Great Lake and ICW Transit.. Info Please!

[Nodak7]

We have a 2009 33 and are thinking that in the next few years we would like to put her in the Superior and make the sail through the Great Lakes, down the East coast (ICW) and into the Carib. Then return! Both the admiral and I will be in our mid 60's. Anyway, my question is, is this practical? Is the boat too small? How do I go about getting the information I need on transiting the Lakes and the ICW? Does anyone know someone that has done this and would be willing to share their experience with us. We would appreciate any advice we can get...other than buy another boat or buy an airline ticket!

 

[RonRelyea]

Plenty of books on the subject!

you might try "A Year in Paradise: How We Lived Our Dream" by Stephen Watterson
or go to Amazon and search on Intracoastal Waterway ....

We have a 2009 33 and are thinking that in the next few years we would like to put her in the Superior and make the sail through the Great Lakes, down the East coast (ICW) and into the Carib. Then return! Both the admiral and I will be in our mid 60's. Anyway, my question is, is this practical? Is the boat too small? How do I go about getting the information I need on transiting the Lakes and the ICW? Does anyone know someone that has done this and would be willing to share their experience with us. We would appreciate any advice we can get...other than buy another boat or buy an airline ticket!

 

[Nereussailor]

You might want to try http://www.greatloop.com for starters, There are many websites that give information on the great loop. Also, google "sailing the great loop". you'll find plenty of info there.
As for the boat, it's been done in smaller ones, A friend of mine did it solo in a Catalina 30 a few years back.

Dave

 

[Charlie13958]

Nereussailor brings up a good point, there is a lot of info through the GreatLoop site. You might even consider the mighty Miiss from Minneapolis down with a return up the east coast to the Great Lakes and Lake Superior.

 

[Nodak7]

Thanks all for your help! That gave me a starting point!

 

[george schmidbauer]

My wife and I went from the northern chesapeake bay to florida in 2005.It was a great experience! Our boat was a little bigger at 41",but I thick 33" would be good if it's right for you.I would spend a month or so on the boat and sail around the area where you have the boat now.You'l be able to tell me if the boat is to small. Draft is a problem on the icw,the lesser the better. Have fun and meet some great people and some wonderful places!

 

[roan]

Charlie makes a point of going down the Mississippi and returning by the intercoastal. My research on that was that there is toooo much traffic on ole Miss. OK that out of the way, I have been considering going to the Caribbean and by chance I have a Hunter 33 (06). Given your boat is a 2009 you do not likely know it that well as yet. Also you do not talk about previous sailing experience. I have been sailing mine on Lake Champlain since spring 2006 and push the boat and usually single hand. I have also moved boats accross the Caribbean, chartered and sailed Pacific in Central America.
I assume you have shoal keel. I do, but now wish I had opted for deep keel for better performance. I assume you have furling main as well and Mariner package. For the intercoastal, you do not need radar however if you plan to jump around the Bahamas, etc, you should consider radar before going. Get used to using it as well.
I strongly recommend that you read the various "Waterway Guides" for the trip south. I have worn out the pages. Very good info.
From my experence, I believe that the recent Hunter 33 model would be a good boat to do the trip and also to hop around the Bahamas. There are lots of Hunter dealers along the route if you need maintenance, etc. The three issues you have to deal with going down are weather, depth and boredom. I assume you have a sturdy dinghy with o/b motor. You will need it. Where do you store it when you get in a blow? I would probably carry 2 x 5 gal jerry cans of diesel in case of bad weather when you are not in a friendly location. That way you do not need to ration fuel. You have about 90 miles to do from NYC on the ocean. Choose a good weather window. Also Chesapeake Bay can be rock and roll.

Depth is not really an issue with shoal keel, just watch out for shoals 100% of the time.

The key issue for this trip is for me the boredom and I am afraid the size of the boat may feel closed in for two people after a month. I do not have an Admiral as you do however would prefer to do the trip with a second pair of sailing hands. Whether you like it or not you will be motoring for seemingly days on end thru swamps. This is where I think the Waterway Guides can help most planning to break up the boredom. It costs more to do land excursions during the trip but for me that will be the solution. There is lots of history along the route and lots of fine people to meet.

If you go ICW from where you are you have two choices mainly depending upon time. You can get into the Erie canal system around Buffalo NY or Oswego NY and then at Albany head down the Hudson to NYC. You can also go down the St Lawrence east of Montreal then take Lake Champlain to Hudson River via Champlain Canal. NY State has piles of info on internet to help you plan your choice of routes.

Finally check with your insurance if you are covered for the trip. Most "northern" insurance policies have a latitude limit. Also consider the months you will be going for insurance coverage during hurricane season.

Have a great trip and wave as you go by if you choose the Champlain route!

 

[Nodak7]

Roan, this is the second time you have given me some good advice.

First, your description of my boat is correct! It is a shoal keel with the mariner package.
Second, our Insurance is latitude and date restrictive. I need to take care of that. We have only a couple of years experience but by the time we do this I would expect we will have at least a couple more.

Third, I was looking at the three trip options suggested. I have been told that the Mississippi is not a good route for a sailboat. By taking the Erie Canal we can cut out the many miles going through the St Lawrence Seaway. Unfortunately by the time we get thru Superior, Erie and Huron I don't think we can make it before winter gets us. So it looks like the Erie canal. Unfortunately, it appears that means we have to demast her until we get to the Hudson River. Do you have to demast going through the Champlain Canal?

