Now you are up in my neck of the woods Randy. You should be ok going up the Hudson to the erie canal, but make sure the locks are open. There has been unusually high water up here, the last few years, and it has affected marinas and docks with flooding problems, and no power. If the canal is open, you must exit at Oswego. You will never get under the bridge in Tonawanda NY. The max clearance is 15 ft.<br><br> Once you enter lake ontario, you will need to go through the welland Canal, which joins to lake Erie. Fees are approx $280<br>last time I went through, and you will need 3 crew on board. From there, west across Lake Erie, to Detroit river, into Lake St. Clair, and on to Lake huron. Northward, then west towards Macinac and top of lake michigan, Then across lake michigan, to Wisconcin, and Racine.<br><br>You will be travelling through some Very Big Cities ie NY City. Stay at Liberty landing on the new Jersey side, just north of the statue of liberty. Going up the Hudson is a wasteland. Stay on the river. Going to smaller towns off the river will get you grounded,as those creeks silt up pretty bad.<br><br>Erie canal is neat. Lot of towns offer free dockage at the town docks, especially east of oswego.<br><br>Once on Lake Ontario, the south shore is your best bet. No border problems. Oswego, Sotus Bay, Wilson NY are your best bets for mooring. Rochester is good too, but you cannot get down to the city because of the dam. The marina at the mouth of th Gennesee River is a good bet. This was the terminal for the Catamaran that used to run from Toronto to Rochester, but the good restaurants are downtown. You need to Uber. Stay away from St. Catherines unless you don't mind clearing Cdn Customs. If you do go there, St. Catherine marina is a good bet, Port Dalhousie on the other side of the river is full of great restaurants in the warehouse district up the hill.<br><br>Once on lake erie, stay on the south shore. Buffalo, Erie Penn, Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, all offer top notch marinas and restaurants. Once in lake huron, things get a little sparce, Get the Ports book fort the great lakes. Its 40 bucks, lots of pics and great info on moorings, marinas, stores and restaurants. Figure 2-3 weeks on the great lakes portion.<br><br>One more thing...When you get to the welland Canal, you will need to check in with the traffic manager. You will need to dock at the small ship slipway, about 1 mile north of the first lock, and call the traffic mngr on the phone provided.<br>He will come to the boat and discuss what you will have to do. Once he gives you the go-ahead, you cannot stop . Freighters take priority, and they are huge. So are the locks. <br>If the manager comes to you and his first name is George, say hello to him from me. Tell him Martin and Debra came through 5 years ago on a 41DC. He should remember us. He cleared the passage all the way through to Lake Erie, and we set an unofficial record (4.5 hr) Usually takes 8-12 hr.<br><br>Thats all I can think of right now. except have a safe trip.<br><br>mderlick<br><br>53 my jimmys girl<br>41dc francine 111
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