Sailboats entering the lock.
Ready for water level to be lowered.
Water level equalized with the Puget Sound, and ready for the boats to exit.
Ballard Locks
Ballard Locks is important to shipping navigation between Lake Washington and the Puget Sound. This series of pictures shows sailboats moving out of Lake Washington. After the boats enter a lock, the water needs to be lowered to the Puget Sound level before the boats can exit...think of it as a boat elevator. This lock is for small craft, but the adjacent one (not pictured) is for large ships. Ballard Locks is important for commercial fishing in the Pacific Northwest as it allows fishing vessels to access storage and maintenance facilities in Lake Washington.