The Welland Canal being part of the St. Lawrence Seaway provides a navigable passage between Lakes Ontario and Erie. Unlike the New York State Canal System, the Welland Canal is designed for and primarily caters to large deep draft vessels. Located in Canada, the Welland Canal runs from Port Weller (on Lake Ontario) south to Port Colborne (on Lake Erie.)
Pleasure craft using the Welland are second in line behind commercial shipping. The canal’s main purpose is to provide passage to large ships. To quote the Seaway Handbook - "The transit of pleasure craft shall be scheduled by the traffic controller or the officer in charge of a lock and may be delayed so as to avoid interference with other ships."
You should keep in mind; this is not the tranquil ride of the New York State Canal System. While the Welland Canal should not be avoided because of its reputation, remember, that it will require some added patience and attention.
The Welland Canal is most beneficial for up bound or down bound vessels who are already in the Great Lakes or for those bound for the Great Lakes via the New York Canal System whose masthead height (MHH) will not allow them to transit the western portion of the Erie Canal. The Welland Canal via Lake Ontario and Lake Erie offers the only other reasonable alternative.
The Welland Canal closes in winter when ice or weather conditions become a hazard to both navigation and shipping. The canal's closing is typically during the month of December and it reopens in spring, typically late March or early April.
Pleasure craft toll per lock: $30 (U.S. or Canadian funds). Users who purchase tickets via the automatic ticket dispensers will be charged $25 per lock (Canadian funds). The ticket dispensers are located at either end of the Welland Canal and accept only credit cards. A single ticket (at a price equivalent to eight locks $200.00) is applicable to the transit of the entire canal system, and this ticket should be presented to the officer in charge at Lock 3.
The Welland Canal is 27 miles (43.5 km) long and runs on a generally North / South axis.
NOAA Chart #14822 and Canadian Hydrographic Service Chart #2042 are both good choices to provide coverage of the Welland Canal and its approaches.
The Welland Canal Lock Chamber Waypoint’s in .PDF file format is available for your use. This is a zipped file of 12 KB.
Welland Canal Waypoint’s - Download
The Welland Canal consists of 8 locks: Locks #1 thru #7 being 766 feet (233.5 m) long and 80 feet (24.4 m) wide. Lock #8 has a usable length of 1,148 feet (349.9 m) and a width of 80 feet (24.4 m). The maximum vessel length allowed to transit the locks is 740 feet (225.5 m). The total lift over the entire canal is 326.5 feet (99.5 m) from its northern end at Port Weller to its southern end at Port Colborne. The first 7 locks are in the first 8 miles (14.8 km) of the canal from the Port Weller end. The lifts of these first 7 locks range between 43 (13.01 m) and 49 feet (14.94 m). Lock 8 is a guard or control lock near the southern end of the canal at Port Colborne. Lock 8 typically has a lift of just a few feet and serves to pass vessels from the canal to the prevailing water level of Lake Erie.
Lockage is scheduled between the hours of 0700 and 1900 from June 15 to September 15. At other times Pleasure Craft lockage will be performed around commercial vessels on a best effort basis.
Welland Canal Lock and Moorage Tables
Controlling depth in the canal is 27’ (8.23 m) with a maximum permissible draft of 26’ (7.92 m).
The minimum vertical clearance available is 116.5 feet (35.5 m).
The following VHF channels have been assigned to this station for controlling movement of vessels in the Welland Canal and its approaches:
*Or as directed by Canal Control. All vessels must also continue to monitor channel 14
For all vessels, 6 knots over the bottom, except in the Welland By-Pass Channel from Port Robinson to Rameys Bend, maximum speed 8 knots over the bottom.
Transit times for the Welland Canal can vary. I have heard stories of transits of as little as 7 hours and I have heard horror stories requiring more than 14 hours. When I make the Welland Canal passage, I plan for 11 hours.
Crew requirements for passage on the Welland Canal are dependent on the direction of travel. Vessels up bound require a minimum of 3 crew members and vessels down bound require a minimum of 2 crew members.
Canadian Customs are conveniently located on both ends of the Welland Canal. In Port Weller on Lake Ontario side, Telephone Reporting Stations (TRS/M) are located at both Lock #1 in the Welland and also at St. Catharines Marina located just outside the entrance to Port Weller. In Port Colborne on the Lake Erie side, TRS/M’s can be found at Sugarloaf Marina and also City Dock Marina.
