Cincinnati to New Orleans

[Slimer]

First off I'm new to the site my name is Tim and i live in Cincinnati, OH.

When I was younger i used to attended sailing camps every summer and loved it I was a moderately good sailor but I'm rusty to say the least. I wanted to leap back into it with a trip from Cincinnati to New Orleans the summer of 2010. I have several questions about this potential trip.

First of all is this trip possible? I read a thread about going up the Mississippi to Cincinnati and It seems to be the only way to go is through the TennTom, but i am pretty uninformed about the lower Mississippi.

Second I still haven't bought my boat yet but that will happen sooner than later so I can really learn the boat and shake off the rust this fall/spring/early summer before I go on the long haul. My question is what type of boat might be recommended for this trip? My crew will be 3-4 people with everyone sleeping on board.

I have been looking at any thing from 25' to 30' I really like the old ship style of Cape Dory's but from what i've read they are quite slow.

Lastly how long should i plan this journey to take(one way trip)?

Thanks
-Tim

[joeybkcmo]

Tim: you might find the type of infromation on the route and time from this site America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association, good luck and enjoy

[miatapaul]

You may get a better response in the Cruising & Liveaboard forum. I think one of your biggest problems will be finding a local boat. I grew up in Cincinnati and there are not a lot of boats in that size range there. (at least not in the bigger range that you will need for that many people) You might want to look in New Orleans and start your adventure there. If you want the river cruise experience to get to New Orleans you might consider crewing to get down there, then buy a boat down there or get a stink pot. The river cruise from what I understand is not that much fun in a sailboat as it is all motoring since you have to bring down you mast due to bridge clearance. Though a 24 trailer sailor you might be able to bring the stick up and down as needed, but sounds like a lot of work.

[micksbuddy]

Most cruisers take the Tennessee/Tenn-tom/Tombigbee route because it's a considerably more cruiser friendly and pleasant route. The lower Mississippi is heavily commercial with not many places for private places to stop/fuel etc, plus I would guess that with the levees you wouldn't have much of a view either. Unless your goal is to get to New Orleans as fast as possible, I would take the Tenn-Tom route(I did and enjoyed it).

With smaller boats like the ones the op is considering, you should be able to leave the stick up, I think the controlling fixed height from Cincy to Mobile is 52'(should be at least that if you decide to take the Mississippi route).