Piloting & Seamanship on Inland Waters—Rivers, Canals & Lakes The Proper Procedures for Using Locks
Boating on inland rivers, canals, and lakes is different in some respects from boating in coastal rivers, bays, and sounds. The differences are not total; many aspects of safe recreational boating are the same on all waters. But where differences do exist, they should be carefully considered.
The Pleasures of Inland Boating
Some of the finest cruising is found on the network of rivers and lakes giving access to areas far removed from tidal waters. Throughout the United States there are more than 30,000 miles (48,000 km) of waterways navigable by small boats. Using the Mississippi, the Great Lakes, the N.Y. State Canal System, and other waterways linking these with the Atlantic and Gulf Intracoastal Waterways, a boater can circumnavigate the entire eastern portion of the United States, a cruise of more than 5,000 miles (8,000 km). Only a small portion of this would be in the open sea, although the Great Lakes are, of course, sizable bodies of water, comparable to the ocean insofar as small craft cruising is concerned; see Figure 22-01.
To these vast networks of interconnected waterways must be added the many navigable but isolated stretches of rivers and the thousands of lakes large enough for recreational boating. Many of these lakes have been formed behind dams in regions far removed from what is normally thought of as boating areas. Today, there are few places where one would be surprised to see a sign reading “Marina” or “Boating Supplies.”
Figure 22-01 The eastern part of the United States has an extensive network of inland waterways, including those that are natural, improved, or entirely man-made. On the Pacific Coast, there are the Sacramento and Colorado rivers, and throughout the nation there are many lakes and reservoirs that provide boating opportunities.
Limitations
All cruising areas have their disadvantages and limitations. Some rivers and lakes may have shoals and rocks. Other rivers may have problems with overhead clearance; a fixed bridge might arbitrarily determine your “head of navigation.” It is imperative that you know your boat’s AIR DRAFT—the height of the tallest item above the water surface—in various configurations, such as antenna(s) up and down, and especially the minimum you can achieve.
Figure 22-02 Each waterway has at least a few of its own variations on the basic U.S. system of aids to navigation. Careful reading of chart notes, Light Lists, and Local Notices to Mariners is just as important for inland skippers as for coastal navigators. Visiting boaters should make a practice of seeking out local knowledge.
On some of the principal inland waterways, the overhead clearance is severely limited—on some sections of the N.Y. State Canal System it is only 15.5 feet (4.7 m). Boaters must unstep masts or fold down signal masts, radio antennas, and outriggers. Fixed overhead power cables are usually high enough to cause no problems to masted vessels, however, and their clearance is noted on charts. Unusually high water stages on rivers reduce overhead clearance by the amount of the rise over the “normal levels”; use extra caution at such times. Look for notes that explain what the clearances are based on; for instance, charts for the Ohio River give vertical clearance for high water based on 1936–67 levels.
RIVER BOATING
While rivers seldom offer vast open expanses where you will need the usual techniques of coastline piloting, they do require special piloting skills. Local lore often outweighs certain piloting principles that are the coastal skipper’s law, because a river’s ever-changing conditions put a premium on local knowledge; see Figure 22-03. River navigation is thus often more an art than a science.
Figure 22-03 The most often encountered hazards in river boating are shoals, sand bars, and submerged rocks. In man-made lakes, decaying trees and stumps may be present.
River Piloting
The fundamental difference is, of course, the closeness of the shore, usually with easily identifiable landmarks or aids to navigation. Knowing where you are, therefore, is not a problem. The skill of piloting here lies in directing your boat to avoid hazards—on many rivers, this is not a simple matter; see Figure 22-04.
Figure 22-04 River piloting differs from that in coastal waters as one usually knows at all times exactly where he is. Navigation consists mainly of avoiding underwater hazards such as shoals, sand bars, and snags. Aids to navigation may be numbered in the usual manner (above). On Western Rivers, however, the dayboards may be unnumbered, with a separate sign indicating the distance in statute miles upriver from a designated point.
Water- Level Changes
Inland waters are termed nontidal, but that doesn’t mean they have no fluctuations in water level; see Figure 22-05. The variations are apt to be seasonal, such as spring freshets, loaded with debris, that flood down from the headwaters, overflow banks, and course rapidly on down to the sea. The annual changes in level can be astounding; at St. Louis the seasonal fluctuation in river level from winter-spring flood conditions to low level in late summer and fall may be as much as 50 feet (15 m). In smaller streams, sudden heavy rains may raise water level several feet (about a meter) or more in a matter of hours.
Figure 22-05 The Guntersville Yacht Club in Alabama uses floating piers to accommodate the seasonal fluctuation in water level.
River Currents
Broadly speaking, river currents, although they fluctuate in velocity, will always trend in one direction—from the headwaters to the mouth. Tidal rivers may nevertheless have strong tidal conditions at the mouth, which back the water up so that you can take advantage of a favorable current going upstream. On the Hudson, for example, an economy-minded skipper electing to run at 9 to 10 knots can time his trip to carry a favorable current all the way from New York City to Albany, 150 miles (241 km) inland. Tides at this latter city, even so far from the sea, may range to as much as 5 feet (1.5 m), although at other points far downstream the range will be only slightly more than half that amount.
Current Strengths The strength of river currents varies widely from river to river and from season to season for any particular river. Speeds on some sections of the Mississippi range from 1 to 6 mph (1.6 and 9.7 km/hr) under average conditions. At extreme highwater stages, current strengths may be much greater—9 mph (14.5 km/hr) or more in narrow and constricted areas.
River currents sometimes attain such speeds that navigation upstream is not feasible, although capably handled boats can be taken down safely.
In the St. Lawrence River Galop Rapids, for instance, the current may run as fast as 13 mph (20.9 km/h). Some riverboats have power enough to ascend certain rapids, but as a general rule rapids are best avoided in favor of the canals and locks that bypass them, unless the skipper has local knowledge or engages the service of a local pilot; see also “Locks & Dams,”.
“Selecting” Your Current River current characteristics are of the utmost importance to the masters of deep-draft commercial vessels. The surface current acting on a small boat may actually be contrary to that which grips a large ship’s keel near the river bottom. Even surface currents vary from bank to midstream. Friction of the bank and bottom slows the water. The commercial skipper—to whom fuel costs and time of run are especially important—knows this difference. He uses the strength of the midstream current for his run downstream, and on the way back upstream he runs as close to the bank as he safely can, even turning into small coves to take advantage of the countercurrents.
You may be less concerned with the economic factors that the professional pilot weighs so carefully, but you can profitably heed the same principles. You can cut running time and fuel costs by running courses that make the river’s current work for you, or minimize its adverse effect. A 12-mph boat in a 4-mph current is making good either 8 or 16 mph, depending on direction of travel—a significant effect! Even for a 20-mph craft, the difference between 16- and 24-mph speeds is 50 percent.