Fines can be fairly large for vessels that fail to report their arrival.
When entering the Great Lakes from the Erie Canal, the decision to either use the Welland Canal or to continue west bound on the Erie Canal will occasionally have to be made. So, in an effort to outline the differences, we will set up a scenario of a voyage from NYC to Buffalo, NY.
This is the first and simplest factor for you to consider in your decision making process. If you cannot get your Mast Head Height down to 15.5 feet (4.72 m) or less, the decision is made for you. You will not be able to meet the vertical clearance limitations of the Western portions of the Erie Canal and will have to divert at Three River Junction and make use of the Welland Canal via Lake Ontario.
Since you have reached Three River Junction (where you will have to decide which route to take), then you have already paid for your transit of the New York State Canal System. If you are forced or simply choose to use the Welland Canal, then expect a pretty large hit to your wallet. The tariff for transit of the Welland Canal is $200.00 (2011) for pleasure craft.
Another factor to consider is how many crew you have on board. Up bound pleasure vessels on the Welland Canal are required to have (3) crew members aboard to transit. Down bound vessels are only required to have (2) crew members. If you require additional crew for the transit, the canal authority can help with names of some locals. Expect to pay around $150.00 to $175.00 for an experienced crewmember.
The western end of the Erie Canal is pretty much restricted to a 10 mph speed limit. The Welland Canal's speed limit for the most part is 6 - 8 knots. The difference being, by using Lake Ontario and the Welland Canal you have 137 nm (254 km) of unrestricted speed available to you compared to 26 nm (48 km) when using the Erie Canal.
The weather on Lake Ontario during the summer months is generally fair with a southwesterly and westerly wind component at an average of 16 knots and wave heights of less than 1’ occurring about 50% of the time. Chances are good that you will have favorable weather for the passage, but always get a weather report prior to making your decision.
The operating day is restricted to a maximum of 15 hours on the Erie Canal, while you have the ability to run 24 hour days when using the Welland via Lake Ontario.
From Three River Junction on the Erie Canal to Buffalo regardless of the route you choose the distances are within 17 NM of each other. Using the Erie Canal the distance is ≈ 165 NM versus ≈ 182 NM if you choose the Welland Canal. If you are bound for the western end of Lake Erie or the upper Great Lakes, this difference in distances disappears.
So... Which is the best route?
From Three River Junction to Buffalo:
The time savings in using the Welland is 2.5 operating hours. In real life this probably translates into a savings of about 1/2 of a day.
So, which is the best route? -- If you are in a position that you can choose which route that you prefer, the Welland Canal has the potential to provide some time savings. It will also require more money to be budgeted for your trip.
Your the Captain... Your Decision!
The latest navigational information can be found at Welland Canal System Notice to Mariners. Anyone planning to transit the canal system should check these notices for last minute information on closures and restrictions.
This lock and moorage table can be downloaded for your personal use as a ZIP file. The file contains the schedule in Adobe (.pdf) file format.
Welland Canal Lock & Moorage Table - Download
Welland Canal - Locks and Distances Table |
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| *This table reflects an up bound passage from Port Weller to Port Colborne. | |||
| Lock # | Type | Lift | Next Lock |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Ontario - Port Weller | --- | --- | #1 / 1.58 Miles |
| #1 | Single | 46’ |
#2 / 1.54 Miles |
| #2 | Single | 46’ |
#3 / 2.35 Miles |
| #3 | Single | 46’ |
#4 / 1.13 Miles |
| #4 | Double | 49’ |
#5 / 0.14 Miles |
| #5 | Double | 49’ |
#6 / 0.16 Miles |
| #6 | Double | 43’ |
#7 / 0.50 Miles |
| #7 | Single | 46’ |
#8 / 13.69 Miles |
| #8 | Guard | 2’ - 11’ |
Lake Erie / 2.36 Miles |
Welland Canal - Lock Mooring Table |
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| *This is the recommended mooring arrangement, but is subject to change at the direction of Canal Control. | ||||||||
| Lock # | #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Upbound | Stbd | Stbd | Port | Port | Port | Port | Port | Stbd |
| Downbound | Port | Port | Stbd | Port | Port | Port | Stbd | Port |