Right now I am in the process of collecting the charts and information (there is a ton of it). Right now it looks like the Huron and Erie Lake information may be the the toughest. We were even given a copy of a ships journal by a captain that has done it.

But we are excited and the Admiral is determined....

Thanks again for yours and everyones information. it has been helpful.

 

[roan]

You have to demast for the Champlain canal but if you are coming from Erie canal you will not hit Champlain canal. You have to demast for Erie as well though. From what I can see it is probably easiest to remain without mast uintil Sandy Hook in NYC although you can certainly put the stick up before then. Probably just south of Albany from what I can see checking various bridges.

 

[David in Sandusky]

Ideas

You have a great boat for this trip, and you will be able to learn about the boat as you travel the Great Lakes.

Some "must see" crusing grounds - each is worth a week or more - on your trip:

The Apostle Islands. If I were you, I would put in in Bayfield and spend a week cruising this beautiful National Shore Line.

The North Channel. This is worth two weeks. If you like anchoring out in the wild, this is one of the best cruising grounds on Earth!

Long Point on the Canadian side of Lake Erie.

If you take the Wellend Canal to Lake Ontario, the Thousand Islands at the entrance to the St. Lawrence is another gorgeous cruising ground.

Lastly, I recommend you consider joining the Great Lakes Cruising Club. They have unbelieveably good documentation (online, hard copy, and CD-ROM) of all of the above cruising grounds, of every port on the lakes, and several cruise logs, including the Great Loop, and a recent one from Superior to Erie.

I would not have a problem laying out a cruising plan for a leisurely trip through the Great Lakes from Superior (Bayfield) to Champlain in three months. You could always skip the Ontario and Thousand Islands destinations by taking the Erie Canal if you want to take more time.

Of course there is the issue that this will put you in the ICW in September - the height of hurricane season. But there are places to lay up all up and down the ICW. Go for it - this is a great concept.

 

[Nodak7]

Re: Ideas

Thank you David. I think your suggestions are well worth following up on. Especially the Great Lake Cruising Club. I looked at their website and it looked very interesting and informative. You sound like you are very familiar with the lakes. I was concerned about going through the Seaway because the run down to NY from there requires quite a bit of open water sailing, not to say anything about the time it would take.
Anyway, what did you mean by, "I would not have a problem laying out a cruising plan for a leisurely trip through the Great Lakes from Superior (Bayfield) to Champlain in three months. You could always skip the Ontario and Thousand Islands destinations by taking the Erie Canal if you want to take more time."? Does it take longer going through the Erie Canal? Any route you could suggest would be greatly appreciated.

I also looked up some of the points you mentioned. I had trouble finding some that you mentioned but they all sound extremely interesting and I will add them to the "must see" list.

Thanks again

 

[roan]

Re: Ideas

Straight thru you should count on a week for the Erie canal to the Hudson. BUT and a big but, if you push thru you will miss the Finger Lakes area. That is a must to see if you are doing the Erie Canal so you should count on 2 weeks for the traverse.

 

[srokos]

Hi! Skipper Bob has published several cruising guides .Just google Skipper Bob and you will
have what you need going south. Buy on Ebay CD with charts for Intercoastal Waterway.
I have done it and it is grate trip.The only thing and very important. Bypaths Georgia
Intercoastal part of the waterway from Savannah to Fernandina Beach. It is long and many time to go south you have to go north and west. Parts are badly dredged .
Good luck Steve

 

[Nereussailor]

ICW

It took us about 2 1/2- 3 months from Sturgeon Bay to St Augustine FL. We didn't really push it too hard, but it wasn't a leisurely cruise either We started about The first of September, and arrived in St Augustine around Thanksgiving. I don't think that we spent more than a week in any one place. Most of the time it was about two days. The great Lakes were the quickest and easiest part. We got lots of sailing in. The ICW was a lot of motoring. We jumped out for 3-4 days at a time to really make some time. Weather windows were crucial. if it was going to be rainy we either sat at anchor, or motored in the ICW. When it was nice, we jumped outside. We got caught outside with 3 days of 25-30 knot winds on the nose. we got beat up a little, and the auto pilot stopped working, but at no point was it ever dangerous. We got to see alot of great places, and met a lot of great people. it's well worth the trip.

Dave

 

[seadaddler]

Did it

I sailed from Montauk,Ny to east coast Florida and than down around the keys up west coast to Punta Gorda.
From Montauk the trip was all ocean some 100 miles off shore to Cape Carnaval and all done in my Hunter 36.
Nick

 

[David in Sandusky]

Sorry to be so late responding!

The Erie Canal is much quicker! Probably saves nearly 2 weeks versus Ontario, St. Lawrence, and Champlain.

I guess the question for yourself is how much you want to see, and how long you want to take?

 

[Nodak7]

Right now it looks like we will have to go thru the canal because of time. It looks like we will have to due to weather concerns. We plan on leaving Duluth in early spring. We want to be down in Florida by the winter. I think in order to do that we will have to take the Canal so we don't end up to far north when fall arrives. So I am planning on the canal passage even though it will mean demasting.