Channels at River Bends
As a river flows around a bend, it tends to carve out the outside of the curve and slow down around the inside, depositing silt, forming shoals and ultimately a sand bar out from the point around which it is turning. Man-made structures and unusual bottom contours may alter this tendency, but it generally means that river channels going around bends will shoal on one side and deepen on the other over time; see Figure 22-06.
Study a river chart that gives depth (NOS charts, for example) and note this river flow characteristic. Then when you are on a river whose charts do not give depths (charts of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers do not), you will have a better feeling for where to find deeper water. With this understanding of natural channels at bends you will be less likely to run straight courses from marker to marker, cutting corners and risking getting hung up on a bar.
Figure 22-06 By staying in mid-channel, this small boat avoids the shoals that tend to build up along the inside of river bends. A deep-draft vessel may need to follow the outside curve of the bend in order to make sure of sufficient depth.
The proper course at each end is, of course, a curved line roughly following the trend of the river as a whole. If there are no aids to navigation to guide you, keep about a quarter of the river’s width off the outside bank at a bend in the river.
On some river charts, even the markings showing the topography ashore give clues to the river itself. Contour lines crowded close together near shore indicate a cliff rising steeply from the bank, with a good chance of deep water close under the bluff. The cliff may also be a landmark to steer by; see Figure 22-07.
Figure 22-07 Generally, the outside edge of a river bend provides the deepest water. The contour of the riverbank is also an indication of the underwater contour, but experience and judgment are required for correct interpretation. Local knowledge is a valuable commodity for a visitor.
Channel Crossing Where a river bends in an “S” curve—a curve in one direction followed by a curve in the opposite direction—the straight section between the curves is termed a CROSSING. On major rivers, these are usually marked by ranges or directional lights. In some instances, such as at low-water stages, seasonal buoys may be added to mark the route of best water; these buoys may be found in pairs or singly; see below.
Aids to Navigation
The basic U.S. system of buoyage (see Chapter 14) is used on the Great Lakes. The larger inland rivers, those that are navigable from the sea, have aids to navigation maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. Many of their lights, buoys, and daybeacons are like those discussed in Chapter 14, but a few are of special design for their “inland” purpose. Some rivers under state jurisdiction may still have aids to navigation conforming to the now-obsolete Uniform State Waterway Marking System, but most waterways have been converted to the system used in waters marked by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The “Right” and “Left” Banks of a River Designation of a river’s banks may at first be confusing. The color of aids on the Western Rivers System conforms to the “red-rightreturning” principle. When descending (moving downstream) the navigation aids on the left descending bank will be red, those on the right descending bank will be green; see Figure 22-08.
On the New York State Canal System, however, when regulations refer to the “starboard” side of the canal, they mean the right side when entering from Waterford (near Albany). Thus the starboard side of the Champlain Canal is the east side; but on the Erie Canal westward, the starboard side is the north side. Check your charts.
Figure 22-08 Particular attention must be paid to the notion of the “right” and “left” banks of a river. The choice is not always intuitive but is fundamental to the coloring of aids to navigation.
Mileage Markers A “mile” on an inland waterway is a statute (land) mile, not a nautical mile. Fixed aids to navigation on many major rivers are marked with mileage signs showing the distance upriver from a specified reference point;. It is always easy to get a “fix”—just relate the mileage on a daybeacon or light structure with the mileage figures on your chart. This mileage information identifies the aid, substituting for the arbitrary odd and even numbers used in coastal waters; it is also useful in calculating distance and speed.
Daymarks The Western Rivers Buoyage System uses PASSING DAYMARKS—square green with green reflective borders on the right side (descending the river) or triangular red with red reflective borders on the left side. There are also CROSSING DAYMARKS that are diamond-shaped, red or green as appropriate, with small reflective squares of the same color in each corner. These indicate that the channel is crossing from one bank to the other;.
Daymarks still in use on some inland rivers consist of two white boards, on posts or trees on shore, in the form of a large “X.”
Lights Most lights on major rivers, such as the Mississippi, show through 360°—they are visible all around the horizon. Sometimes a beam projects in one direction only, however, or the intensity of an all-round light is increased in a certain direction by a special lens. The beam’s width varies with the locations; a narrower beam marks a more critical channel. Flashing lights on the right (proceeding downstream) side of the river show a single green or white flash; those on the left side show double red or white flashes.
Generally speaking, lights on the Western Rivers (see Chapter 4) are placed strategically at upper and lower ends of “crossings” as marks to steer by, with additional lights between as needed. Where there are no crossings, lights along the banks serve as passing lights—lights that mark specific points along the banks. Your chart will show how a specific light should be used.
Buoys The skipper who is familiar with the basic U.S. system of buoyage will have no difficulty with buoyage on rivers. Buoys generally follow the same basic principles: green can-type buoys on the left and red nun-type buoys on the right when proceeding upstream from seaward. On the Mississippi and its tributaries, many buoys are unnumbered.
Buoys on the Mississippi River carry reflectors similar to those used on shore aids—red on the channel’s right (when ascending—returning from the sea, as in “red, right, returning”—) and green on those on the left side. Lighted buoys show a red light (double flash) if on the right side of a channel (ascending) and a green light (single flash) if on the left side; a few buoys on either side show a white flashing light in the same single or double flash pattern. Buoys marking wrecks at the side of a channel show a quick flashing light of the appropriate color.
Buoys marking channel junctions or obstructions that can be passed on either side are horizontally banded either green-over-red or red-overgreen as in the IALA system. If lighted, they show a group (2 + 1) flashing light of the same color as the top band.
Ranges On some of our major rivers, like the Hudson and the Connecticut, where channels through flats are stabilized and maintained by dredging, ranges with conspicuous markers on shore will help you stay within narrow channel limits. If you align the front and rear markers properly, you can hold your course safely in mid-channel despite any offsetting forces of current or wind.
Buoys and daymarks used on the Western Rivers are illustrated along with those used on other waters “in U.S. Aids to Navigation System in Chapter 14”.
River Charts
River charts are commonly issued in the form of books, the pages covering successive short stretches of the river in strip form. A typical example is the bound volume by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to cover the Mississippi River from Cairo, Illinois to the Gulf of Mexico. The scale is 1:40,000 (1 inch = approximately 0.6 mile or 1 km).
River charts are usually on a polyconic projection, and elevations normally refer to a specified mean water level.
Variations in River Charts River charts from different sources, such as the Army Corps of Engineers or NOS, do not all use the same symbol and coloring scheme; see Figure 22-09. Before you use one, study it carefully—particularly its LEGEND. This gives aids to navigation symbols, abbreviations, topographic and hydrographic information, and often illustrations of characteristics peculiar to that chart. The symbol for daymarks on charts of the Ohio River, for example, are unique to that waterway and may cause initial confusion to strangers unless carefully studied; see Figure 22-10.
Figure 22-09 This section of NOS Chart 14852 shows the boundary between Canada (on the right) and the United States. Depths are reference to the Great Lakes datum and will vary with changing lake levels.
Upper and Lower Mississippi River charts show water in blue and man-made features in black; blue is used for the sailing line; the Western Rivers system of buoyage is used for aids to navigation.
