the wonders of Sault Ste. Marie

Today was a day for exploring the town while Wayne was contorting himself into terribly small spaces to work on detaching the existing fuel tank for the arrival of it's replacement tomorrow. It was an uncomfortable, dirty and difficult job but he never complains...now we are waiting for Rick the Mechanic to come and pump out the contaminated fuel. It's 8:30 at night, but the sun is still high and we have not given up hope. As to the town - the first thing a sailor should know is "how to lock through". The Soo Locks are an engineering marvel. There are four locks on the "American Side" and they are open 24 hours a day. They service mostly commercial vessels - over 11,000 per year carrying a total of up to 90 million tons annually! Although there is a vague preference for smaller craft to use the Canadian locks, it is not a strict condition. Approaching the American locks, the captain radioes in his (or her) intent to "lock through" and is directed by a flashing light atop the entrance. We, of course, did not know this...whichever light is flashing is the lock they would like you to use. There are four locks laid out left to right and four lights - a very simple system but one that it helps to be familiar with. Aha! What luck, Rick has just arrived and is getting stuff squared away with Wayne. We highly recommend that anyone with boat trouble in the Sault area call Soo Boat Works at 632-8112. This guy Rick is one of the wonders of the area too - do you know anyone else who works from 8 am to 9 pm on Mondays? But back to the locks. Upon approach, you will hear a loud buzzing. This is the door to the lock opening to let you in! Then you pull up to "the wall" on your starboard side and a member of the Army Corps of Engineers - the people who run the facility - will give you a "line" (a rope). Refer to our previous post and when he says "Don't cleat this off," don't do it! The marvelous thing about the locks is that there is no pumping - the water seeks to return to it's own level via an inflow valve and an outflow valve. Once the guy has given you the line, he signals the lock operator who opens the appropriate valve. In our case, it was the outflow valve and the water in the lock was allowed to flow into the lower St. Marys River for a total drop of 21 feet. When the process is complete, you hear the loud buzzing again as this is the door at the other end of the lock opening to let you out. One of the most amazing things is that this is all done at NO COST to the boat no matter what kind of boat it is! The locks are powered by their own hydroelectric plant which generates more than 150 kilowatt hours of electrical power each year. Excess power is distributed to homes in the area, some of which are quite old and quaint. The entire facility is really worth visiting, as there is a lovely park bordered by deliciously fragrant flowering trees with a large, impressive fountain in the middle. The visitor's center has excellent displays about the history of the locks, and a schedule of which large ships will be passing through that day. It may be geeky, but I thought it was very cool. When I climbed up on the viewing platform, I was lucky to see a 632 foot freighter - the BlueBill - locking down to the lower river in the Poe lock, while the Soo Boat Tours boat Nokomis was locking up in the one that we had utilized - the MacArthur lock. Across the street from this massive shipping operation and serene, sunlit park is the usual strip of tourist traps. But as you walk downriver from the park to the Kemp Marina, you pass several interesting historical sights such as an ancient Ojibway burial ground, the original house of Bishop Baraga, markers explaining the history of the area in terms of French and British forts and skirmishes and the contributions of the native americans. Strangely enough I just discovered how the French lost dominance in this area in the Michener book "Caribbean" which I am reading in preparation for if we ever get there. It appears that the British managed to seize control of the French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe in 1762. The British sugar cane plantation owners did not want the lower-priced French sugar to enter their home market, and argued strongly in Parliament to arrange for a trade of sorts - the French could have their islands back and England would take control of Canada. This treaty was approved by the British parliament on February 20, 1763 et voila! The area is so rich in history that it has been a fascinating stop over but we are both feeling a little anxious to get going again. We have been able to walk to the Rite-Aid, the A & P, the Ace Hardware Store, and a very nice pub called Moloney's Alley. It is our sincere desire to install the new tank tomorrow, spend one more nice evening in the Soo and get back out there early Wednesday morning for the REAL detour - the town of Detour, Michigan. I hope Chad has some smashing coffee waiting for us.