[Barquito]

Sometimes I wish I could hop on the boat and sail off and not turn around. Sailing on a lake, there are limitations. So, I wondered, 'how far could one go non-stop, without just going in circles, on the Great Lakes'? Here is what I came up with:

From Chicago, up through the Straits of Macinac, down Lake Huron, through St. Clair River, across St. Clair Lake, through the Detroit River, across Lake Erie, and a little past Buffalo. 794.4 nm. That would be about 176 hours at my cruising speed. That would be a nice sail.

 

[SWFLman]

Why would you stop at Buffalo? Go thru the Niagra locks, across Lake ontario and down the St. Lawerence River.... even a longer cruise for you....

 

[MikeOReilly]

I see you're avoiding any locks Barquito. You could probably add a few NM by heading up into the North Channel, circumnavigating Georgian Bay, before heading down through the St. Clair and Detroit rivers.

We just completed a journey from the west coast of Lake Superior to the eastern side of Lake Ontario. We went through the St. Mary's and Welland Canals, so wouldn't achieve your non-stop idea. I figure we traveled about 1500nm with all the meandering around. Great trip.

 

[killarney_sailor]

If your goal is to set a record you could keep going down the Niagara River for a few miles. Perhaps you could rig up some sort of parachute arrangement to help you survive the Falls then you could add Lake Ontario and most of the St Lawrence River to your trip.

 

[Minnewaska]

When do you depart? !!

Have to drop the mast and get through the Erie locks and into Ontario too. At least up to the Thousand Islands. But why stop there?

 

[Barquito]

Why would you stop at Buffalo? Go thru the Niagra locks, across Lake ontario and down the St. Lawerence River.... even a longer cruise for you....

Have to drop the mast and get through the Erie locks and into Ontario too. At least up to the Thousand Islands. But why stop there?

This was more of a thought experiment. I was looking to see how far I could go in one continuous passage. Actually, this came to mind b/c I was trying to figure out how fast I could get a boat out of Lake Michigan to the Atlantic... not that the law is on my tail or anything... just saying.

 

[Capt Len]

Would think more highly of you if the law was on your tail. Then you could consider relaunching in Puget Sound and doing a preliminary cruise to Alaska before a big circle to ??

 

[MarkofSeaLife]

I did Muskeogan, Michigan to Sydney, Novia Scotia about 15 years ago o someone elses boat and we did it pretty much non-stop till the Weland Canal. It was a good run, actually.

Its the locks that stop you, but if you pay the Lock Man I think he would let you sail up and down the lock while you are going up and down....

 

[rgscpat]

At one point the Caspian Sea was 745 (statute i'm sure) miles long... Superior 383, and Lake Baikal in Siberia is said to be 395, with Lake Tanganyika in Africa at 420 (land) miles.

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[Barquito]

I did Muskeogan, Michigan to Sydney, Novia Scotia about 15 years ago o someone elses boat and we did it pretty much non-stop till the Weland Canal. It was a good run, actually.

Its the locks that stop you, but if you pay the Lock Man I think he would let you sail up and down the lock while you are going up and down....

Wow. That was an awesome trip. Absolutely BFS if you would have sailed through the locks! I was having engine trouble, while sitting on my pin, before taking the boat up the river to get hauled out. I was (not too seriously) considering going up the curvy river, and asking three bridges to open simultaneously so I could sail the whole thing.

rgscpat - Now there are some lakes! Seems strange that they would list Lake Michigan and Lake Huron separately. They are one body of water separated by the Mackinac Strait witch is 5 miles wide at its narrowest. Then that would be the second longest lake in the world. 513 statute miles. They are really only two lakes in name only.