The book of Illinois Waterway charts shows the main channel in white with shoal areas tinted blue; land areas are colored yellow.
A booklet of charts for Navigation Pools 25 and 26 of the Mississippi River shows hazard areas—depths under 6 feet (1.8 m)—in bright red shading, harbors or anchorage areas with an anchor symbol, and the availability of fuel, water, marine railways, launching ramps, and repair and docking facilities.
Charts in the New York State Canals book, NOS Chart 14786, resemble the coastal charts described in Chapter 15. Land areas are screened gold tint, channels 12 feet (3.7 m) deep or more are white, with lesser depths light blue and depth contour lines for 6 and 12 feet (1.8 and 3.7 m), and black lines delineating the banks. Buoy symbols have magenta discs if they are lighted. Aids to navigation are numbered, and scattered depth figures give the skipper a good idea as to whether he dare venture out of the channel to seek an anchorage or for any other reason. Rocks and wrecks are indicated with standard symbols from Chart No. 1;. Arrows indicating current flow direction, used on many other inland charts, do not appear on those of New York inland waterways.
Missing from the typical river chart is the compass rose of coastal and offshore charts which enables the navigator to lay a compass course. Instead, river charts generally carry an arrow indicating true north. To make the best use of space on the printed sheet, North is rarely toward the top of the chart.
Figure 22-10 On this Army Corps of Engineers chart of the Cumberland River, of Tennessee and Kentucky, locations of bulletin boards that show river stages are shown, as well as the reference point for gauge readings. Symbols for nun and can buoys differ from those used on NOS charts. These and other river chart symbols are shown in the legend at right, excerpted from the chart.
Publications
Charts can convey a great amount of information, and you should always use the most detailed and latest editions you can get. Yet for space reasons, these charts cannot show all you need to know. Valuable additional data is published in the form of books and pamphlets; see also Appendix A.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Publications The Army Engineers at Vicksburg, Mississippi, publishes a pamphlet called Mississippi River Navigation, which contains only interesting background information on Mississippi River navigation.
Since channels, water levels, and other conditions on the Mississippi, Ohio, and other major rivers are constantly changing, the river boater must keep posted on the latest information at all times. Army Engineer District and Division offices issue several regular publications about current conditions. These are variously termed Divisional Bulletins, Navigational Bulletins, Navigational Notices, Notices to Navigational Interests (weekly), and Special Notices to Navigation Interests (as required). These small publications show up-to-date river conditions, such as channel depths and widths, estimated current velocities, controlling bridge clearances for specified stretches of rivers, construction projects and other hazards, and facilities like marine railways and lifts. Many are posted online.
U.S. Coast Guard Notices The 8th Coast Guard District, with headquarters in New Orleans, issues a Local Notices to Mariners—Mississippi River Edition covering changes in aids to navigation, hazards, etc., for the Mississippi River System. The USCG also issues occasional Channel Reports noting the least depth found by Coast Guard cutters and buoy tenders on their river patrols.
Light List One of the most helpful documents to the river skipper is the U.S. Coast Guard’s Light List, Volume V, covering all of the Mississippi River System. It tabulates lights, buoys, and other aids to navigation and gives mileages (in statute miles) from a specified point. Aids are described in greater detail than chart symbols and abbreviations can provide; see Figure 22-11.
Figure 22-11 Information on the charts for the Mississippi River system, including the Illinois Waterway, is supplemented by the USCG Light List, Volume V, which provides more details than can be shown on the charts.
Navigation “Tools”
On most rivers—unlike other waters—there is usually no need to plot a course or bearing, so there is little use of a compass. Generally, a binocular will be used to sight from one navigational aid to the next. In fog, most recreational boat traffic comes to a nearstandstill, although commercial vessels normally carry on with radar. This does not mean you can dispense with compasses on all inland rivers; some are wide enough that you can continue in fog using a compass, speed curve, watch or clock, and due caution. A chartplotter will be very useful.
Shoals & Dredging
Shoaling is a serious problem in most rivers, and dredging in many rivers is nearly continuous. Spring floods build up current velocities, stir up silt in river bottoms, wash away parts of river-banks, and carry all this dirt downriver in suspension, to be deposited as mud flats and sand bars where the strength of the current lessens; these flats and bars become hazards to navigation.
The Connecticut River is a good example of the shoaling problem; its channels must be dredged to authorized depths each year, at great expense. In the Mississippi River, a jellied mass of muck called flocculation is deposited as sediment on the river bottom to a depth of 10 to 15 feet (3.0–4.6 m) each year. Deep-draft vessels will plow through it, and high-water stages of the river flush it out into the Gulf, so the Army Engineers do not bother to dredge it at low-water stages. Over the centuries, this is how the river’s delta has been built up.
Shoals or bars that build up at the mouth of a river or at the confluence of two rivers can cause a serious problem. Rough seas and difficult wave patterns can build up over such features when strong out-flowing currents are opposed by the wind.
“Eyeball” Piloting
Much of a river pilot’s success depends on his acquired skill of interpreting what he sees. For example, no single statement can be made about what certain surface conditions reveal about relative depths of water, although they do present clues within the context. On one hand, where there is a chop in the channel there may be areas of smoother water over the bars, especially if there is any weed growth present. On the other hand, there may be wind-current conditions where the channel will be comparatively smoother, with ripples revealing the bars. The experienced pilot will know which condition prevails.
In some narrower river channels, with wind against current, a small sea builds up in which the larger waves disclose the deeper water and grow smaller until there are no seas at the channel’s edge. Under any conditions, the experienced boater will quickly learn to take advantage of nature’s signs.
Watch Your Wake In unfamiliar waters, even your wake can give a clue to the safety of your course. As it rolls off into shallow water, its smooth undulations give way to a sharper formation, even cresting on the flats in miniature “breakers.” When the waves reach a shoal or a flooded area where submerged stumps are close to the surface, the difference will show. If your wake closes up toward your stern and appears short and peaked, sheer off fast away from the side of the channel where this telltale signal appears.
Practice Makes Perfect As you develop a sense of river piloting, you’ll become more conscious of the track you should make good over the bottom relative to shoals and the sides of channels. Where currents do occasionally flow diagonally across your course, you will allow for them instinctively and look astern frequently to help maintain that sense of position. Always know to which side you should turn if the water shoals.
Local Knowledge
Not even the best of charts and publications can tell all about a particular stretch of a river. Rivers are particularly prone to seasonal or irregular changes, and if you are new to a specific portion of a river, you should take every chance to ask experienced local people about hazards or recent changes.
River Seamanship
Boaters on inland rivers are subject to many of the general requirements for safety and good seamanship covered in other chapters. They must also be prepared for the special conditions that relate to specific bodies of waters. For example, boat handling at piers, and on entering or leaving slips, may be complicated by swift river currents. Grounding hard on river shoals may be more troublesome than it is on tidewater, where the next rising tide will often free a boat without any other assistance.
