Saint Lawrence seaway, 1960

[j.sabourn]

The seaway leads as they were known as were the leads for 1 2 3 and 4 wires , so named and thats how they were put out the two forward wires one leading forward and no 2 leading aft the same configuration aft with number 3 and 4. On the approach walls to the locks ordinary ropes were used for tying up if had to wait for the lock being ready and had to land your own men ashore at the end of a spar in a seaway chair , similar to a bosns chair but only one rope passing through the chairs centre so as to be able to discard in about one second on feet touching the quay. Talk about safety one in those days couldnt even spell it. The linesmen in the locks would not walk 50 yards and take them ashore . I hope the system has changed today. If you had tension winches for the wires it made the job easier as didnt have wires parting at various times due to the speed of the locks filling or emptying. JS....

[happy daze john in oz]

The seaway leads as they were known as were the leads for 1 2 3 and 4 wires , so named and thats how they were put out the two forward wires one leading forward and no 2 leading aft the same configuration aft with number 3 and 4. On the approach walls to the locks ordinary ropes were used for tying up if had to wait for the lock being ready and had to land your own men ashore at the end of a spar in a seaway chair , similar to a bosns chair but only one rope passing through the chairs centre so as to be able to discard in about one second on feet touching the quay. Talk about safety one in those days couldnt even spell it. The linesmen in the locks would not walk 50 yards and take them ashore . I hope the system has changed today. If you had tension winches for the wires it made the job easier as didnt have wires parting at various times due to the speed of the locks filling or emptying. JS....

John, being catering I have little knowledge of deck, but i find your comments very interesting,.
I am learning more each time about how things were back then, I hope you continue.

[j.sabourn]

I was up the seaway twice on different ships. One fitted for the seaway and one not. The first one the Maratha Endeavour an Indian owned ship conventional cargo gear winches etc. Your seaway wires for the locks just went from your Winches at one and two hatches through your derrick heel blocks , straight to the seaway fairway leads and ashore . Had to have a winch driver at each winch . the same aft for your 3 and 4 wires. With a lascar crew you had to watch them like hawks , as driving a winch was a specialized job for them. They even had a rating for such called a winch walla , think you only carried 2 if remember correctly. The sanitary system was not suitable for the fresh water lakes as no waste was to be discharged or extremely heavy penalties followed even all those years ago. So all ships sanitary and waste pipes were shut down and portable battery driven toilets hired. The lake water in those days we used for potable uses. The lights and sound signals were slightly different in certain ports on the Great Lakes so all had to be adjusted as necessary. There were 2 classes of pilots Class 1 and Class 2 , Class 1 was mainly for entering and leaving port and class 2 for lake transits. You could apply for a class 2 and save the company money , they wanted me as mate to apply. I refused as already was down by the head with the work load and staying on the Bridge was not feasible . The second ship was built with the great lakes in mind and had special tension winches for the seaway locks , and also sewage tanks for the ships waste disposal, plus all the special rules were observed this was the Maratha Envoy. a 32000 ton geared bulk carrier.. The maxinum allowable draft up the lakes and coming out of the seaway was either 25 ft 6 inches or this may as memory might have slipped 27 ft. 6 inches which was well off being fully loaded , so the owners wanted every ton of cargo out of the lakes as possible , this was a pain in the ass as inspectors followed and checked your draft every time in the locks, as you know drafts continually change due to burnout and even to some extent temperature as I had to argue with one inspector for supposedly being over by half an inch. I must have sounded convincing as got away with a many thousands of dollar fine, Once up the lakes and tied up alongside whatever port was heaven, my favourite port being Milwaukee , but this was for purely private reasons. The freight rates out of the Lakes was well in excess of freight rates out of Montreal and the St. Lawrence ports , hence every ton was acceptable to the owners. JS

[Stan Carter]

A very interesting read and video, not seen that before.... thanks John.. As a point of interest a new system has been developed for mooring ships in transit through the locks... Hydraulic vacuum pads that hold the ship in place....Wifey and I try to spend as much time, roughly 3-4 trips a year down to the seaway and travel between Cornwall and Gananoque, where there Thousand island boat cruises leave from.... We do spend a lot of time at the Iroquois Locks, never fails to empress us, just love it.....
regards, Stan..

