great lakes route

donnyd

Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2009
RO Number
31093
Messages
7
What would be the route from Montauk New York to Lake Michigan
 
You have a number of choices.
Hudson River to Albany and the Erie Canal to either Lake Erie and to Detroit and Lake Huron up to Mackinaw and Lake Michigan.
Erie canal to Oswego canal to Lake Ontario and Welland Canal and then into Lake Erie and then onto Detroit etc.
If you go the Lake Ontario route you can then take the Trent-Severn canal and go thru Georgian Bay, The North Channel and the into Lake Michigan.
Or when you go up the Hudson you can go north of Albany, NY thru the Champlain canal to Lake Champlain The Chambly canal, The Richelieu River to The Saint Lawrence River and onto Lake Ontario and beyond.
Another option if you go this way is after Montreal you can go up the Ottawa River to the Rideau canal and onto Kingston Ontario and be in Lake Ontario with the previous options.

Many ways of going I guess.

Ray
Clayton Ny
1000 Islands
 
Not sure of your vessel but keep in mind the air draft restriction on the Erie Canal. I believe it is 15'6".

max
 
Riverfever has 'em covered. If you can fit under the 15' 6' the Erie Canal coming out in BuffaloLake Erie would be the most direct (fastest) followed by the Erie Canal to the Oswego Canal into Lake Ontario thru the Welland Canal and into Lake Erie as second. You would be upbound in the big boy canal (Welland) and will be required to have 3 onboard. Good luck and post back, my neck of the woods makes a nice 1st or 2nd day stop in Lake Erie

Niles
 
So if I cannot get under the 15' 6' ht. what would be the fastest route.
 
What is your air draft? That will determine the route.

Niles
 
Ok, if nothing can be taken down then I think the fastest will be to take the Erie Canal at Albany and run it to Three Rivers and then head north on the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario. Run the south shore of Lake Ontario to St Catherines, On, Ca. and enter the Welland Canal. It will cost $200 plus you will need 3 people on board, you can hire someone if you need the third for $150 or so. When you come out the Welland you will be at Port Colborne, On, Ca. The Welland run will be a minimum of 6 – 7 hours but expect longer. The last time I did it it was 11 hours. At this point you have to make a decision; you can run the Canadian side of Lake Erie or the US side to get to the Detroit river. There are more places to overnight on the US side. If you take the US side you can do customs either in Erie, Pa or Ashtabula, Oh.
Once in Lake Erie you make your way to and up the Detroit River > Lake St Clair> St Clair River>Lake Huron>Lake Michigan.

I have never done the Lake Ontario>Trent>Georgian bay>Lake Michigan but I’m thinking it would be longer and slower.
The last time I did a lot of the Erie Canal route I had a air draft of 17’ 2” but I took off my radar unit down and that got me to 15’ 4”.

Good luck
Niles
 
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