River Cruising
Cruising can be exceptionally enjoyable on rivers but requires careful planning and execution. Problems of where to make fast or anchor for the night are a part of cruising in any waters. On rivers you can often find shelter from blows close at hand, yet you will encounter areas big enough to work up a sizable chop or even seas, especially when wind opposes current. You’ll also need protection from wakes and wash of passing river traffic, and you need to decide whether to seek the seclusion of quiet anchorages off the beaten track or the activity associated with towns and cities.
New marinas on many inland waters—the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway, for example—have been a boon to river cruising. They offer a place to make fast for the night and easy access to fuel and supplies.
Safety Harbors and Landings Many rivers now provide safety harbors and landings for use in bad weather, mechanical difficulty, or other emergencies; their locations are shown on charts. Safety harbors are usually coves off the navigable channel. Direction boards on shore indicate the entrance, and cross boards mark the upper and lower limits.
Safety landings are areas where the banks have been cleared of stumps, boulders, snags, or other underwater hazards so that boats can safely come to shore, with upper and lower limits marked by direction boards. These signs are typically colorcoded; for instance, on the Tennessee, white if a 9-foot (2.7 m) depth is available at all water stages, orange if this depth is not available at lower levels.
The New York State Barge Canal provides terminals at intervals along its route; these are only occasionally in use by commercial vessels, and are available to recreational craft at other times. The terminals are concrete with rather rough faces, so you will need fenders and fender boards.
To allow for the seasonal range in water levels (or stages), most Western River marinas and yacht clubs are afloat on strings of barges. At low-water stages, you may have a long climb up the riverbank to get to town.
Anchoring
Your chart will often reveal a likely place to anchor for the night. A widening of the river may offer you the chance to get out of the reach of traffic, or a small tributary or slough may invite exploration (enter with caution and check depths as you go), or the natural configuration of riverbanks and bars may provide a natural “harbor” with complete protection. Islands in midriver often leave a secondary channel for small boats on the side opposite that used by deeper-draft commercial vessels. When a river cuts a channel behind a section of bank, a TOWHEAD is formed. Sometimes these are filled in or dammed across at the upper end by river deposits, forming a natural protected harbor that can be entered from the lower end.
You may also be able to get your boat behind a pile dike—a structure designed to keep riverbanks from washing away. The dike juts into the river and, by tying up to one of the piles just inside the outer end on the downstream side, you will be protected from passing traffic as well as from floating debris.
Use Caution Outside Channels When entering sloughs between islands or between an island and the bank, beware of submerged wing dams at the upstream end. To be safe, enter and leave from the downstream end.
When anchoring on the larger rivers near a sandbar or island—or when beaching a small boat there to go ashore—it’s wise to pick the downstream rather than the upper end. If your anchor drags, or if you somehow get aground on the upstream end, the current will be pushing you harder ashore. Water at the downstream end is likely to be quieter, and the eddies that normally exist there may help to free you.
Sandy bars that are exposed at low water may be quite unstable. Be careful when using them for camping or swimming.
Check Characteristics of the Bottom The character of the bottom varies widely on inland waterways. Particularly in their lower reaches, river bottoms are often soft mud, so you should carry at least one broad-fluked anchor of a design that will dig down until it reaches a good holding. A grapnel anchor, with its spidery arms and flukes, would pull through mud and provide no holding power at all, but on a hard or rocky bottom it is likely to be a better choice than the other type.
When anchoring over rocky bottoms, or in areas full of snags and roots, it is best to rig a TRIP LINE, a light line from the anchor’s crown to a small buoy—an empty plastic bottle will do—at the surface. If the anchor snags and will not come free in a normal fashion, pick up the buoy and raise the anchor with the trip line, crown first;.
Leave an anchor light burning all night if there is any chance of other vessels being underway nearby; if you are not sure whether you need an anchor light, be on the safe side and have one showing.
Making Fast to the Bank
In many areas, cruising boaters make fast to the river’s bank for a lunchtime break in the day’s journey, or even overnight. Be cautious when doing this. First, check that the depth is adequate and the area is free of underwater obstacles; approach the shore slowly. Avoid vertical banks that may be in a stage of active caving; exposed tree roots in the bank may be evidence of recent erosion. Avoid rock riprap along the banks; it can damage a boat’s bottom; see Figure 22-12.
Figure 22-12 This typical Mississippi River bank is riprapped with concrete to protect against erosion. Use care near such banks to avoid damage to your boat’s bottom.
Allowance for Water-Level Changes On inland rivers your docking lines generally need not allow for the tidal changes common on the coasts, except, of course, on tidal rivers. On nontidal waterways, however, there is always the chance of a change in level with hard thunderstorms or other heavy rainfalls. Dams may have sudden discharges, both scheduled and unscheduled, of large amounts of water—use extra caution when on the downstream side of a dam and obey all “Keep Out” signs. Observe the practices of local boats, and be guided accordingly.
Tying up to a barge or float that will itself rise or fall with a change in levels is advantageous. Here, you need simply to leave enough slack in lines to accommodate the wake of a passing vessel.
River Cruising Problems
Boaters who have cruised a given river may have conflicting reports of its hazards, or the absence of them. One may have made the cruise in the early spring, encountering high water, flood conditions, racing currents, and floating debris, while another made his trip in September or October with lowstage water levels and slower currents so that he encountered few if any obstacles, except perhaps more numerous shoals. At extreme flood conditions, as a rule, river navigation is not recommended without the services of an experienced pilot.
Eddies and “Whirlpools” On the Mississippi, “sand boils” may be caused by sand piling up on the riverbed. During flood stages these whirlpoollike disturbances can be so violent that they can throw a boat out of control. In more favorable months, they may be no worse than surface eddies—felt, but certainly of no danger to a boat.
Debris Floating and partially submerged debris, such as tree trunks and branches, are a hazard for small boats. Keep a sharp lookout in waters where they have been reported. Floating debris is usually at its worst in the spring months, when flood water levels have swept away downed trees and other materials from above the normal high-water line.
Off-Station Buoys Another hazard of river piloting at springtime high-water levels is that buoys can be moved from their charted positions, dragged by strong currents or floating debris.
Submerged Buoys River currents sometimes flow so fast that buoys are towed under and completely submerged, leaving only a V-shaped eddy on the surface to reveal their location. Sometimes the buoy’s top will be visible to a boat bound upstream, or the wake of a passing vessel will expose it momentarily. The surface eddy of a towed-under buoy always points upstream as its “wake” divides downstream around it. Avoid any surface disturbance like this; a submerged obstacle is likely lurking beneath.
Do not confuse the towed-under eddy with the condition of two currents converging at the downstream end of a middle bar. That condition may also show a V-shaped eddy, but pointing downstream.
Problems from Silt Some river boaters have reported underwater bearings ruined, engine jackets or heat exchangers filled with silt, and water pump impellers worn out at the end of a single river run. In all waters heavily laden with silt, you are wise to carry protection against it: raw water strainers, freshwater cooling systems, cutless-type underwater bearings, and pump impellers that can handle mud and sand.
