A CDN Snowbunny Route?

[boatwright]

we went up the hudson to oswego to the 1000 lslands several years ago.great trip! there is more tide at albany then you may expect check the tide tables for your best timing. if you go the wrong time you can spend the whole day going against the current which can really increase your fuel use and slow your time. this will be especily important in the spring when the run off will increase the flow of the river .

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Bridge clearances will not be a problem. Watch out for trees and cows and everything you can imagine coming down the river at you. The springtime flow is crazy on the Hudson.

 

[eclipsarkanna]

I am sorry if I appeared impatient and all of the responses that everyone has posted I really do appreciate. Especially knowing that the height of my modest boat will not be a problem. I guess I was a little sensitive to the fact that I have been on this forum participating for several years as I carried out my very serious hunt for a Hatteras - only to end up owning a Mainship (which appears to have no following!). At my age and total lack of boating experience, I am finding this trip to be surprisingly overwhelming. And this for a guy who picked up and moved to Dubai when they were killing American contractors! That seemed like a cakewalk to piloting a 40 foot Mainship from Rhode Island down to NY, up the Hudson, through the Erie Canal and then through Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence. I have been in touch with Craig and I hope the other HOF members who posted don't mind if I were to PM them. Or I can do as Randy suggested and start a new thread. Surprisingly with all of my research, I have been unable to find anyone who has personally completed this trip through the Erie Canal, Oswego Canal and Lake Ontario. So just the members who recently posted are the only ones I have found. I have found several who have done the Champlain/Montreal trip; and several who have done the "outside" ocean route.

At the risk of boring people, I will start a separate thread and will post my experiences (good and bad) preparing for this trip and completing it.

Again thanks to all who have posted (Sky; BW; Pascal; Captddis; Freebird and the author of this thread) and I hope to be able to give back to HOF by posting all my experiences doing this trip.

Bill

 

[hyperfishing]

There are TONS of canuckers who do this route every fall and spring season. Many drop anchor in front of our place in Annapolis while enroute. Mostly snailboters, so if you search on some snailbote sites, you will find numerous blogs recounting the journey day by day.

Most snailbotes drop their masts while in the Erie canal, raise them in Kingston on the Hudson or some such thing. We have met many friendly folks we look forward to seeing on the rebound trip.

Have fun!

 

[TopHattandTails]

Might give Hatteras or Jarret Bay or Viking a call and ask to speak to their delivery captains. They would make that trip...

 

[captddis]

Bill,
There is a very loyal Mainship following and they do have a club.
The trip is not hard even though there are a ton of locks. I always seem to make the trip in the fall and it is one of my favorites. Absolutely beautiful with the changing leaves and running down the canal and looking like you are going down a mountain. There stretches where you cut right through towns and doors from buildings are right on the canal. Very cool.
There is a 10 MPH speed limit and figure 3 to 4 days from Albany to Oswego.
New York State puts out a pamphlet on the canals, it has a lot of info.
Dave

 

[stewart]

We have done the trip Bradenton Fl. to Georgian Bay Ontario 6 times,
in a Hatteras 58 M/Y The hard top is 20 ft. above water, this fall we
burned 2114 USG, distance 2250 SM at 1400 RPM. 10 MPH comming
south, Hope this helps.
Cheers Stewart

 

[eclipsarkanna]

Thanks to Dave and Stewart for that reassurance on height and the time on the Canal. I am feeling 100% better now that I am seeing and hearing from members like you that have done the trip. Its beginning to sound like it will actually be fun and not just something to get behind me.

I contacted one of the Mainship clubs that are listed on the Mainship website but they were not as "embracing" as the HOF. I think the Mainship clubs are pretty well localized to the northeast (NY down to the Carolinas) and very local with not many people doing long cross border trips. I continue to try to get involved but ironically HOF is a far better "club" and the reception for non-Hatt owners like myself far exceeds the reception given from the Mainship groups to another Mainship owner.

I have started a separate thread as suggested by one or two members and will keep posting there as I progress. Again, thanks to all at HOF. YOu have been incredibly supportive.

Bill