Great Lakes to Gulf of Mexico

[Ded reckoner]

I am interested in advice about motoring down from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. The final destination is west of the Mississippi. The sailboat is 43 feet long, has almost a 14 foot beam, and has a 6 foot 3 inch draft. Presumably, the mast would be removed and shipped separately for re-assembly where the river empties into the Gulf. In particular, can a motor trip be made down the Illinois and Mississippi to the Mississippi Delta? Or, is the Mississippi too wild a river for a motoring sailboat? Or, would it be preferable to take the Illinois to the Mississippi to the Ohio to the Tennessee to the Tenn Tom to Mobile? What's the accuracy of a chartplotter?

[sandy stone]

Personally, I wouldn't care to go down the Mississippi on a sailboat. I used to work at a refinery right on the river and I've seen what kind of traffic goes up and down there, but every now and then we actually would see a sailboat. Amazingly enough, a neighbor couple brought their outboard-powered Hunter 25 down to New Orleans from St. Louis on the river, so it is possible if you are determined. I have no idea where you would stop overnight, or get groceries or fuel. I'm sure it would be an adventure.
BTW, if you intend to go west of the river at the Gulf, you would enter the GIWW at the Harvey locks at New Orleans.

[J Clark H356]

Most make the trip going down the Tenn-Tom and putting the mast back up at Turner Marine in Mobile. Start looking at the Great Loop. I'm familiar with the Tennessee River down to Mobile section. I have been down twice and back north once. Your boat will make it fine with the mast down. You may need jerry cans of fuel for some legs depending on your tank and fuel burn. If you would like more information, let me know your email and I will send you our blog detailing our last winter trip from Kentucky Lake to Punta Gorda, FL and return. It will enlighten you about the Tennessee, Tenn-Tom, mast down and up and portions of the northern Gulf Intercoastal and West Fl Intercoastal from Clearwater to Charlotte harbor

[BandB]

Illinois to Mississippi to Ohio to Tennessee to Tenn Tom to Gulf is the preferred path. A great place to learn more about the route is captainjohn.org. This is part of the Great Loop. Once you make it to Mobile Bay then you have intracoastal along the gulf to your destination.

One matter of concern whichever route you choose is fuel capacity and range. What is your range? Are you diesel? This is especially an issue were you to try the lower Mississippi.

Plus the Ohio to TN to TN Tom is a beautiful route and an area that merits days, weeks and even months.

[valhalla360]

You will need to drop the mast at Chicago (plenty of marinas can help).

You can ship the mast or the more common option is to set up supports on deck. Just make sure it is well secured. A large tow fighting it's way upstream on the mississippi thows a heck of a wake.

North of St. Louis, there are plenty of facilities available.

South of St. Louis, it's a lot of miles between faciliites so you need fuel range and a plan for anchoring out. I believe there are a couple of 350mile runs between facilities, though your range is augmented by the current.

Most take the tenn-tom option because once you hit the Kentucky Lakes, you are back to plentiful facilities and moderate currents but you still need a decent range.

At 43', I assume you have an air draft over 50', so you would need to get to Mobile before raising your mast. If you are under 50', you can take a chance that the rivers aren't high and put the mast up at the Kentucky Lakes area.

If it's a deliever run, I would consider the full Mississippi route as 100 mile days during daylight are very doable.
If the trip is part of the fun, I would suggest the Tenn-Tom route as we find anchoring on the fast flowing Mississippi stressful.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

You will need to drop the mast at Chicago (plenty of marinas can help).

You can ship the mast or the more common option is to set up supports on deck. Just make sure it is well secured. A large tow fighting it's way upstream on the mississippi thows a heck of a wake.

North of St. Louis, there are plenty of facilities available.

South of St. Louis, it's a lot of miles between faciliites so you need fuel range and a plan for anchoring out. I believe there are a couple of 350mile runs between facilities, though your range is augmented by the current.

Most take the tenn-tom option because once you hit the Kentucky Lakes, you are back to plentiful facilities and moderate currents but you still need a decent range.

At 43', I assume you have an air draft over 50', so you would need to get to Mobile before raising your mast. If you are under 50', you can take a chance that the rivers aren't high and put the mast up at the Kentucky Lakes area.

If it's a deliever run, I would consider the full Mississippi route as 100 mile days during daylight are very doable.
If the trip is part of the fun, I would suggest the Tenn-Tom route as we find anchoring on the fast flowing Mississippi stressful.

The longest fuel stretches are:

Using the TN Tom route it's 250 miles.

Using the lower Mississippi, it's 376 miles for diesel and 450 miles for gasoline.

