Boating at the Willamette Falls Navigation Canal and Locks will begin for the 2010 season on May 6, but commercial cargoes are already passing the falls again, by appointment with the Corps of Engineers. 

In early February, the Willamette Queen Sternwheeler replica from Salem, which had been the last boat through the locks before an 11-month 2009 inspection, was the first boat through them post-repairs.  The Queen had to visit drydock for inspection at Swan Island, and is now back in Salem, ready for a good cruise season. (Above, the Queen glides into Chamber 3.)

It arrived at the canal shortly before 5:30 p.m. on Friday, the 19th, as the sun was setting, and its colorful light strings created a nice show for an empty park and the two lock operators who had to work overtime that night. (Below, crew members push away from the lock wall during the filling of Chamber 3.)