September 29, 2024 - Soo Locks Scenic Sailing - Sunday

September 29, 2024 - Sunday 

Soo Locks Scenic Sailing 

We will be transiting the Soo Locks today on our way to Lake Huron. After the locks, we’ll have a face to face encounter with US Customs. 

The Soo Locks were built to bypass rapids on the St. Mary’s River. The locks on the US side of the River were built and are owned by the US Army Corp of Engineers. Passage is free. The first lock built on the River was in 1798. It was built by the North West Company to facilitate the fur trade. That lock was destroyed in 1814 during the War of 1812. It was rebuilt, and today it is used exclusively for recreational and tour boats. 

The Poe Lock that we will be using was built in 1896. It was updated in 1968 to accommodate the larger freighters that are being used in the Great Lakes. 

It is another beautiful day. Very sedate sailing. We were supposed to enter the lock at about 9:00 am. As we approached, there was a huge ship just creeping up to the lock. It was guessed that it was probably loaded with grain. It inched it’s way into the lock, finally lowered and then just sort of sat there for what seemed the longest time before finally exiting the lock. The gates closed and the lock began to fill for our turn. A good portion of the passengers were on the bow and on deck 4 in front of the Explorer’s lounge. Staff were passing out glasses of spiked coffee topped with whipped cream. Very tasty.

 

Our lock is still filling but we are getting close.

Yumm - Really tasted good.

Through the lock and headed downriver

The actual transit through the lock is pretty boring. But it was fun to mingle with other passengers on a bright and sunny day. Once through the lock we continued to creep along. The Special Ops boat was dispatched to retrieve the US Customs officials. Since we were over an hour late getting through the lock, the Customs people were more than a little late. 

Viking took our passports when we checked in, in Duluth. They will handle Canadian Customs for us, but the US is a bit more strict. So deck by deck, we were called to the foyer of The Restaurant where we were given our passport, we continued into the Restaurant, handed our passport to an officer, he scanned it, took our picture, compared the two photos, handed back the passport, we handed the passport back to Viking and we were done. 

Late in the afternoon, The Hangar was opened for tours. In groups, we were allowed down into the Hangar where we could look at all the toys, ask any questions we had, then in groups of 25, we were allowed into the Laboratory. The lead scientist and 2 visiting scientists were there. They gave us an overview of what they were working on and the significance of these projects and the benefits of being on a cruise ship. Very very impressive. One thing that continues to strike me is the passion the Expedition Team (which includes these scientists) has for what they are doing.

One of the two 6-passenger submarines onboard.
The bubble seats 3. 1 bubble on each side.
Pilot sits between the bubbles.

The Special Operations Boat. Each seat is on
a shock absorber. Can't wait to try one.

A couple of kayaks stored in the Hangar

Just some of the toys - kayaks, zodiacs, all tightly packed in

Viking is developing collaborations with a number of scientific
organizations. This is just one example.

We had signed up to dine with two of the Expedition Team for dinner. They do this frequently and the event is limited to 6 guests. We had a great evening chatting and getting to know each other,