions.

1. The gathering will be at 10:00, then will you leave immediately for the SeaRay dealer or will you spend time where you meet?

2. What time do you plan on getting to the SeaRay dealer?

3. Is there a good place to dock and spend the night on the boat, within an hour of Lake Union?

Weather permitting, I will be attending this gathering, but will be coming to it by boat from Olympia.

There is no way I can get there earlier than 10:20 and that is only giving myself 80 minutes to get through the ship canal and locks. The sound will have to be flat from Olympia to Seattle to do this, which is more than I could expect. My average speed, once it gets light enough to see good, has to be 25mph.

I plan on leaving Olympia at 06:30. Nautical Twilight is 06:35 on the 16th of December and I have a couple of miles to go where there is a no wake restriction. By the time I get through this it should be bright enough to speed up a bit, but still too dark to cruise 25mph. When I get to Johnson Point it will be 15 minutes before sunrise, so I should be able to kick my cruising speed up to 25mph the rest of the way.

For every 1mph reduction in my cursing speed it will take me another 11 minutes to make it to the ship canal. Unless the weather conditions are real snotty I don’t see my average cruising speed as being less than 20mph. That would put me at the entrance to the ship canal at 09:53. The tides will be favorable for me as I will hit the Tacoma Narrows at slack tide.

Unless you are going to hang around Husky Stadium, it would be best to meet the rest of you at the Lake Union SeaRay dealer. If things work out, there will be one and possibly two other C-Brats with their boats, making the trip with me. We will plan on spending the night and heading back sometime Sunday.
 
Warren-Sorry if my failed attempt at humor gave you the wrong impression. All vessels have the right to traverse the locks just by showing up. Dave is right that the locktenders are very helpful, as is the information found at the Civil Engineer Corps website here:http://www.nws.usace.army.mil/PublicMenu/Menu.cfm?sitename=lwsc&pagename=Navigating
Of particular importance is the diference in tying up in the two locks. Chances are that you will either go through the small lock or, in the big lock, be rafted to another boat. However, note that in the large lock the "walls" do not go up and down with the water level. If perchance you are to tie-up to the bulkhead in the large lock you will need two 50 foot mooring lines to play out or take in as the water level changes.
I do hope that we will have a chance to go through the locks as it is a boating rite of passage. It's also great fun for the visitors watching ashore. I just hope we can fit it all in on one of the shortest days of the year!. I look forward to seeing you on 12/16.
 
Well, somebody needs to call Jeff to confirm the arrangments with Lake Union Sea Ray, but here is a map:

Sea_Ray_Map.gif

If we changed the gathering time at Husky Stadium to 11:00 a.m., that would make it a little easier on Dave...we could be at Lake Union Sea Ray between 11:30 a.m and noon, no idea how long we would stay.

Also, if Dave met us at the dealership, and then we went out the locks after leaving Sea Ray, Dave could head across to, say, Blakely Harbor on Bainbridge, which is a great anchorage, with ample daylight to get there I would think. It is all so weather dependent of course - it could be snowing, or blowing hard, torrential rain - of it could be calm and sunny. Just part of the deal.
 
A couple of thoughts for those locking through because it sounds like this might be your first time:

1. It is highly likely that you'll come into the small lock. There are two rows of bollards on floating walls that line either side of the small lock. The lower bollards will be perfect for your stern line and either one will work for your bow line. Have your first mate sit on the bow to tend that line and be prepared to handle the stern line yourself. Oh, and half-a-turn around the button and back to your cleat but DO NOT tie it down in case the floating walls snag. At this time of year, when the Corps is bleeding down Lake Washington, they don't always have the air/water in the floating walls exactly equalized to lock itself, so your lines can bind and be difficult to release if you can't back off the tension easily.

2. Since the C-Dory's have so little freeboard, be prepared to tie off your fendors to the pilot house roof rails if necessary when rafting to other, larger boats.

3. We read the same thing about having 50' lines for the large lock and I spent $60 on really nice ones. If ANYONE in a C-Dory gets rafted to the wall of the large lock for this event, I will buy you the most expensive and foofy drink you can imagine at Starbucks. Don't waste your money on long lines that you're never going to use, at least for this purpose.

4. Watch out for anyone towing their dinghy. Even after the lock guys yelled at a sailboater to secure his dinghy before closing the gate, the first thing this bozo did when the upstream gate opened was to release his dinghy, forcing my wife to use her boathook ninja skills to keep this idiot's metal-transom dinghy off of our bow from the current onrush.

I realize that I've just written a book on this, but don't stress out, this is easy.
 
Pat Anderson":2e17oglr said:
If we changed the gathering time at Husky Stadium to 11:00 a.m., that would make it a little easier on Dave...we could be at Lake Union Sea Ray between 11:30 a.m and noon, no idea how long we would stay.

