Reinforce my decision to do the Erie instead of the Mississippi

[nuru05]

So we are leaving from Chicago hopefully this next week and our end goal is the Bahamas. We are in a Moody 425 with a 6’ draft. I’m thinking the best way to get there is to go through the Great Lakes and through the Erie and down the ICW Arriving in Savanna right around November 1. From there we will fly home to work for a couple months before continuing onto the Bahamas early next year.

is this a better, easier, more fun route than the Mississippi and the Tenn/Tom route? I’ve been told with 6’ of draft the Tennessee river is rough.

[Benz]

Nice thing about Erie/Hudson/ICW is that after NYC you have the option to go outside and save time.
If you take the Miss/Tenn/Tom way, you still have a lot of Gulf to traverse and then to get around Florida.

[CarlF]

Every Canadian sailboat that I’ve ever met in the Bahamas (and there are many), came down the Hudson and ICW.

What’s your mast height for the ICW?

[nuru05]

Originally Posted by CarlF

Every Canadian sailboat that I’ve ever met in the Bahamas (and there are many), came down the Hudson and ICW.

What’s your mast height for the ICW?

Mast height is 52’ according to sailboat data and it’s deck stepped so probably 58-60’ total airdraft

[Scrimshaw4]

Definitely recommend the Erie option. Once you get past Hurricane season you'll be positioned to just head over to the Bahamas. That's starting the best window to go so you can winter there. Winter .. Chicago vs Bahamas: is there any question about where the nicest weather is? JMHO

[chris mac]

Four years ago we left Lake Ontario through Oswego into the Erie canal, down the coast and to the Bahamas.
It's a fun and beautiful route, I highly recommend it. I haven't gone the other way, so I can't compare.
The nice thing about the Erie is once you hit hop-o-nose the mast goes back up and you can sail (vs motor) a large part of the remaining trip.
Whichever way you go, have a great trip and enjoy!

[MartinF]

I thought, where the hill is Hop-o-Nose? but google maps found it, no problem. In case anyone else is wondering, it's just south of Albany, NY, on the Hudson River.

[capt jgw]

If your destination is the Bahamas, the east coast route makes a lot more sense. Especially in a sailboat, the Mississippi route requires your mast to be down or off the boat the whole way to Mobile, AL. You can have it up most of the way on the Erie and ICW.

[Ded reckoner]

We have a 6ft 3in draft boat and took her down the rivers from Lake Michigan to the Black River. We touched so many times I lost count. But, we just backed off and continued on. I don't recall anything being rough (but that's a relative thing; rough can be found offshore). But, Benz has a good point, that if you go down the rivers, you still have to get down Florida and then up Florida.

The ICW is beautiful but it's also very strenuous because you must always be paying attention. It can also be much longer to make the same distance down as offshore. We always went offshore from Maine down to Florida and I would recommend that to you. If you get stuck on the ICW (and you will with a 6ft draft boat, just wait until a motorboat comes by; he'll likely see your predicament and gun it to generate a wake for you; you need to be ready to back off of whatever you're grounded on).