Special Hazards Some rivers present special hazards. The Army Engineers caution against regarding the Mississippi with insufficient respect, as in the example above of eddies and “whirlpools.” The lower river is very large, with low-water widths of 2,500 feet (0.8 km) and highwater (bank-full) widths up to 9,000 feet (2.7 km). The bank-full stages generally occur between December and July, most frequently in March or April. Low-water stages occur in the fall months.
The Mississippi River’s Lake Pepin typifies the kind of exposed area that you may encounter. This “lake,” actually a broadening of the river proper, is 21 miles (33.8 km) long and up to 2.5 miles (4 km) wide; sizable seas can build up in such a body of water.
You can find many kinds of equipment at work along rivers, especially the larger ones. Hydraulic pipeline dredges may have lengths of floating pipeline you must avoid. Barges carrying bankprotection equipment may extend hundreds of feet out from shore, often in the swiftest part of the current. When passing any form of construction or maintenance equipment, keep well clear because of the hazard of being swept under it, and slow down to avoid damage from your wake. Regulations exist governing lights and day shapes for dredges and other “floating plants” working on river projects, and for the passing of such equipment by other vessels. Use your VHF radio to contact the working vessel and get permission to pass, and advice on how to do so safely.
Confusing Lights Special caution is required when running rivers at night, even those with numerous lighted aids to navigation. Shore lights may cause confusion; searchlights used by commercial traffic may blind you. Floating debris often cannot be seen at all.
Signals
Whistle signals for passing other vessels, or for use in conditions of restricted visibility and other special situations, are prescribed in the Inland Navigational Rules. Details are in Chapter 5.
With few exceptions, the signal for requesting a drawbridge opening is one prolonged blast followed by one short blast. Where there is more than one bridge in close proximity, signals must be given for each bridge separately. VHF radio communications are much preferable to whistle signals.
Passing Commercial Traffic
Most U.S. inland waterways handle considerable commercial traffic. Whether you are cruising or just out for the day, you must know how to handle your boat in close quarters with a large commercial vessel. At night, be especially watchful for the navigation lights of other vessels—if you see both the red and green sidelights, you are dead ahead and in danger. In a narrow channel, a big tug or tanker requires much of the available water. As she approaches, you’ll see a sizable bow wave built up ahead of her, and the water drawn away by suction to lower the level at her sides amidships. Give her as wide a berth as you possibly can, and be alert for violent motions of your boat as she passes.
Figure 22-13 Under no circumstances should you compromise the maneuvering room available to river tows (a series of linked barges pushed by a powerful, deep-draft tug). Avoid passing them in river bends. Shown here is barge traffic on the Illinois River.
Tugs with tows astern in narrow waterways present a real problem to approaching small boats. Fortunately, most of the river “towing” today is done by pushing scows and barges ahead of the tug; see Figure 22-13. This keeps the whole tow under better control as a single unit. Passing at a bend is more dangerous than on a straightaway, and sometimes must be avoided entirely; the tug and its barges cannot help but make a wide swing, and though there may be ample room to pass at the beginning of the turn, there may be none at all later. If small boats must pass at a bend, it is usually wiser for them to take the inside of the curve.
Jumbo Tows on the Mississippi Big rafts of Mississippi River barges bunched together in one vast tow may cover acres of water. You should never jeopardize their activities, regardless of right-of-way. Integrated tows may consist of a bowpiece, a group of square-ended barges, and a towboat (at the stern)—all lashed together in one streamlined unit 1,000 feet (305 m) or more in length. At night, the lights of the towboat may be more conspicuous than the sidelights on the tow far out ahead. To make barges more visible, the Inland Rules require that those pushed ahead must show a quick-flashing yellow light all the way forward on the centerline; watch carefully for such a light;.
Give All Tows a Wide Berth On all rivers, you should give tows a wide berth. In particular, stay away from in front of tows; if you should lose power, the tow could probably never stop or steer clear in time. A commercial tow must maintain speed to be able to steer, and may at times need a half mile to come to a full stop.
When approaching a tow from astern intending to pass, watch out for sunken logs and other debris that may be stirred up from the bottom by the wash from the tug’s powerful propeller; these will be low in the water and difficult to see. Use caution in passing through the turbulence resulting from this wash. Pass by at as large a distance as possible to avoid being sucked toward the tug when you come abreast of its stern.
Small-boat whistle signals are usually inaudible at the noisy control station of large vessels some distance away. If you need to communicate, use VHF radio, Channel 13 or 16. (On the Mississippi below Baton Rouge, Channel 67 is used rather than 13.) A passing is often verbally described over the radio, saying “one-whistle” or “two-whistle” as if actual blasts were being sounded.
Watch Your Wake
Much inland boating is done on waterways that are quite narrow. Regulate your speed so that no destructive wake results; excessive wake can cause damage to other boats and to shore installations. Some wake is almost inevitable from motorboats, but it must not be destructive; keep your speed, and your wake, down when passing boats and shoreline facilities.
WATERWAYS INFORMATION
An overall source for U.S. waterway information is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which provides recreation opportunities on more than 400 lakes and river segments in 43 states. Army Corps resources can be accessed from www.usace.army.mil, and Army Corps waterway charts can be downloaded from http://geoplatform.usace.army.mil/home/. Selected printed waterway maps are available from the U.S. Government Printing Office at https://bookstore.gpo.gov/catalog/transportation-navigation/almanacs-navigation-guides/usace-navigational-charts. An Army Corps map presenting an overall picture of U.S. waterways, Major Waterways and Ports of the United States, does not appear to be published any longer but is still available in old editions online. The same may be said of Army Corps color maps of smaller river regions showing details of interest to boaters—marinas, ramps, sanitary facilities, camping and picnic sites, as well as dams and locks. The series of Lakeside Recreation maps for each region of the U.S. was particularly useful but now, seemingly, available only in older editions. Maps of the Alabama River, Mobile River, and Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway are available from http://www.sam.usace.army.mil/Missions/Civil-Works/Navigation/Navigation-Charts/. Current information on waterway levels and hazards nationwide can be accessed from http://www.usace.army.mil/Locations.aspx.
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) formerly published a series of brochures, River Basins of the United States. These include general maps of major rivers, along with information of historical, hydrographic, and geological interest. Though seemingly no longer published, back issues remain useful and fascinating.
The U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) publishes a series of brochures, River Basins of the United States. These include general maps of major rivers, along with information of historical, hydrographic, and geological interest.
In Canada, all but the smallest lakes and rivers are charted by the Canadian Hydrographic Service; the exceptions are covered by other agencies. The Canada Map Office publishes topographic maps showing water areas, but without depth information. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources publishes provincial Fishing Maps, which show water depths as well as other fishing-related details.
