A CDN Snowbunny Route?

[SportFishCruising]

Not to compete or mess with The Great American Loop, but, does a route exist or is it possible, such as the one highlighted in yellow on this map?

 

[SKYCHENEY]

At one time, I think there were parts of the old Erie Canal that went south like that, but I believe those were closed and abandoned many, many years ago. If you have a canoe or kayak, you might be able to do it.

 

[Angela]

I do not believe you can get through Atlanta. Lake Lanier has a dam and no access downstream. Your route looks like it goes through Atlanta, and you can't go "through" there without the assistance of a truck and trailer.

 

[Nonchalant1]

The only way to get to the Gulf from the Great Lakes is via the Illinois river. From there you can do the Mississippi (bad dea) or the Tennessee-Tombigbee (good idea). We did the Great Loop Route and it was excellent cruising fun.

Doug

 

[SportFishCruising]

The only way to get to the Gulf from the Great Lakes is via the Illinois river. From there you can do the Mississippi (bad dea) or the Tennessee-Tombigbee (good idea). We did the Great Loop Route and it was excellent cruising fun.

Doug

This is your map Doug, your route, taken from your bog. Is that the route you are refferring to in above quote and the only possibility?
PS: thank you for your blog & reference materials.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

Get Randy to drive it for ya !! That map goes right through Kingston on the TenneSea!! He'll have a Cap'ns license next week with an unlimited masters' endorsement with Navigator and Radar operators' stamps too!! LOLOL ws

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Get Randy to drive it for ya !! That map goes right through Kingston on the TenneSea!! He'll have a Cap'ns license next week with an unlimited masters' endorsement with Navigator and Radar operators' stamps too!! LOLOL ws

And, he's got a CDL for those parts where ya run outta water.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

That 'Ol boy wears way too mant Hatts!! ws

 

[SportFishCruising]

Well then, could someone tell me the estimated nautical miles for the yellow and red routes shown please?

I imagine these are the only available routes, hence the name... "The Great American Loop".

Note: on the red route, I would actually try to keep the boat in the water on Lake Erie and not wander onto land as illustrated by the line, unless maybe Randy is with me

 

[Boatsb]

With that route you need to worry about bridge clearance and ground clearance.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

The yellow route would be best for you. It will be shorter and faster.

 

[StratPlan61]

I have run most of the 'red route' you show. My trip was from Miami to Northern Lake Huron. It was 2,400 miles +/- . I ran up along the Atlantic coast to the St Lucie canal, through lake Okeechobee, Ft Myers, across to Mobile Bay and then north as you depict.
Going againist most of the currents is hard, but it was my best way to MI. Pick your season and watch websites for lock closures. Mostly great fun if not a little nerving at times. Lots of commercial tug traffic and 'floaters'. Be careful, go slow and enjoy!

 

[SKYCHENEY]

I've been both routes and it was 20 days up the coast and 25 down the rivers. Both are great trips and suggest you do the whole loop. We were in a hurry as we didn't have too much time off work. I want to do it again someday when I can spend time at each stop instead of sun-up to sun-down cruising.

As Bear said, it's better to go downstream on the Illinois and Mississippi so most do the loop counter clockwise.

 

[Walter P]

Doug and I spoke about his trip when he was at our club in NJ for a couple of days and it sounded to us like the fulfillment of any serious boaters dream. I seem to recall that he said they allocated a year for the trip. That sounds like a very long time, however in order to fully enjoy it to the max, it probably should take at least that time. Sky, what you did was basically a delivery schedule, which I understand is required when you still have a job to report to, but perhaps someday...... Recently (Sept), I did a delivery trip with bobk of this forum from the Chesapeake to Fla. We did it at mostly 8 knots and cruised for 13 days of perfect weather and I must say it was probably one of the best runs up or down the E. coast that I have ever done. Including this recent trip, I have completed 30 trips (15 round trips) over many years, but always with a time schedule. My next run I hope to take at least four to six weeks and make frequent multi day stops. By the way, I should think that it would make fantastic memories for younger family members to be included in such an adventure. What a way to see the USA. Include home schooling and they will get a bit of geography, history and regional culture as well.

