Lake superior to Florida best route

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by CFS Klopas

The part of the Loop that is shallowest is the Trent-Severn Canal between Lakes Huron and Ontario. 6' would be difficult to impossible for that stretch.

It is not necessary to take the Trent-Severn canal. You can take the Detroit River to Lake Erie. From there, you either take the Erie canal to the Hudson River, or you take the Welland Canal to the St. Lawrence River. The official controlling depth for the Erie canal is nine feet. The official maximum permitted draft in the Welland canal is 26'.

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Commercial barge traffic can draft up to 9-10ft draft when loaded. The entire route is also used by commercial barge traffic. Short of a drought issue, 6' should have no problem with the channels.

Commercial barge traffic on the Mississippi is typically loaded to the 8 foot load line, and one of them was stuck in Red Wing and calling Securite, Securite, Securite on Sunday because they were blocking the channel and had to break up the tow and pull the pieces loose one at a time. These guys know what they are doing and they still get stuck.


A realistic safe draft on the inland rivers, for a sailboat, is about eight feet. However, docking facilities and marinas for recreational craft are not uniformly that deep, particularly in the many portions of the river system that do not get many sailboats.

[capt04530]

Originally Posted by oceanrider

Is there a way to get a sailboat from lake superior down to florida without having it transported by truck? Does lake superior connect to Mississippi river?

What kind of boat? Length, Draft, Air Draft, Propulsion? Beam? etc.. That information will generate better and more accurate responses.

[BobMc]

In fact, it's correctly called the American Great Loop Cruisers Association. Google will find it for you.

[QUOTE=reneaston;2961257] In fact there is an organization that you can join called the Great Loop.

[CaptBobR]

Using the Tenn-Tom waterway is much easier than the Mississippi. First there is less commercial traffic and waits at locks. Secondly and maybe more importantly there are recreational facilities on the Tenn-Tom waterway so you can break your trip up

[BobMc]

Pull the mast and you can enter the Erie Canal at Buffalo and have a clear shot at the Hudson River (minimum height is 15.5 feet on the western Erie), and avoid the Welland Canal and going around Nova Scotia (not a good idea for a boat like you're considering). You cannot get into the Erie Canal/Hudson no matter how you slice it and dice it (even coming down from the St. Lawrence River to Lake Champlain) without lowering your mast (assuming it's over 21 feet).

[windrider9999]

Hopefully you have read up on all the horrors of sailing belize and the way the govt deals with those that hit any coral reef there! Not well charted either as I undertand it. They say it’s treacherous even with the shallow draft of cats. Can’t imagine how it will be with a sail draft.

QUOTE=reneaston;2961257]Hello We have followed this route from Lake Michigan to the Gulf of Mexico a couple of years ago. Many, many boaters use this inland route. In fact there is an organization that you can join called the Great Loop. If you circumnavigate Florida and return on the Atlantic side, you are designated as a Looper.

We were taking our boat to Belize, hopefully, to sail there for many years in the warm sunshine, so we did not complete the Loop.

If you have any specific questions about the route, ask us.

This route was very safe, especially when Sandy hit the coast, we were glad we were inland.

Rene and MicahelYapp
aboard Sea Mist in Belize and Windwego in Lake Simcoe[/QUOTE]

[Nicholson58]

You are definitely late to start now unless you can negotiate a haul out in the Canadian north channel for winter. All of the routs noted will get you there. If you want to sight see get an early summer start and enjoy the ride. Decision should be influenced by your goals, expectations and the boat. If your mast is above 63 feet you will be unable to use the ICW. This leaves very few options for shelter.

We are 58 LOA, 40 tons, 7 draft, 80 air draft. We took the Saint Lawrence Seaway, Nova Scotia, Long Island Sound, NYC, Sandy Hook, Delaware River and canal to the Chesapeake. There we joined the Salty Dawg rally to the Caribbean from Hampton Va. This departs in November. We leave the boat in Trinidad every hurricane season now. It is on the hard at Power Boats in Chaguaramos. Many people park in Grenada instead.

The canal rout to the Hudson River is supposed to be quite nice. You would still need to deal with the ICW after that.

Consider the Trent Severn canal (Canada) at the south end of Lake Huron.

The Chicago rout is motoring pretty much all the way but there is no east coast ICW.

For all canals and lock systems get your tickets in advance on line. You will save a lot. Locks at the Soo are efficient and free. Use the US lock closest to the Soo. Good marina just below the locks with day rates for shopping.

[SuW]

You should always pull the mast of a new-to-you boat, imo. You never know what horrors you might find...or you could be lucky.
I would truck the boat. Jump in the boat and cruise away is not very realistic. Usually it takes several weeks to get ready.

[Subtandard]

Originally Posted by oceanrider

Is there a way to get a sailboat from lake superior down to florida without having it transported by truck? Does lake superior connect to Mississippi river?

I took a 22-foot sailboat from Chicago down the Mississippi to New Orleans starting in October 1975. It was not as scenic as I expected but, it was all down hill with 5 knots of current behind me. This was good as the engine was a 6-hp outboard. Might not be the best option today.


I had no prior experience but made up for it with fenders (tires in those days).