Also, if Dave met us at the dealership, and then we went out the locks after leaving Sea Ray, Dave could head across to, say, Blakely Harbor on Bainbridge, which is a great anchorage, with ample daylight to get there I would think. It is all so weather dependent of course - it could be snowing, or blowing hard, torrential rain - of it could be calm and sunny. Just part of the deal.
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Pat – I appreciate the thought of changing the time for me but that is not necessary. I can’t see us getting to the ship canal entrance at Shilshole Bay latter than 10:00 and that would still give us an hour to get to the SeaRay dealer. If you guys headed to the SeraRay dealer at 10:30, you would get there just before 11:00. Of course if we are early, we would just head onto the east entrance of the canal to meet up with the rest of the Brats.

As you noted Pat – “it could be snowing, or blowing hard, torrential rain - of it could be calm and sunny.” Number 1, 3 or 4 and I would probably still head up there, if the gathering was still scheduled, but number two would cause me to stay home as well as heavy fog.

Chubby Bunny – thank you for the information about the locks. Looks like I will need to throw in an extra length of rope. There is a chance I will be by myself, but don’t anticipate any problems going through.
 
Hey Chubby-It was nice to see you out there by the locks today. There is a lot of good stuff in your post about getting through the locks but I personally have to disagree with you about the 50 foot lines. I have gone through the locks only about 10 times in the last 4 years and have used the 50 foot lines twice. You are probably correct that chances are slight that we will even be going through the large lock, and if we do someone else will have long lines. As for me though, if they say have em, and they do, I'll have em. I wouldn't want you take a picture entitled "Lizzie hanging from the Ballard bollards". MartyP
 
Since you're all trying to figure out the timing of things, I kept my GPS on today for our tour of the ship canal and down the Western shore of Lake Washington. Here are a few reference points:

Locks to Sea Ray dealer: 39 min @ 5mph
Webster Point to Sea Ray dealer: 32 min @ 7mph
Webster Point to locks: 53 min @ 7mph

Also, got to wave hello to the crew of the Lizzie, a 16' C-Dory, taking the tour in the opposite direction. Pat, how do I get a photo to display in the post??? I've already posted the photo on the Jenny G pages but it would be neater to show directly in the post.
 
Hey Pat-Thanks for staying on top of this stuff. The last time I emailed Jeff he said he would "get right on it" about working things out with Lake Union Sea Ray.As for meet-up time at the Montlake Cut, let's stick with your original suggestion of 10AM. Today Dotty and I did the cruise run-through. We put in at the Bellevue ramp and proceeded at a normal speed (for us) of 13 or 14 mph ,about 4000 rpm from I-90 bridge to the 520 bridge and then 7 or 8 knots the rest of the way. We circled around the Sea Ray dealer and then on to the locks where we passed the beautiful Jenny G going the other way. We turned around and went back, stopping for clams and chowder at Ivars 1/2 hour stop at most. Then on to the ramp in Bellevue. . Unforunaely I left the times for each leg on the boat, but I do remember that we put in at 1120AM and took the boat out at about 4:30PM. I want to tell everyone that, if you haven't done this cruise before, you are in for a treat. There is so much to see, the houseboats, the bridges, the seaplanes taking off and landing, the Seattle skyline, and the best part for me, the Alaskan fishing fleet. And of course the locks! This is really exciting stuff for a 70 year old kid from New Jersey! By the way Pat, as a native son, I hope we can count on you to narrate this cruise on the official C-Brat channel, Channel 68.
 
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Chubby Bunny":tz4gk5ie said:
Pat, how do I get a photo to display in the post??? I've already posted the photo on the Jenny G pages but it would be neater to show directly in the post.
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OK, here are my thoughts:

- There area bunch of different things we could do.
- There are only so many hours of daylight.
- My only goal is to have an enjoyable and informative timeon the water.

So, how about this:
- We "meet" at 10:00 on ch 68 at the East end of the Montlake cut by Husky Stadium.
- We motor over to Lake Union SeaRay/C-Dory for a visit. Their staff is looking forward to meeting us and refreshments will be aprovided
- We cruise down the ship canal past the fishing fleet to the locksl
- Depending on time / personal preference some people can go through the locks or turn around and retrace our cruise back.
We (the Lizzie crew) will probably cut out after the cruise through the ship canal so that we can get off the ramp before dark.

We probably won't be able to do everything, and I am disappointed that , for some the Lake Washington/ Locks cruise may show you neither. But I do hope that our day together will be great fun and, as Dotty says,there is always another day.
 
As for me, here are my thoughts.

My kids are coming in from out of state and I am sure that visiting a boat dealer is not their idea of a good time. But I think that going through the locks, visiting the fishing fleet, etc. would be fun.

Hopefully there will be opportunities for visiting other than at the dealer.

Warren
 
Thanks Warren. I do appreciate your comments. There is no reason that those for whom the locks are a priority and the visit to the dealer is not can just keep going past SeaRay and motor on to and through the locks. We will be in contact on channel 68 and most likely meet up along the ship canal. As Pat Anderson says, the object is to have a good time on the water.
 
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