Walt.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Walt,
I was 16yrs old when I first did the trip up the East coast. It was a delivery of my dad's new boat from Tampa to Lake Michigan. I missed some school, but the trip taught me more than being in class.

 

[Boatsb]

You better hurry before the carp have the route shut down. It was on the web so it must be true.

 

[yachtsmanbill]

This is the latest... I can see this going on from my house! WATCH THE YOUTUBE VIDEO AT THE BOTTOM !! ws

Poison planned to keep Asian carp from Great Lakes

12/3 - Chicago — Illinois environmental officials will dump a toxic chemical into a nearly 6-mile stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal Wednesday to keep the voracious Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes while an electrical barrier is turned off for maintenance.

The fish, which can grow to 4 feet long and 100 pounds and are known to leap from the water at the sound of passing motors, have been found within a few miles of Lake Michigan and there is evidence they might have breached the barrier, designed to repel them with a non-lethal jolt.

Environmentalists fear the fish, which consume up to 40 percent of their body weight daily in plankton, would starve out smaller and less aggressive competitors and possibly lead to the collapse of the Great Lakes sport and commercial fishing industry.

The fish toxin rotenone will be spread Wednesday evening near Lockport, Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Stacey Solano said. After about eight hours, crews will use large cranes with nets to scoop up an estimated 200,000 pounds of dead fish, she said.

The carcasses will be disposed of in a landfill, Solano said. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to perform the maintenance on the barrier.

"We just want to make sure that there is no possible way that Asian carp can breach the barrier while it's down for maintenance," Solano said. "That's the main objective of this operation."

Environmental groups say they support the operation but are urging federal officials to close three locks in the Chicago area that lead to Lake Michigan until they can determine a permanent solution.

"If there ever is a last ditch effort, this is it," said Joel Brammeier, acting president of the Chicago-based Alliance for the Great Lakes. "Everybody I talk to I tell them we have to close those locks."

Corps of Engineers and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials said they are considering every alternative, but have not made a decision on closing the locks.

Asian carp escaped from Southern fish farms into the Mississippi River during 1990s flooding and have been migrating northward since.

Last month, officials announced that DNA samples of the Asian carp recently were found between the barrier and Lake Michigan, although the fish had yet to be spotted in the area.

Aside from decimating species prized by anglers and commercial fishers, Asian carp are known to leap from the water at the sound of passing motors and sometimes collide with boaters.

Early Wednesday, the DNR will remove and relocate any sport fish from the canal so they are not harmed by the rotenone, Solano said. She estimated the cost of the operation at between $1 million and $2 million.

Solano said the rotenone should naturally dissipate after it is spread, but the department will spread another chemical to help accelerate that process. Rotenone has been used for 40 years in Illinois, and "if used properly there should be no affect to humans or other wildlife," she said.

The Associated Press

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLFe8xfgx24

 

[Angela]

Poison planned to keep Asian carp from Great Lakes . . . The fish toxin rotenone will be spread Wednesday evening near Lockport, Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Stacey Solano said.

And to think about the big deal made over flushing a toilet through the hull! At our lake in Ohio, we used explosives to bring the grass carp to the surface - that was way more fun than poison.

I'd hate to have the job of skimming out the dead fish. The stink bad enough when they are alive.

 

[SportFishCruising]

I'd hate to have the job of skimming out the dead fish. They stink bad enough when they are alive.

LOL...ok...to prevent my thread from getting to stinky...
'Snowbirds' are what we call Canadians that fly down to Florida for the winter every year. I thought a 'snowbunny route' just might be open to us boaters, better to ask now then find out later. So the Great American Loop is the only route and that is still absolutely great.
Your posts here have given me a better perspective on it too. I can now calulate distance, time, fuel consumption and plot the right course. I have also read and reference Doug's blog alot, it is a remarkable historical journal of the full Loop!
Thanks

 

[SKYCHENEY]

There are other variations of the loop that Doug has not been on such as the St Lawrence out to the Atlantic. Here is another blog of a trip that a couple from our marina is on. So far it's mainly Canadian waters, but I still think you will enjoy it because some of the trip takes a different route.

http://rayanddebsgreatloopcruise.blogspot.com/