Ever sail from Great Lakes to Florida???

[Pixie Dust]

That is the kind of thing that scares me as a female singlehanding.  Glad to know about the flares as a weapon of defense.  My son said the other day he was going to increase my fire power.  I currently have a little 22 automatic.  Probably not a bad idea. 
I guess we could always hit them over the head with our pressure cookers.   :)

[djn]

Hi Conny, I would look into a Smith and Wesson stub nose 500.  They are SS with ruber grips so the corsion factor is low, and when a 1/2 round goes off, every body listens.  The rounds will cost you a buck a peice, but it is good protection.  CHeers.

[Amorous]

Like I said, I think it was completely preventable had I simply chose a different location to spend the night, either away from the town a bit further or right at the park where the boat launch was located. 
However, I won't give up my right to go where I want, when I want because some hooligans think they can act the fool.
On subsequent trips up and down the east coast I have tied to piers, docks, and seawalls in the East River, Harlem River, and the Hudson River right in the city.  The only problem I've had there, other than the freakin ferries, is the Port Police chasing me away from the Statue of Liberty.  (It said right on the chart to stay 300' away!)

[djn]

Hi A, what a trip!!!  I have thought about what I would do when faced with a situation like that.  Sounds like you did all the right stuff just shy of planting one in their chest.  At least you have a great story to tell your grand kids. Cheers.

[Amorous]

The trip was great.  Except for that one hour or so.  Writing about it pissed me off all over again though.

[Pixie Dust]

Hi Conny, I would look into a Smith and Wesson stub nose 500.  They are SS with ruber grips so the corsion factor is low, and when a 1/2 round goes off, every body listens.  The rounds will cost you a buck a peice, but it is good protection.  CHeers.

Thanks for the recommendation! I will check into it.  Not worried about the cost of the ammo... hopefully it will never get used.  Just want to feel like I can defend myself if needed.
Cheers back at ya!

[Sunset]

I am planning a trip in the next few years from the great lakes to Kentucky lake on a 19 foot boat. There are a couple of books out there that are packed with info. One title is Cruising from the great lakes to Kentucky Lake. It is packed full of GPS points and places to stop along the way. It has a list of phone numbers for the marinas and locks. Also all kinds of usefull Radio info. Places to checkout and to skip.
There also is a sister book that takes you from Kentucky Lake to Mobil Alabama. You could get both of these book in a package deal at amazon.
You might also look at the great circle cruise books out there.

[Jerrwhy]

Howdy,

I discovered this site a few weeks ago, and until now I've lurked on and off every few days. the wife and I are currently doing the trip you're trying to get informtion on. We're sailing "Windemere" our Bayfield 29. Yep it's under 30 feet.

The trip has been eventful, stressful, frustrating, exciting, relaxing, enjoyable, nerve raking, and at times terrifying. But I guess that's part of the experience.

We left Detroit on August 26th. We went through the Lake Erie, it's not that exciting. However, I do recommend stopping off in Erie, Pennsylvania. We had a good time there. Next we transited the Erie canal.

I recommend spending at least 2 weeks to get through the canal and site see. I think it cost us around 60 dollars or so for the canal pass. And it was a real bargain. The western end of the canal has much better facilities (town walls) usually with electric, water, pumpouts, etc... all for free. By the way the word "FREE" is my favorite 4 letter F-word. Most of the lock tenders are nice guys and very helpful. Although the guy at lock 22 is a real @#% of a #%%^$.

I don't think doing the welland is a time saver. And from a few folk I've talked to, it's a pain in the butt to get through.

After you get through the Erie canal. You'll need to restep your mast and head down the Hudson river. The trip down the Hudson wasn't bad. However, our stay in New York city was lousy. We we're pinned in at 79th street marina for a week with 40-50 knots of wind and 4-6 foot rollers when the tide shifted against the wind.

Getting around the coast of New Jersey and Deleware Bay is an experience, and one that is dreaded by most. We got pinned in again at Atlantic city for a week with near gale force winds and then Hurrican Wilma, and a Nor'easter spun up the coast at the same time. Once we finally got into Deleware Bay it was an exciting and nerve raking trip up the lower bay as we had breaking seas over the bow.

Chesapeake bay was, for us, a little too brief. We had intended to stay a month and do a lot of gunkholing. However, because we had lost so much time with the weather, we only got to stay a day in Annapolis, and 2 days in Solomans, MD. However, if you have the time it's a great place. There are tons of anchorages usually very close to you, great sea food, and some nice people.

We came down the ICW. To be honest with you I don't know how much longer people will be able to make the trip down the ICW. Many of the problematic spots in Virginia, and North Carolina have been, or are in the process of being taken care of.