CANAL BOATING
Before construction of DAMS and LOCKS, many of our rivers were unnavigable. Water coursed down valleys at the land’s natural gradient, dropping hundreds of feet in not many miles, running too fast and encountering too many natural obstacles for safe navigation. To overcome such obstacles, engineers dam natural waterways at strategic spots to create a series of POOLS or levels that may be likened to a stairway. Good examples of how closely these can resemble an actual flight of stairs are at places like Waterford, N.Y., and Rideau Waterway at Ottawa, where vessels descend or ascend a series of locks in immediate succession. This section covers boating on completely manmade waterways, which might be termed “pure canals,” and on “canalized” natural rivers.
Water Levels
To a river pilot, the term POOL STAGE indicates the height of water in a pool at any given time with reference to the datum for that pool. On many rivers, pool stages are posted on conspicuous bulletin boards along riverbanks so as to be easily read from passing vessels. Charts show the locations of these bulletin boards.
On the Ohio River, gauges at the locks of each dam show the depth of the pool impounded by the next dam downstream. For example, if the chart indicates a 12-foot gauge reading for a normal pool, a reading of 11.7 feet indicates that the next pool is 0.3 feet below normal elevation.
Locks & Dams
Without locks, the dams on our inland waterways would restrict river cruising to the individual pools and would prevent through navigation except for boats light enough to be PORTAGED—carried on land by hand or on vehicles—around the dams. Locks, in conjunction with the dams, permit boats to move from level to level. Locks vary in size, but since they almost invariably handle commercial traffic, their dimensions offer no restrictions to the movement of recreational boats. Most locks can accommodate several vessels at the same time; see Figure 22-14.
Figure 22-14 Locks have made water travel possible on many waterways with dams and otherwise unnavigable sections such as rapids. More than one boat at a time may be passed through a lock, sometimes in company with a larger vessel.
Principles of Locks & Locking
Locks are virtually watertight chambers with gates at each end, and usually with valves admitting water to them as required. When a vessel is to be locked upstream to a higher level, first all gates are closed and valves on the lock’s downstream side are opened to let the water run out to the lower level. Then the downstream gates are opened so that the vessel can enter the lock. The downstream gates are then closed and water flows into the lock from above through another set of valves until the chamber is full to the level of the upper pool, with the boat rising along with the water. The upstream gates are then opened, and the vessel resumes its course upstream. Locking a vessel down is the reverse of this process; see Figure 22-15.
Water is not pumped at river locks; the natural flow is utilized, which is why some canals limit the number of lockings each day during droughts or annual dry seasons.
Variations in Lock Design
There are various kinds of locks, all of which accomplish the same result. Gates may swing to the side or roll back; sometimes they lift vertically and boats go under them.
Smaller locks and those with a minimal waterlevel change may not have underwater valves; water is let in or out of the chamber by opening the gates just a crack at first, then gradually widening the opening as the levels begin to equalize.
On one section of the Trent-Severn Waterway in Canada, the remarkable lock at Peterborough, Ontario, is actually a hydraulic elevator in which two large water-filled chambers, containing vessels, counterbalance as they rise and fall to the upper and lower levels. At another location on the same waterway, an ingenious marine railway with a unique cradling device is used to carry boats up and down a steep grade and deposit them at the other end. Through passage on a waterway like the Trent-Severn is obviously limited to boats within the capacity of the railway, both as to length and weight.
Whistle Signals
Signals are prescribed for vessels approaching a lock, to be answered by the lockmaster. The signals vary in different areas, so familiarize yourself with the signals that apply to the waterway you are using. At many locks, VHF/FM radios are used for direct communications between vessels and the lockmaster.
On the Ohio River, vessels sound a long and a short blast on the whistle from a distance of not more than one mile from the lock. Approaching boats must wait for the lockmaster’s signal before entering.
Where locks are in pairs (designated as LANDWARD and RIVERWARD), the lockmaster on the Ohio may also use an air horn to give directions as follows: one long, enter landward lock; two longs, enter riverward lock; one short, leave landward lock; two shorts, leave riverward lock.
On the Mississippi, signs on the river face of the guide wall warn small boats not to pass a certain point until signaled by the lock tender. Boaters use a signal cord near this sign, if their own horns are not loud enough, to attract the attention of the lock attendant. Similar arrangements are found on the Okeechobee Waterway crossing Florida and elsewhere.
Signal Lights
Traffic signal lights at the Ohio locks resemble those you find on city streets—red, amber (or yellow), and green vertically arranged. Flashing red warns: “Do not enter, stand clear.” Flashing amber (or yellow) cautions: “Approach, but under full control.” Flashing green is the “Go ahead: all clear to enter.”
On the N.Y. State Canal System, a fixed green is the signal to enter; a fixed red requires the vessel to wait. Six flashes of a red or green light means “stay where you are and await further instructions.” If there are no signal lights showing, you must wait or make fast to the approach wall.
As with sound signals, VHF radio communications are often used to supplement light signals.
Precedence at Locks
The secretary of the army has established an order of priority for the users of locks controlled by the Corps of Engineers, as follows: (1) U.S. military vessels; (2) mail boats; (3) commercial passenger boats; (4) commercial tows; (5) commercial fishermen; (6) noncommercial boats.
In the descending order of precedence, the lockmaster also takes into account whether vessels of the same priority are arriving at landward or riverward locks (if locks are paired), and whether they are bound upstream or downstream.
Recreational boats may, at the direction of the lockmaster, be locked through with commercial vessels if a safe distance can be maintained between them and if the commercial vessels are not carrying petroleum products or other hazardous substances.
Figure 22-15 This series of sketches shows the process of locking through for an upbound craft. With the water in the lock at the downriver level, A, the boat enters the lock. The downriver gates are closed and water enters the lock chamber, B. (Water is shown here entering from valves in sides of the lock; in many locks, there are no such valves and the upriver gates are opened just a bit to let water in.) At C, the water in the lock chamber has risen to the upriver level, the gates are opened, and the boat proceeds on its way.
Locking Procedures
The concrete walls of locks are often rough and dirty. Some older locks have metal-sheathed inside surfaces, but most are hard on small boats, so keep your fenders ready; see Figure 22-16. Ordinary cylindrical fenders pick up dirt and roll on the wall to smear your topsides. Instead, you should use fender boards consisting of a plank (generally 2 by 6 inches, several feet long) suspended horizontally outside the usual fenders hung vertically. They will normally work well amidships or where a boat’s sides are reasonably straight.
Bags of hay can be used in the same way as cylindrical fenders, except on heavily flared bows and at the edge of the deck, where they flatten down and work fairly well. Auto tires wrapped in burlap would be ideal except that their use is illegal in most canals (if they came adrift they would sink and probably foul the lock’s valves or gates).
As you can’t be sure which side of the next lock you will be using, it’s wise to have duplicate fender systems for each side.
Figure 22-16 Adequate fendering is a must in using locks; the side walls are always fouled by growth since they are submerged much of the time. Fenders will become dirty, possibly to the extent that they can no longer be cleaned for regular use—use your oldest, or some substitute (see text).
Entering & Leaving
Since moving quickly around the deck while watching upward is an easy way to slip and fall, make sure that all persons outside on deck are wearing life jackets before entering a lock.
