Up The Hudson - All the Way

[mountholly]

Greetings,
I need to move a 48 ft sailboat from east coast (NY,Hudson) to great lakes (Traverse City).
Can anyone tell me what the top 5 challenges will be, and how long it should take, either way?
Thanks.

[Eric M]

I have done that trip on a 46' Trawler from NYC to Petoskey. At 10knots cruising speed we did the trip in a month with only a few overnight runs, most nights were anchored or docked. However, we could make 10 knots straight into the wind.
As for challenges you are going to have to drop the mast to get thru the Erie canal as the clearance is someplace in the 20' range. You will also need to check your draft as with 5' of draft we were tight in some places in the Erie canal. You will want at least 3 people on the boat going through all the locks on both the Erie and Welland canals. 1 to operate the boat and 2 for line handling. The lock walls are extremely, extremely rough. Several 4x4 or 6x6 boards lashed vertically make good, disposable fenders.
Search for Great Loop Cruising and you will find all sorts of useful information from folks who have made the trip.

[mountholly]

thanks Eric, I'm a captain doing this for someone else. Now I have a much better idea of time and procedures required.
Thanks again, Captain Ladd

[GordMay]

See also, several related discussions:
➥ Erie canal - Google Search

[RetiredSailor]

This might help

YouTube - Erie Canal (Banjolin)