Great Lakes to Atlantic questions

[orthomartin]

Looking for information regarding sailing from Lk Mi to the Atlantic and then ultimately to the Med. Has anyone made the trip? Any advice?

[camaraderie]

Ortho...your question covers a LOT of ground and provides little background information so it is difficult to respond to. My guess is that if you break it up into chunks and are a bit more specific about the type of advice you seek, you'll get more replies. Example...what ROUTE? What kind of boat and crew? Leaving for Europe from where to where?? Prior sailing experience/skill? etc. etc.

[sailortjk1]

A member of Sailnet cruised from Racine to Lake Ontario this past season. That's a major portion of the trip you will be taking. I believe he went through the Trent Waterway but you might consider the Erie Canal to the Hudson River.

Try to contact Irwin32. He might be able to help.

[PBzeer]

There are a few different ways to get from Lake Michigan to the Atlantic. The most time consuming would be to simply sail through the Lakes to the St. Larwence River. You can also cut through Ontario at Georgian Bay and come out on Lake Ontario, then either go up the St Larwence or another canal on the south side of Lake Ontario to the Erie Canal and then to the Hudson River. You can also go south off the St Larwence to Lake Champlain and then the Hudson. Use of any of the canals will require unstepping your mast.

Depending on the amount of time you have, an alternate would be to leave Lake Michigan at Chicago to the Mississippi, Ohio and Tennessee Rivers to the Tenn-Tom Waterway and out the Tombigbee to the Gulf at Mobile,Alabama. You would still have to unstep your mast from Chicago to the Mississippi though.

[SailorMitch]

Check the archived entries in this blog for the beginning of their trip. This couple left Chicago and are currently in Key West, headed for the Bahamas. They went through the Welland Canal to get over to the Hudson.

http://scottsuesailaway.blogspot.com/

[Sn0wman]

These people went from Chicago to Florida, I found it very interesting reading. Someday hope to do the same.

http://www.nereus32.com/

[me ma]

Ortho, I am just finishing the Great Loop which took me from the Detroit River, through to Mobile Bay, across the Gulf of Mexico and back the East Coast through the Erie Canal. I have left my boat just 250 miles short of finishing, at Dunkirk, NY on Lake Erie because it was too treacherous out there the middle of October and I will continue in the spring. I have single handed this trip (5200 miles so far) and it is much of what you will also be doing. Please feel free to contact me if I can be of any help in your planning, etc. I would also like to recommend you join the AGLCA (America's Great Loop Cruising Association) where you will find even more valuable information about your trip, whether you do the loop or not. Smooth sailing

maryellen
s/v indigolady
indigolady@yahoo.com

[me ma]

Just in case you are not familiar with the Great Loop. It is the Inland Waters of the Eastern United States. When I left the Detroit River I headed to Chicago where I took down my mast. I found Lake Michigan to be quite a challenge, but since I live and race and cruise on Lake Erie I was lucky to draw from that experience to make it to Chicago. At any rate, best of luck with your plans.

maryellen

[ebs001]

What route you take depends on where you are on Lake Michigan and how much time you have. Having done about 500 locks with power boats and sailboats, sailboats are not very suited for locking. So don't choose a route that has 45 lock stations like the Trent Severn Canal. You'll also want to choose a time of year thats good for the Atlantic crossing. Right now you are looking at 2008

[xort]

From Detroit it's about 3 to 5 days to the east end of lake erie near buffalo where you can pick up the erie canal. you unstep the mast and take the canal to albany. takes a week. then, after re-stepping, down the hudson to nyc, less than a week. so from detroit it's less than 3 weeks to salt water via the erie canal.