It is very important to enter locks with enough speed to maintain good steerage, since there may be some turbulence from the valves or the propellers of large vessels, but not so much speed that you cannot stop quickly. Small boats may be rafted alongside larger vessels or as groups of two or more. This is entirely practicable if all skippers are cooperative and cautious; it is usually good strategy for smaller boats to enter the lock last.
Occasionally you will hear about boats being tossed about as water boils into the lock from open valves. Be alert for this possibility, but lock tenders on our inland waterways are almost always careful to control the rate of inflow to minimize any turbulence in the lock chamber, and you need not fear the locking process for this reason. With a light boat, however, use extra caution when locking through in company with large commercial vessels. A boat directly astern of a tug, for example, can be tossed around when the tug leaves and its big propeller starts to kick out its wash astern.
Approaching a Lock from Upstream
Be cautious when approaching a lock from the upstream side; follow the marked channel closely. There are stories on every waterway of boats missing the upstream lock entrance and going over the adjacent dam. Looking down a river from above a dam, it is sometimes virtually impossible to see any break in the water’s surface, especially at night. Yet there is virtually no chance for such an accident if a skipper pays close attention to the buoys as on his chart, or to the general configuration of the dam and locks if there are no buoys.
Actually, there are some circumstances where it is proper to go over a dam. The Ohio River has a special type of dam that has a lock chamber on one side and BEAR TRAPS on the other. Between them, there are movable wickets that can be held in an upright position during low-water stages and lowered at times of high water. When the wickets are up, vessels use the lock. With the wickets down at high water, vessels run through the NAVIGABLE PASS, right over the submerged dam, without locking. By day, it is important to watch the bulletin boards at the locks to know whether the lock or pass is to be used. At night, control lights are shown at the guide walls. When the navigable pass is being used, a gauge reading on the notice board of the lock control building shows the depth of water over the pass sill at the dam; the figures are in red on a white background, preceded by the word “Pass.”
Have Enough Line
Another essential in locking is adequate line. Its diameter depends on the size of your boat, and its length on the depth of the locks. Lines for locking through can be slightly smaller in diameter than your normal mooring lines; ½-inch line is often used for boats in the 35- to 50-foot (10.7-15.2 m) range, 3.8-inch for smaller boats. (If it can be found, manila is preferable to synthetic material because of its lower cost; locking lines will soon get too dirty for further use and must be discarded.) Some locks may provide lines, but be prepared; don’t count on their availability.
In general, bow and stern lines should be at least twice the depth of the deepest lock that you plan to go through. This length permits running the line around a bollard on the top of the lock wall and back to your boat, where it is constantly tended by hand. Then at the final level, when you are ready to cast off, you can turn loose one end and haul in on the other without assistance from above (which you are not likely to get); see Figure 22-17. When locking down, it’s extremely dangerous to make fast to a bollard above and then secure the line to a bitt or cleat on the boat. If the water level drops unexpectedly, the boat can be “hung up” and seriously damaged, with possible injuries to those on board. When locking up, line must be taken in steadily to keep the lines taut and the boat under control. Many experienced river boaters snub their lines on the side of their craft away from the lock wall so that the lines angle upward and inward to the top of the lock, tending to pull the boat closer to the wall.
Figure 22-17 One procedure makes use of two long lines leading from the bow and stern to bollards at the top of the lock wall and back to the boat. While they can be snubbed to a cleat to reduce the strain on the person tending them, they should never be fully cleated when locking down. Some skippers lead their lines to the side of their craft away from the wall if the lock is very deep.
Use of Ladders & Other Methods
Lock walls often have ladders recessed into them, should someone be unlucky enough to fall in. On some canals, small boats may follow a ladder up or down, rung by rung, holding on with boathooks or short lengths of line. On other canals, rules do not permit this, and the ladders must be kept clear for emergency use.
In addition to bollards at the top, some locks have posts recessed in the walls at intervals in a vertical line. Locking up, you can transfer your lines successively from lower posts to higher ones as you rise in this chamber.
In some new locks, floating mooring posts built into the walls move up and down with the water level. This makes for the easiest locking through of all, because you can use relatively short lines and they need no adjustment as your boat moves up or down.
Tend Your Lines Carefully
The watchword in locks is “safety.” Whether the water level is rising or falling, tend your lock lines carefully at all times; see Figure 22-18. You will need one crewmember forward and another aft; with only two people aboard, the helmsman can usually tend whichever line is nearest to him or her, generally the stern line. Single-handing in locks is definitely not recommended and may be prohibited by regulations. In some locks, coming up, special caution is required at the top of the lift. The boat may have been adequately fendered against the lock wall, but when the lock chamber is nearly full the boat’s gunwale may be above the wall and the topsides are then unprotected, particularly at a bow with flare.
Figure 22-18 Safety should always be your principal concern. You will need one crew member forward and one aft to tend lines. Single-handed crewing is not recommended. Special caution is needed when the boat’s gunwale is above the wall.
The Army Corps of Engineers publishes an informative illustrated leaflet entitled Locking Through. Write to the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, Pittsburgh District, 1000 Liberty Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15222-418, or download a copy from www.lrp.usace.army.mil/Missions/Navigation/. It sets forth, concisely, the essentials as they apply to the Allegheny, Monongahela, and Ohio rivers. For information specific to other river systems, search on “locking through” in your search engine.
Spillways
Recreational boaters must keep clear of the spillway area below dams. The fishing there may be particularly good because fish tend to congregate below dams, but the hazards, too, are great. Spillway areas are subject to sudden changes as the dam’s gates and valves open and close; placid waters become turbulent with no warning at all as a heavy stream of water boils up unexpectedly from beneath the surface. Heed the warning signs and stay out of spillway areas.
Artificial Land Cuts
Not all waterways are merely improved versions of natural rivers and lakes. Artificial land cuts are often needed to interconnect navigable waterways and provide continuous passage between major bodies of water. Lake Champlain, for example, is accessible from the upper reaches of the Hudson River only because of a 24-mile (38.6-km) completely artificial waterway cut into the land. A dredged land cut many miles long is also found at the western end of the Erie Canal to connect Lake Erie with rivers in the middle of the state
Narrow land cuts pose problems of their own. A typical cross section of a dredged canal might have a surface width of, for example, 125 feet (38 m), but a bottom width of only 75 feet (23 m) with a depth of 12 feet (3.7 m). If normal cruising speeds were maintained through such portions of a canal, the bank would be quickly washed down into the channel. In artificial waterways, therefore, speed limits are rigidly enforced. In the N.Y. State Canal System, the speed limit is 10 mph (16 km/h) unless otherwise posted. A telephone network between the various locks enables lock tenders to know when a boat running the proper speed is due; violators are quite easily caught! Some sets of locks also operate on time schedules, and it serves no purpose to go too fast, only to wait at the next lock.