[thomas michael]

A very interesting read and video, not seen that before.... thanks John.. As a point of interest a new system has been developed for mooring ships in transit through the locks... Hydraulic vacuum pads that hold the ship in place....Wifey and I try to spend as much time, roughly 3-4 trips a year down to the seaway and travel between Cornwall and Gananoque, where there Thousand island boat cruises leave from.... We do spend a lot of time at the Iroquois Locks, never fails to empress us, just love it.....
regards, Stan..

hi stan carter
check out youtube, there is lots more on there.
tom

[James Domleo]

I was 3rd mate on one of the first ships to enter the Seaway after the Royal Yacht ,light ship bound for Duluth on Lake Superior where we loaded grain. I don't remember any mishaps. (Woldingham Hill, Counties Ship Management) Great memories.Did several return trips from Montreal.

[j.sabourn]

Was that the time the RY was in Canada for their New Ensign and self government and all the bits appertaining to it. Thinking back was the late 50s or early 60s maybe, perhaps, could be, ? JS

[Trader]

Lakes leads consisted of two vertical rollers and two horizontal rollers forming a square that the rope/wire could not escape. The Panama lead was deemed to be inadequate and cause too much chafing of the rope/wire causing it to break, the Panama rise and fall was much slower than the Lakes and in Panama you used the Mules non rotating wires which didn't kink. The Lakes leads had to be kept well lubricated/greased especially on Foc'le and break of foc'le as the seized up if you sneezed.

In Manchester Liners they were known as Welland leads.

[graham mcglone]

That trip up the seaway was memorable for another reason.we were almost light ship with only a couple of hundred tons of cargo for Toronto in No1 hold tween deck. As we were entering the lock we hit the concrete lead in wall before the gates. This resulted in a large gash in the hull well above the water line. The lock master immediately refused us entry and we had to back up and moor on the tie up wall.on putting the pilot ladder over the side so the captain and pilot could exams the damage along with the seaways authority, we were confronted with weapons drawn American police. They stood guard over us the whole time we were on the tie up wall. The upshot of all the discussion was that we were allowed to continue up through the American locks but with a tug escort. It being a holiday it took hours until they could the nearby tugs crew to start up and come to escort us. While we waiting we were treated to an excellent flying display by the USA air force display team.
Eventually we could see the tugs engine start up as they prepared to come over to escort us. The captain turned to the pilot and remarked that with the tug everything would go easily now to which the pilot replied that with the tug it would be more difficult and so it proved. Getting into the lock was pretty easy but the stretch between was difficult as the tub could just about keep up with us on our dead slow speed coupled with the crew of the tub having been having a merry (hic!) time celebrating the anniversary show.
Once clear of the American locks the tug left and we continued on our own through the Canadian lock and canal, across lake Ontario to Toronto where we discharged the last of the cargo and permanent repairs were made to the hull.
All in all a very enjoyable trip with just a bit of extra excitement thrown in.
Rgds
J.A.

Hi John, That incident occurred in the early hours of 28th June 1969 at Snell Lock. According to the official log (a copy of which I have in my possession), it stated, "Whilst approaching tie-up wall below Snell Lock, vessel was caught in cross currents and strong Sw'ly wind. Vessel struck end of tie-up wall heavily, resulting in damage to starboard bow." From memory the gash was approx 15-20 feet long and about two feet above the waterline. The captain was Bob Cuming and the C/O was Ralph Potts.
What the official log didn't mention was that my cabin-mate (a strange individual) who was the helmsman, had consumed copious amounts of alcohol and was incapable of understanding the helm orders - never mind steer the ship!
As you rightly pointed out, the Seaway authorities would not allow the Beaverfir to proceed any further until repairs had been made. Luckily we still had a part cargo of cement fondue (quick drying cement) in number 1 hold. The deck crew mixed sand + cement and borrowed a punt. We stuffed the gash with whatever would suffice to fill the gap and rendered over the damage.
By the afternoon the cement had dried, and a Lloyds inspector signed off the temp repair and issued a certificate. We got underway. Permanent repairs were completed by an engineering firm in Toronto. You can read a full account in my book, The Silvertown Kid.
By the way John, according to the ship's articles, you paid-off with the princely sum of £52 6s 6d for a seven week voyage!

[Ray Arnold]

I have a vague memory of my Dad (a skipper) mentioning that his Dad (also a skipper) had been given some sort of 'prize' - maybe just a bottle of hooch, I cannot remember exactly what, for being the first ship's skipper in a particular year, to 'break through' the remaining ice in the Seaway and at the end of winter, and make his way to the inland end.

Anyone heard of that idea? Does it still happen?

Ray Arnold