US East Coast(ish) Questions

[bobnlesley]

I'm doing nothing more than make outline plans at the moment, so we don't need in depth info, but we would appreciate confirmation or otherwise of some of the assumptions that we're currently working under:

1. The prevailing winds and currents would make a South to North passage between the Carribean and New York far easier than going North to South.
2. This (S > N) passage could be predominantly made 'inshore' with a safe and secure harbour or anchorage to be found at maximum 100M apart.
3. Alternatively, some (a large part?) of this passage could be done via the Intracostal waterway - we draw four feet, but whilst the mast could stay up (clearance 40 feet) we would to be predominantly under engine rather than sail the whole way.
4. It's possibe to transit via a canal from the North end of the Chesapeake into the Delaware with the mast up
5.Whilst we can transit the Delaware all the way up to Philadelphia, there's not a canal through to New York, so we'd need to go back down and out to sea to reach NY.
6. From NY, rather than sailing around Nova Scotia to reach the Great Lakes, it's possible to transit via the Hudson River and some canal to reach them, but we'd need to drop the mast for this trip.
7.Is there a inland route to the Lakes that commences any further North say on the Pensylvania/Maine coast?
8.I understand that it's feasible to transit via river/canal the whole way from Lake Michigan back down to the Gulf of Mexico, would this route require the mast to be dropped again; alternatively can you get from Lake Superior (via Minneapolis?) into this same inland waterways system?
9.Whilst we're not obliged to hold US Skipper qualifications to sail offshore, is there a seperate qualification for inland waterways and would foreign flagged (British) yachts need to comply
10. Last One for now - How far North do we need to go up the east coast to reach a boatyard/dock that's clear of the 'Hurricane' zone and/or would we be able to moor/leave the boat somewhere further south if it were on the inland waterways?