Some land sections are cut through solid rock, perhaps only 100 feet (30.5 m) or less in width. This makes a virtual trough with ragged walls of blasted rock. In a confined channel such as this, the wakes of a group of boats may combine and reinforce each other in a synchronized pattern, building up out of all proportion to the wakes of each boat individually. Unless speed is held down as required by circumstances, regardless of the legal limit, small boats can get out of control, with the possibility of being thrown into the rock walls and suffering serious damage.
Speed limits are established for good reasons, and must be obeyed.
Figure 22-19 Entering the Chicago River. Much of our inland waterway system is man-made and requires on-going maintenance. Speeds on both artificial and natural sections may be strictly regulated. All vessels need to know their air draft to prevent contact with bridges and overhead power lines.
Regulations
On the Western Rivers, no special permission or clearance is necessary for passage through the locks; there are, however, regulations to be observed. You can get copies of these from local Army Corps of Engineer offices; see also Appendix A.
The N.Y. Canal Corporation publishes a wealth of information including routes, vertical clearances, regulations, permits and tolls, and general safety information. See www.canals.ny.gov/boating/index.html and Appendix A.
LAKE BOATING
The term “lake boating” has extreme limits. The water area involved can range from the smallest of natural or man-made lakes and reservoirs to the Great Lakes, really a group of inland seas; see Figure 22-20.
Some lakes are “protected waters” at all times; others, particularly the Great Lakes, can produce waves hazardous even to ships of considerable size. While waves on these lakes are seldom of remarkable height, they are usually very steep and often require more caution than ocean waves in similar wind conditions.
An inland boater can cruise hundreds of miles and never be far from shelter in case of bad weather, but he must still treat the larger lakes with respect. Lake Superior, for example, is one of the largest bodies of fresh water in the world. Deep, with rock-lined coasts and subject to storms and fog as well, it can present a challenge to even the saltiest skipper. On Lake Erie, smaller and comparatively shallow, seas in a gale cannot shape up in the normal pattern of open ocean waves. Instead they are short and steep, frequently breaking in heavy squalls. Even Lake Oneida in midstate New York on the N.Y. State Canal System’s Barge Canal can build up seas that would be challenging to an offshore boater.
Figure 22-20 Many lakes provide a surprisingly large cruising area and sufficient depths for larger yachts. However, trailerable boats are the best choice for the boater who wants to explore more inaccessible locations.
Water Levels
Lake levels vary from year to year and show a seasonal rise and fall as well—low in the winter and high in the summer. Monthly bulletins published during the navigation season show present and projected levels of the Great Lakes as well as average and record levels. More current information is contained in weekly reports released to newspapers and radio and television stations, and availvable on the Internet at www.glerl.noaa.gov/data/now.
In larger lakes, a steady, strong wind will lower levels to windward and pile up water on the leeward side. Barometric pressure can also influence lake levels, sometimes causing a sudden and temporary, but drastic, change in water level on any portion of a lake; this phenomenon is called a SEICHE.
Lake Piloting
Many smaller lakes do not require “navigation” by the skipper and thus do not have charts as such. On larger lakes, however, shore lines may be many miles long; you should have a chart, sometimes called a map, and keep track of where you are at all times—piloting may be required, especially in changeable weather conditions or fog. On the largest lakes, you need to plot your course using a compass, make time-speed-distance calculations, and even take bearings and fixes—essentially all the actions of piloting except tidal calculations; see Figure 22-21.
Figure 22-21 On larger lakes, you will need to plot your course using a compass and standard time-speeddistance calculations. Lake charts, such as those for the Great Lakes (not shown here), often show principal routes between major ports, giving the course in degrees (true) and the distance in statute miles.
Great Lakes Charts
Charts of the Great Lakes, published by the National Ocean Service (NOS), are excellent, covering features of the navigable water in great detail. They show depths of water (the lesser depths in blue tint), safe channels, submerged reefs and shoals, aids to navigation, adjacent shorelines with topographic features and landmarks, types of bottom, and much related information. Scales vary from as large as 1:2,500 to 1:20,000 for harbor charts to 1:400,000 or 1:500,000 for general charts of individual lakes. The smallest scale used is for the general chart (14500) of all the Great Lakes at 1:1,500,000. The projection used for Great Lakes charts is usually polyconic. Several use the Mercator projection, and a few are published in a metric edition.
Great Lakes charts have a compass rose showing both true and magnetic directions with the variation stated. Magnetic variation in the Great Lakes varies from 13° W in the eastern end to 1°E in the extreme western waters; there is a small area in which the variation is 0°. In isolated areas, great deposits of iron ore in the earth produce strong local effects; this is most pronounced along the north shore of Lake Superior, where variation has been observed to change from 7° to 27° within a distance of only 650 feet (200 meters)!
Many lake charts show the principal routes between major ports, giving the course in degrees (true) and distance in statute miles. Comparative elevations are referred to mean tide as calculated at New York City. Local heights and depths are measured from an established datum for each lake.
The Great Lakes are partly Canadian waters, and excellent charts for these areas are available from the Canadian Hydrographic Survey, Ottawa. These all use the Mercator projection.
Coast Pilot 6 (Great Lakes Pilot)
To supplement the information on Great Lakes charts, get a copy of the current edition of the Coast Pilot 6, published by the NOS. This most useful volume provides full descriptions of the waters charted, laws and regulations governing navigation, bridge clearance, signals for locks and bridges, dimensions and capacities of marine railways, and weather information. Keep your copy corrected from Local Notices to Mariners issued by the 9th Coast Guard District, Cleveland, Ohio. Similar texts are published by the Canadian Hydrographic Service.
Great Lakes Light List
The U.S. Coast Guard publishes the Light List, Volume VII, covering the Great Lakes;.
This Light List includes some Canadian buoys and lights, identified by the letter “C” following the name of the aid. Except for minor differences in design, the buoyage systems used for Canada and the United States are the same. The Canadian buoyage system also makes greater use of cardinal buoys than the U.S. Coast Guard.
Caution Along Some Shores
In some lakes, such as Lake Champlain, depth becomes a factor. Certain shores may be particularly inviting because of their scenic attractions, but they may have depths of several hundred feet running right up to sheer cliff shores. If your engine fails, your anchor will be of little use in such deep water, and if the breeze is toward those cliffs you can be blown against them.
Rules & Regulations
Many smaller inland lakes do not fall under federal jurisdiction and are regulated by the appropriate states or other agencies. Other lakes are considered “navigable waters of the United States” where federal rules and regulations apply. Check on the status of unfamiliar waters if you have any doubts.
Navigation Rules
The U.S. Inland Navigational Rules apply to all vessels on waters subject to federal regulations; refer to Chapters 4 and 5. The Canadian side of the Great Lakes and other border waterways are, of course, subject to Canada’s rules.
Pollution-Control Regulations
Water pollution is a very serious concern on all lakes, especially those that are a source of domestic drinking water. Many complex regulations may be in effect. Regulations on overboard discharge of sewage and even treated waste are very strictly enforced and are particularly important for boaters crossing state or international boundaries. Some states are known for their zealous application of environmental laws, especially regarding recreational boating. When visiting a new area, be sure to check with the local authorities; also see Appendix A.