Day 14 dawned without jeopardizing our perfect record of wonderful weather.

Today is special for two reasons: we transit the Welland Canal today and it’s our 42nd wedding anniversary. (I guess I should have reversed that order…)

The Welland Canal is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was erected because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and is composed of eight locks.

We spent most of the day in the locks and it was just fascinating. The width of our ship allowed for less than a foot clearance on each side. The captain said to not be concerned if we felt a bump because he has plenty of white paint to take care of any issues.

You’ll see a photo of a machine with the logo of Cavotec. It’s hands-free mooring simplifies the operation of locks. They are lock systems mounted on vertical rails inside lock chamber walls to secure ships during the lockage process as they are raised or lowered while keeping them at a fixed distance from the lock wall. It was fascinating to see how it held us with precision.

Dinner was nice with a little surprise from the staff. Early to bed to support our 6:30AM departure for the airport. Hurricane Milton has drifted south and will not pose an issue for Jacksonville.

Oh, and it’s our 42nd wedding anniversary! The crew treated us so nicely!