Locking Through Lock #21



This Lock is huge!



View from above!

C

What a view from above!

Stacking us in the pan!

One big piston!

One Goes Up - One Goes Down

Up and Down!

Leaving Peterborough – Locking through Lock #21
This morning we made a brief stop at the marina to pump-out and then headed to Lock #20. Lock #20 is often referred to as the forgotten lock. That's probably because it is overshadowed by the great Lock #21. Lock #21 is a 65 foot lift. Lock #20 is only a 12 foot lift (average). We were anxious to get to Lock #21 and check it out. However, first we had to lock through #20 along with a rental houseboat and two go-fast boats. We've been told to always steer clear of the rental houseboats. (No news to us!) The 2 go fast boats were driven by French speaking boaters. They weren't very easy to understand – but it was interesting to listen to them. However, they really didn't want to be bothered with us. You know how people in those fast noisy boats are! LOL! Well, we should since we owned them for years!
Anyway, we got through Lock #20 and then made our approach to Lock #21. This lock is different from all the rest. It is what they refer to as a pan lock. It's hard for me to describe – so here is the wording (paraphrased) from the guide book ---
"Peterborough Lift Lock also known as Lock #21 is the world's highest hydraulic lift lock. It was opened in 1904 and is considered an engineering marvel still today. The hydraulic lift lock works like a simple balance beam scale. You enter a large, rectangular chamber shaped like a giant sheet cake pan. Parallel to that chamber, but 65 feet up on a huge piston is another chamber – a twin to your cake pan. There are 330,000 gallons of water that weigh 1500 tons in each pan. When the upper chamber is filled with an extra foot of water – (1 foot equals 130 tons) – the increased weight in the upper tank forces it to go down, while the lower tank rises on the piston, boats and all. It doesn't matter how many or what sized boats are in each pan. The boats displace their own weight. The front of your pan will drop down to spill a foot of water back into the canal. Boats enter and exit the upper and lower pans and the process is repeated."
Okay, did you get that? Well, anyway it was exciting to say the least! We locked through with the same bunch from the first lock and a tour boat. Yes, they added a tour boat! WOW! The view from the top was outstanding! It all happened so quickly. However, I must have been excited because Mike told me to settle down a couple of times. Can you believe that? I just wanted to be sure he took the right pictures! LOL!
When we were through, we ventured on to Locks #22-26. You know these are a lot of work. It was very hot and we it seemed we had to wait longer than usual for the locks to open. It seems that the farther along we go, the busier the locks are getting. We started looking for an anchorage after Lock #26 but decided that we needed to lock through Lock #27. ONE MORE LOCK! Sheeeh! We finally locked through and came on to Clear Lake. Now, it's named that for a reason! This is the clearest water we've seen for a long time. However, it is also pretty shallow! We did find a good anchorage though in a basin between three islands (Big Island, Tanner and Taylor). It still was pretty warm. The heat broke 19 records in this area today. Figures, doesn't it? We came north to get away from the heat. Oh well, it's not as bad as I'm hearing that Joplin is, at least. We can manage. We took a dinghy ride and Mike trolled for fish. It was a good way to cool off and we both needed that!
Tomorrow – Hell's Gate!


Till next time!
Admiral "C"