Stuart, FL To Racine, WI On A 60MY

[Freeebird]

I'm thinking that offering a free boat ride to a bunch of fat chicks would be a lot easier than filling kiddie pools.

 

[BobWaz]

Easier to dispose of than my plastic barrels....

For entertainment value, and as a good illustration of "thinking outside of the box" there's this. (Yes I know it's a ragbote..... flame away )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiv0fxFcV3I

Great video! We live at the north end of Lake Champlain. There is a fixed bridge that can be a challenge to sail boats in the spring when the lake is extra high. The solution to clear the masts is for two boats to go through together taking the halyard from the other boat and steering outwards to heel them over far enough to clear the underside of the bridge. Every so often a cable will snap while they are under and cause incredible damage.

 

[Freeebird]

Y'all can't be talking about sailbotes on my thread, but since you have, I'll tell you about the regatta of WAFI's that were heading north in the ICW as we were traveling south in the Venice canal. As we cleared the Venice Ave. Bridge, we were faced with 4-5 of these things, all lined up and side by side coming right at us. That had me on the VHF.

"Are you northbound sailboaters planning on taking up the entire channel or what?"

No reply, but all but one started breaking off and falling in line. That's when I gave one good toot on the impressive air horns on the 60. I was hoping the WAFI knew that meant I planned to pass him on my port side, but he maintained course... as in straight at me.

"Northbound sailboat, if you wanna play chicken, I promise you're gonna lose"

No reply and no response, so I hit the big horn again... this time a bit longer. This time he fell in line with the others, and we passed by without incident or hand signals of any kind. Silly sailboters.

 

[Vince]

Randy:
I made some of this trip with my wife and son about 10 years ago. Don't underestimate how cold it can get on the lakes, even if the temps are warm on shore. I remember sweating while getting ready in the high seventies, only to be shivering while out on the lakes. That cold water is like an ice rink and keeps the air cold above it.
Funny, but my shopping for my next boat could well provide some of the return trip for you. I was just posting about the practicality of bringing a sedan down from Michigan to the Chesapeake. Still don't know if the trip would make sense financially, as it would also have to use both the Welland and Oswego Canals. The eastern side of the Erie Canal would be fine for this boat, but the Western side would have to be avoided by going up into Lake Ontario....this based on overhead clearances. Between fuel, dockage, per-diem and captain/crew fees, I don't know if it's viable, but I'll let you know if I do the math and want to pursue something.
I'd have to steal the boat to make the math work!
Vince

 

[Freeebird]

Vince, I know all too well about the temps on Lake Michigan having delivered a boat from Chattanooga to Charlevoix in September a few years ago. It was 98 degrees when I left, and by the time I reached Racine from that direction, it was in the 30's. Friend and fellow HOF'er, Jim Foley, drove up from Chicago to take me clothes shopping as I was freezing my ass off.

If nothing else, I'll definitely know the way if you find something up there you like. Heck, there are a good number of freshwater boats on the Tennessee River that may work for you as well. You can never go too far to find the right Hatt, except for the west coast or some other ridiculous location for an east coast guy. Even then, it could make sense if you found the right boat.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Here is that arch. I agree that the galley up is a little strange. That was custom ordered from Hatteras and was the only one they ever built that way. Obviously someone has redone it from original because I know Hatteras didn't use those cabinets.

 

[Freeebird]

Here is that arch. I agree that the galley up is a little strange. That was custom ordered from Hatteras and was the only one they ever built that way. Obviously someone has redone it from original because I know Hatteras didn't use those cabinets.

I would have never guessed that Hatteras built that layout and just assumed a previous owner took that upon themselves. I did speak to the owner (thanks to you) who couldn't remember who did the arch work, but he was going to go back through his records and see if he could find it. He remembered it being done on the Okeechobee Waterway, so that should make it pretty easy to track down in the event he can't find the record. American Custom comes to mind, but there are a few other yards that could have been responsible.

On a different note, I've pretty much got this trip charted as far as the end of the Welland Canal. Hopefully that will mark the end of uncertainty as to how far we can make it on a given day, so I'm looking for suggestions for marinas that are spaced 120-150 miles apart. We can stretch or shorten that for really interesting spots, so any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

[Dan Mapes]

Favorite places along the Hudson would be Liberty Landing in NY Harbor which has a good restaurant next door. Going up the Hudson, you have Haverstraw which was recently bought out I think. But if you stop in at LL, you should be able to make it to Kingston NY in a day. Pull in at the Maritime Museum and dine at Ship To Shore along Abeel st.. If you run against the tide going up the river it will knock a knot or two off your speed. There is 4 feet of tide all the way to the Federal lock. We tied up at the Waterford Visitor center. Be advised reservations should be made well in advance. Nothing much right around there. Once out of the flight and a ways on, the Schenectady Yacht Club had space for us. Not sure how you will do. Sylvan Beach had Mariners Landing which worked well enough for us in the 43'.


As far as locking goes, make sure everyone knows how to slide a line around a cleat. There should be no merely hanging on to the line thinking you can keep the boat under control. Gloves are important and expect to get slimed. Keep some hand sanitizer around for the line handlers. Make sure you have water in the tank to hose it down but you don't want the deck slippery.
A thruster will keep you in line but things happen. We usually shut down during the locking as it could take a while and people get gassed. It used to be Erie Lock 17 had you on the port side (going North). Not sure if they are still enforcing that. So be ready to swap all of the fenders and perhaps call ahead.

Make sure you have LARGE fender balls. You will want them at the water line and standard fenders at the rub rail. They may float you up far enough to leave only a couple of feet remaining of lock wall.

