Aussie Gotta get There

[Kokoda Road]

Posted 29 March 2008 05:15 PM 29 March 2008 05:15 PMHi Guys,
New to the forum but have had some thoughts. With the Aussie doller where it is in relation to the US dollar,(hang in there guys, things over your way are a bit like the weather here, if you are prepared to wait, things WILL get better)my longtime desire of purchasing a US design AND getting to the states is closer to becoming a reality. Question; Can I get from Florida to the great lakes by sailing. (The ICW has been calling me since I discovered it existed) Where can I get to that is west of the lakes.

One idea was to purchase the boat in Florida or down that way and then make my way home the long way round.

I will be looking for centre cockpit around 38 to 41 feet or so. Our Free Trade Agreement hasn't helped our farmers but it will help me. If I buy a US built yacht, I have no import duty upon my return. Like all things American in Aus, yachts are overpriced here. I can just about fly to the US, buy a yacht and sail it home and still be in the same ballpark as buying a US design here.

Anyways, enough "rabitting on". Hope you can help with some advice.

Cheers for Beers

[MarkJ]

Originally Posted by Kokoda Road

. Our Free Trade Agreement hasn't helped our farmers but it will help me. If I buy a US built yacht, I have no import duty upon my return.

You still have 10% gst and 5% luxury tax. Plus $799 to register the boat. plus....

Anyway, I want to hear some people about getting to the Great Lakes!

[TaoJones]

Originally Posted by Kokoda Road

<snip>
Question; Can I get from Florida to the great lakes by sailing. (The ICW has been calling me since I discovered it existed) Where can I get to that is west of the lakes.

One idea was to purchase the boat in Florida or down that way and then make my way home [to Australia] the long way round.
<snip>

Yes, you can, but if you stay inside (the ICW), instead of going outside (the Atlantic), you won't do much actual sailing.

If you purchase a vessel between now and about May or June, then head north, you will have lots of company, as that's the usual state of things as people head out of the hurricane belt before summer, as often as not because their insurance requires it. You will have to go outside around New Jersey, then sail back into New York Harbor and up the Hudson River.

You can have your mast stepped and enter the Erie Canal at Albany (actually Waterford, just north of Albany), head west, and 524 miles later you'll emerge at Buffalo (actually Tonawanda, just north of Buffalo.) Or you can keep going north up through Lake Champlain, into the St. Lawrence much further east and north than Buffalo. You also have the option of taking the Oswego Canal into Lake Ontario.

Once you're in the Great Lakes, you can get quite far west - but if you want to get out of the northern latitudes before you get caught by cold weather, you'll want to head south from Chicago down the river system to the Gulf. This will leave you on the "wrong" end of the Panama Canal, however, so you'll need to go through the Ditch to take the short route home to Aus.

There is a book written by William Least Heat-Moon called River Horse. The author is, or was, an English professor at The University of Missouri, and the book is about his 5000-mile journey across the US from east to west entirely by using the nation's navigable rivers. (Except that, in parts of the West, it was necessary to portage his 22-foot Cape Dory power vessel around various impedimenta - usually dams.) I don't think I would want to attempt a replication of his journey with an underpowered sailboat with a stepped mast across the cabin top from stem to stern.

Anyway, good luck with your quest.

TaoJones

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Kokoda,
Welcome aboard!! I just saw your post. What's "Rabitting on?" I'm trying to learn as much Australian as I can before I get someone upset by calling them a "sailor" or some such terrible faux pa. : )
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[cathyoz]

terrible faux pa. : )
Kind Regards,
JohnL[/quote]

hi Jhon "terrible faux pa ( pas ) in a French expression !!

in Australian we say "put your foot in it "..much more fun and descriptive ....

"the rabbiting on" stuff , in Oz term meens 'vaccinated with a grammaphone needle "...

[cathyoz]

[a "sailor" or
Kind Regards,
JohnL[/quote]

what wrong with sailor?
maybe try.

boaties,
suedo sailor,
lost soul
sea change
divorce settlement
escaping child support payment
running away from crowling suberbia
and the lawn mower.

i could go on and on
i can feel already ,arrows ( boomerangs) been pegged at me ...
Ozfrog been a endarger species in Australia..