The South Carolina, and Georgia sections are almost non-navigable. many vessles have to transit certain sections/cuts/etc... at high tide now. We only draw 3 1/2 to 4 feet, and it has been dicey on certain occassions for us. I can't imagine what it would be like on a deeper draft boat.

We've only made it as far as Ferdinia Beach right now. We decided to take some time off for the X-mas holidays and we stayed a little longer to get some projects done up. However, we'll likely head out in a couple of days to a week and continue south.

Feel free to ask any questions that you might have.

peace
Jerry
S/V Windemre
svwindemere@aol.com 

[CapnK]

Jerry!

AAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!!!!

You guys were here, at my marina, for like 3 days, in Georgetown, SC, I'm pretty sure. You were tied up on the inside of the outer dock during a bad spell in the weather. I wanted to get over and say Hi but was too busy, leaving too early and coming home too late, and didn't want to knock on your boat well after dark. Dang! I haven't seen a Bayfield in person before that, but just a day or so ago had someone write me from another board asking about them, and I told them about the one I saw at my marina - lol!

Well, anyway - Welcome aboard sailFar! Maybe we'll meet in person someday. :)

Lesson learned - I resolve that next time I will take a lunch break or leave a note on any boat that looks like kindred souls are aboard...

[Jerrwhy]

Jerry!

AAAAARRRRRGGGHHH!!!!

You guys were here, at my marina, for like 3 days, in Georgetown, SC, I'm pretty sure. You were tied up on the inside of the outer dock during a bad spell in the weather.

That was probably us. Was the boat color kind of a tan/off white with brown canvas, and a good looking guy at the helm. :P

I cannot remember the name of the marina. However, we were indeed on the inside of the outter dock. We got hemmed in one day with the winds, on day number 2, I was pretty sick. And on day number 3 the fog didn't lift until noon.

I amazed at how much they've cleaned up Georgetown. I was stationed in Charleston while I was in the Navy, and I passed through Georgetown once or twice in the lat 80's/early 90's.

You should have come over and said howdy. It wouldn't have bothered us in the least. While dockside we're usually up until around 10 pm or so. However, at anchor we seem to be between the sheets very early.


take Care
Jerry

[CapnK]

That was probably us. Was the boat color kind of a tan/off white with brown canvas, and a good looking guy at the helm. :P

LOL, yep, that was y'all. :) Darn, too bad we didn't meet in person, it was a perfect opportunity...  My bad... ::)

[djn]

Hi Jerry, what a great adventure.  We are starting to plan our new life style and shuttling between the Great Lakes and Florida or south of there in spring and fall is a major aspect of our plans.  One nessesity for us is internet connections Sunday through Thrusday nights.   I make my living on the internet.  How have you found internet connections at the marinas you have stayed at?  Cheers.

[Jerrwhy]

Internet services seems to be a hit or miss kind of thing. Some marinas have it, others don't. Percentage wise, I'd say that about 50% do, and the other half doesn't.

The cost of the wireless is another factor. It seems that here in the south there's a company called yachtspots. Yachtspots seems to be a little cheaper than the service we were using in when we were north. I'm sorry but for the life of me I cannot remember the name of the company we used when we were more north of here.

Most librarys have internet access, and as long as you don't need to use the computer a lot you'll should be ok. There are also a lot of coffee houses and the like that offer free wireless.

It'll take a bit of work sometimes to track down a connection. However, if you're persistent and patient you can find internet access.


Hope it helps
Jerry

[Sunset]

 :o ??? Oh man was I ever in outerspace. Here I was dreaming about cruising to the keys and thought I would add a little info. Duh If I would have read the Question I would have understood Ya want to get to Flordia the other way :-[. Sorry for the head in the sand thoughts. And that was my very first post.
Sunset

[djn]

Hi Jerry, I am a university professor and in the last three years transitioned to teaching all my classes online.  Having internet connections five days a week is a must for me.  Luckily I can do a lot of work off line then do a dump when I get to the net.  I thing in a couple years we will have coverage anywhere cell phone will work.  Cheers.

Hi Sunset, not a problem.  getting to Florida that way might be a good change of pace.  Cheers.

[GordMay]

Did the Lakes (Superior, etc) to Oswego & Erie Canals, Hudson R., ICW to Fla, then Bahamas in '92, over a leisurely 2 months.
Take a peek at Tom and Pam Dove's "Intra-Coastal Waterway" guide, written by cruisers:
Goto:  http://mysite.verizon.net/tomdove/icw.html

[CharlieH]

This is gonna be my trip.

CharlieH

[starcrest]

at one time I modified several outdated flares with the sole purpose of self defense.basically I emptied 2 flares into a single one----I never tried it---- but i wouldnt want to be at the buisness end of it----also---flareguns are not considered firearms----atleast thats what I was told by the sheriff here in florida

[sailorflo]

What could possibly provoke people to do things like that!