The first lock had a rise of only a foot or so, with a fierce weir alongside. I presumed this might be the norm for this canal – how wrong could I be. Most of the locks have a rise of over six feet, some more than eight feet. Many of the locks have only gate paddles too. Ground paddles let water in to the lock through underwater tunnels, so it swirls up underneath. Gate paddles let a stream of water through the gate, sometimes the top of the stream starts above the bow deck.