Any Northern Folks ever done this?

JohnPen · #1 10-04-2006

Sailed (and motored) their boat from the great lakes to the East Coast and points South?

I live/sail on Lake Champlain, and ever since I brought my boat there, I have thought of what a crazy trip it would be to take the mast down, and motor North, through the locks to the Richeleau River, to the St. Lawrence, then head East to the atlantic, finally setting sail (I am sure I could sail a good deal from Montreal) for the Southern Climates.

It would be a long journey, take a lot of money, time and planning not to mention, proper outfitting of the boat, but what an adventure!

PBzeer · #2 10-04-2006

You also have the option of going west, through the Great Lakes to Chicago, then through Illinois to the Mississippi River, then to the Ohio River to the Tennessee River, through Kentucky Lake to the Tenn-Tom Waterway and Tombigbee River and come out at Mobile, Alabama on the Gulf. You have to drop the mast through Illinois, but after that it's 51 foot minimum clearance to the Gulf.

ebs001 · #3 10-04-2006

Just curious, but is your intention to have the adventure of going down the St. Lawrence,around Nova Scotia and on to Cape Cod and NYC or is it just to get South?

sailingdog · #4 10-04-2006

You could also come down the Great Lakes, out the Erie canal to the Hudson and then out by New York city.

kwaltersmi · #5 10-04-2006

I say backtrack your way to Chicago and hit the awesome L. Michigan ports along the way (Charlevoix, Petoskey, Manitou Islands, Pentwater, Grand Haven, South Haven, Saugatuck, Door County, etc.). I'm totally biased.

EagleSailtwo · #6 10-05-2006

This sounds very interesting, hmmmm never thought about cruising/sailing through the heartland of the good ole USA! 51' hight clearance, what about draft and how much sailing, motoring, and do a lot of sailboaters do it?

JohnPen · #7 10-05-2006

My boat is kept about 7 miles from the Northen end of Lake Champlain, which is why I would rather go North into the St. Lawrence, then out to the Atlantic. Ultimatley, it would be neat to go North, then East to the Ocean, South to the Carib, then Back North to the Hudson and back home.

Someday maybe a trip to the west.... Someday.

PBzeer · #8 10-05-2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by EagleSailtwo

This sounds very interesting, hmmmm never thought about cruising/sailing through the heartland of the good ole USA! 51' hight clearance, what about draft and how much sailing, motoring, and do a lot of sailboaters do it?

You have to motor across Illinois and through parts of the section from the Tennessee River to Mobile. The rest is a question of the wind. There's a blog about the trip up from Mobile to the Tennessee River in the blog section by Steve Hall if you want to check that out.

It's the western half of the "Loop", circumnavigating the Eastern US. Come back up around Florida and up the East Coast, then up the Hudson to the Erie Canal, or all the way up to the St Lawernce Seaway to return to your start point. Haven't seen any figures on how many do it, but it's not an uncommon trip.