Too bad you cannot hit Thousand Islands and a stop at Bonnie Castle Marina. It is out of the way but maybe worthwhile. We stopped in at Sodus Point on the way back from BCM.

 

[Freeebird]

Good info, Dan. At least Dave and Trina got some locking practice on our lake crossing cruise with that type lock. I was surprised to learn that Welland also drops down lines as that’s quite a lift. We’ll have plenty of fenders out, and the boat does have a bow thruster. We’ll get another practice lock at Great Bridge.

 

[Freeebird]

Oh yeah, Liberty Landing is definitely on the agenda. We’re planning a side trip on the East River to see NYC. I did that with Walter P en route to YankeeFest, and it was very memorable. I’m thinking a night cruise would be pretty spectacular.

I looked at the Trent Severn route but between air draft and bottom draft, it seems iffy at best. Had someone else suggest Sodus, so that’s on the list too.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Randy,
Once on the Great Lakes, here is a weather tool you might like. It gives a graphical wind/wave forecast out 120hrs and is updated twice daily. Go to the bottom section and click on the lake you're on.

https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/

 

[Freeebird]

Randy,
Once on the Great Lakes, here is a weather tool you might like. It gives a graphical wind/wave forecast out 120hrs and is updated twice daily. Go to the bottom section and click on the lake you're on.

https://www.glerl.noaa.gov/res/glcfs/

Thanks, Sky. Hopefully that will prove to be more accurate than the NOAA forecast I got on Lake Michigan years ago when those 1-2’ predictions ended up with zeros on the end.

I finished charting things out today, so maybe I’ll post my post-canal itinerary to see if anybody has any better ideas. Looks to be about a 30 day run, but no less than 27 if everything goes perfectly. Yeah, that made me giggle too.

 

[Freeebird]

Here’s a C&P of an email I sent to Dave. I’ve calculated 14 days to get to the beginning of the Erie Canal, so this picks up from there. Again, any suggestions are welcomed.


Days 15-18 - Erie & Oswego Canals. Numerous marinas/docks along the way. Figure we'll just take those a day at a time.

Day 19 - Sodus Marina, 30 miles from Oswego. This is another guesstimate based on transit time through the Oswego Canal. Highly recommended

Day 20 - Youngstown, 115 miles from Sodus and will put us in good shape for Welland where we have to be by 9AM. Closest to Welland.

Day 21 - Sugarloaf Marina (at the end of the Welland) recommended by a HOF guy. Welland is likely an all day affair.

Day 22 - Mentor, 133 mile run from Sugarloaf, chose this one based on spacing.

Day 23 - Detroit, 125 mile run from Mentor. Milliken State Park Marina, supposed to be very nice.

Day 24 - Lexington, 82 miles from Millikan. Same HOF guy recommended it as a nice spot, and it seems there's not much if anything between the next

Day 25 - Harrisville, 111 miles from Lexington. Numerous recommendations.

Day 26 - Mackinaw City Marina, 123 miles from Harrisville. Lots of options if you want something different.

Day 27 - Frankfort Municipal, 122 miles from Mackinaw. Picked it based on mileage.

Day 28 - Manitowoc, 80 miles.. We can tweak that based on weather. Looking at a shorter crossing in case things get crappy in the middle.

Day 29 - Reefpoint, 99 miles from Manitowoc. If you're feeling froggy, we can run from Frankfort to Reefpoint and save a day. 156 miles and very doable in good weather

 

[Scott Mather]

Here is what it took us a couple years ago.
Norfolk to sandusky Ohio in 52c.
(9) days of running. Erie Canal, welland
We must be lucky have run the wellend 2 times now and did it in less than 4 hours each time going up.
I will have to remember what app we used but it tracked all the freighters on the Great Lakes and the st Lawrence and gave speeds and direction of travel. Was a great tool to see what ships were going to be in the welland and we timed our arrival accordingly.

 

[Freeebird]

Here is what it took us a couple years ago.
Norfolk to sandusky Ohio in 52c.
(9) days of running. Erie Canal, welland
We must be lucky have run the wellend 2 times now and did it in less than 4 hours each time going up.
I will have to remember what app we used but it tracked all the freighters on the Great Lakes and the st Lawrence and gave speeds and direction of travel. Was a great tool to see what ships were going to be in the welland and we timed our arrival accordingly.

Welland has recently changed regarding pleasure boats. It's now alternating days, and you have to be on the dock at 9AM ready to go. Otherwise, you get bumped to the next available day for lockage. With that, I'm guessing it doesn't matter if you know what's coming. You're low man on the totem pole, and you'll go when it's your turn. I'm used to that being the case on all the river locks where commercial gets priority.

 

[Scott Mather]

Here are some of the websites we used:

greatlakes-seaway.com
http://www.canals.ny.gov/boating/bridgeheights.html
http://www.great-lakes-sailing.com/Welland_Canal.html
http://www.offshoreblue.com/cruising/welland-canal.php

 

[Freeebird]

One other thing that has been brought to my attention involves customs for both sides of the fence. Seems we have to check in when coming into the Welland, then we have to check in with the US side when we come back into US waters.

I thought you were good as long as you were in transit and didn't anchor in Canadian waters or get off the boat, but I've been told otherwise. I guess hanging on to a Canadian line in a lock counts as being connected to Canada.

 

[Eddieclemons]

I need find something up there for you to get home in. That would cut down on my expenses, right?

 

[Scott Mather]

We were there in the morning, made the call, waited for them to give us the go ahead.
we knew there was only (1) downbound ship and (0) upbound, so expected a fast transit
and they sent us through by our selves. we had to tie up once to pass the downbound ship
for those that have not been in the wellend here you go:

 

[Scott Mather]

couple of more photos