[StoneCrab]

I have a couple of suggestions.

Not wanting to do 600+ miles in the Erie Canal or spend a month in rivers, and also wanting to be tourists in the Great Lakes, here's what I did:

I took my boat from Chicago up Lake Michigan to the North Channel then to the Georgian Bay, down Lake Huron, thru the Detroit River to Lake Erie,
across Lake Erie to the Welland Canal to Lake Ontario to the Oswego Canal where I did finally have to drop the mast, then took the Oswego Canal to the Erie Canal to the Hudson River. There are a couple of yacht clubs close to the Erie Canal with self service mast cranes for re-stepping once you get into the Hudson. It was fun to drop the anchor and tour West Point. The Hudson took us to New York and then the Atlantic.

The rent controlled marinas in New York are mind-boggling. Can rentals are free, but you pay to dock your dingy for the day. The current is very strong along New York at the 79th marina, so don't come back to your boat in the middle of the night, drunk and giggling. It makes it very difficult to tie off the dingy and board your boat... sorry that is another story...

Still in tourist mode we went up the Delaware Bay to the Delaware River, taking the Chesapeake and Delaware (C&D) Canal to the Chesapeake Bay. We caught the Annapolis Boat show and headed back out to the Atlantic.

It was an amazing trip with a lot of fun things to see. Our route avoided most of the heavy shipping traffic, the water was clean and the route was pretty well protected weatherwise.

I like history, so I brought along some books that described the history of each area that we passed through. Since most of our nation grew up along the rivers, you can see the geography and remnants of our past. The books enhanced the trip and the trip enhanced my appreciation of the history.

I had several friends go the river route South and reported back that between debris floating in the rivers and silt, they had many collisions with submerged objects and wore through multiple raw water impellers. This encouraged my Northern route as well.

A tip, if you decide to truck, is to contact a number of trucking companies and brokers, agents or logistics companies. If you tell them that your schedule is flexible and you are looking to take the place of a deadhead run back to Florida, they can come up with some amazingly cheap quotes.

This is particularly true if there are any boat shows in your area. Florida companies will ship a boat to the show and there may be a truck driving back empty. Since he's pulling a boat trailer, it isn't like he can pull back a truckload of beets to pay for the return trip. If you can get on that lowboy for the return trip, you will not be paying the full fare. I've done this three times and paid 1/3 of the price.

You will need to prep the boat for the trip, which involves removing a lot of items on deck, taping up all the ports and openings and securing everything below.

Good luck

[Dave9111]

Here is an idea that has not been mentioned:


Haul the boat yourself.
You live in Florida so it might be a good thing to be able to get your boat away from the coast in a hurricane.

1. Buy a trailer setup for a Nonsuch 30.
2. Have the marina pull the mast and load the boat on the trailer.
3. Tie the boat down and strap/tape down everything!

4. Obtain oversize permits to haul it as far as you want.

5. Move it yourself.



The Nonsuch 30 weighs just over 10K lbs.



It wouldn't be hard to obtain a gooseneck trailer and modify it or have it built for the boat. You will need a pickup truck capable of moving a gooseneck trailer, but they are very common.

Search the web for oversize permits and you will see what is required for that. When you get an oversize permit they tell you exactly how to get from Point A to Point B to avoid any issues with your oversize load.

Since the boat is less than 12 ft wide, escorts should not be required.
Permits will be a couple hundred $.

Its not rocket science; you just need some driving skills and the proper equipment.
A CDL license should not be required since you are hauling your own stuff and your GCVW will be less than 26,000 lbs. (Many motor homes weigh a lot more than that)



You won't have any problems selling a gooseneck trailer capable of moving a sailboat in Florida!



Good Luck!



Dave

[Jammer]

Originally Posted by CaptBobR

Using the Tenn-Tom waterway is much easier than the Mississippi. First there is less commercial traffic and waits at locks. Secondly and maybe more importantly there are recreational facilities on the Tenn-Tom waterway so you can break your trip up

Huh? There are no locks on the lower Mississippi.


The Tenn-Tom is said to be a better route, but it does have locks, while the lower Mississippi does not.

[SCarns]

I highly recommend the Erie Canal route to the Hudson and down the east coast. It’s an amazing trip. However, it’s getting pretty late in the season for that and you are just in the planning stages, and that is a major concern.

So I’d recommend you set sail for Chicago, pull your mast at Crowley’s Yacht Yard in Calumet, motor up to the Navy Pier, have a deep dish pizza, enter the Illinois Waterway, and have a great trip. Restep your mast at Demopolis Yacht Basin (if your air draft is less than 50’) or at Turner Marine in Mobile. The Tenn-Tom waterway will be beautiful this time of year.

[StoneCrab]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

You can't get to the Hudson from Lake Ontario or Lake Erie without pulling the mast.

You can get from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

[theBigKahuna]

Originally Posted by Tingum

Like Valhalla says. There is a Marina just off Lake Michigan in the Calumet river that will pull your mast and build a cradle for it.

As Tingum mentioned there is a Marina, it's likely Skyway Boat Yard, they've got our cat for the winter now and will be helping take down the mast next fall.