[Spleen]

I read a thread the other day (darn it now I can't remember if it was even on this board) about a couple sailing down the Mississippi (they had to motor quite a bit); I remember reading something about being able to purchase fuel from a barge terminal. (Eta, he said he heard that you could buy fuel there but didn't verify)...

If I find the thread in my history, I'll post it. He said they enjoyed it and though they have no plans to do it again, they would if it came down to saying if they would or wouldn't do it again.

[Spleen]

Ah ha! That was quick-- found it... It was the lower Mississippi:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...r-38638-2.html

Hope that helps... It was an interesting read.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Spleen

I read a thread the other day (darn it now I can't remember if it was even on this board) about a couple sailing down the Mississippi (they had to motor quite a bit); I remember reading something about being able to purchase fuel from a barge terminal. (Eta, he said he heard that you could buy fuel there but didn't verify)...

If I find the thread in my history, I'll post it. He said they enjoyed it and though they have no plans to do it again, they would if it came down to saying if they would or wouldn't do it again.

That's possible but always a gamble. Also typically diesel only and depends on quantity. They're not going to be real happy to bring a truck out to give someone 100 or 150 gallons. Basically anytime you can find a dock to tie to and it's somewhere a truck can reach, then it's possible. I've known people in other areas to get companies that only delivered home oil to deliver.

[Capt Doug]

Get your mast down in Chicago, JPYC (Jackson Park Yacht Club) south end of lake michigan build saw horse frames and keep your mast with you. I have delivered sailboats from Lake Michigan, Once all the way down the Mississippi, not for the faint of heart, NOT any fun. The Ten-Tom was a much more laid back trip, and has continued to improve, with the Loopers adding to demand for services. Most all comments about Mobile I agree with. Bonus will be the trip west from Mobile Bay to New Orleans. If you are in a god awful hurry, put the boat and mast on a truck..Good Luck

[Ded reckoner]

I appreciate all the input offered considering these two routes. It makes the choice a lot easier having the overwhelming consensus for the route to Mobile.

The boat uses diesel and has twin tanks with combined capacity over 250 gallons. This should give us a good range even while we try to make good time.

Capt Doug, thanks for your encouragement on the route to Mobile. The boat has a height in its cradle of 14 feet 9 inches. For a boat of this height, apparently you need to deliver it on water since too many/almost all road bridges have a lower clearance. As a result, when you can get a quote, costs are prohibitively expensive by trucking.

It seems like a lot of locks will be encountered. Is going through these routine, or are there any special considerations for some of them?

Also, what is the accuracy of a chartplotter for the rivers Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Tombigbee?

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Ded reckoner

I appreciate all the input offered considering these two routes. It makes the choice a lot easier having the overwhelming consensus for the route to Mobile.

The boat uses diesel and has twin tanks with combined capacity over 250 gallons. This should give us a good range even while we try to make good time.

Capt Doug, thanks for your encouragement on the route to Mobile. The boat has a height in its cradle of 14 feet 9 inches. For a boat of this height, apparently you need to deliver it on water since too many/almost all road bridges have a lower clearance. As a result, when you can get a quote, costs are prohibitively expensive by trucking.

It seems like a lot of locks will be encountered. Is going through these routine, or are there any special considerations for some of them?

Also, what is the accuracy of a chartplotter for the rivers Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Tombigbee?

Locks will be routine by the time you finish. Plus you'll go through the only electrified area I'm familiar with. Nothing navigation wise too staggering. Lots of commercial traffic. You say over 250 gallons. What is your usage at various speeds? I would think at least 1 nm/gal at speed, but curious if you're measured it through a Floscan or other meter.

[J Clark H356]

I found the C-map Chicago to Mobile chart very accurate, but there is not a lot of detail on the Tenn Tom portion. Once you start down that portion, just stay mostly in the middle third of the river and pay attention to the buoys. You will see snags that seemed to me to occur on the outer 1/3. I had AIS and radar and you will need both. I also have a very strong LED GOLight remote controlled from a hand held. I used them all. I ran in zero zero conditions many times during foggy mornings. I also made it a point to enter each curve on the inside of the curve, but at least 1/3 of the way from the inner bank. I didn't hit anything. I would encourage you not to cut too close to the bank.

I supplemented my Raymarine system with the IPhone Navionics app as well as the IPhone and Ipad INavX program. I have a Digital Yacht IAIS that wirelessly would send AIS to the INavX app so I used it a lot to know where the tows were. I had my temporary VHF radio antenna on a 10 foot length of PVC U bolted to a stanchion and got around 8 mile AIS range which is plenty on the Tennessee and Tenn-Tom waterway for AIS. I typically get 35 and sometimes much more with my antenna mounted on my mast.

[Stumble]

I live in New Orleans, and grew up on the Tenn-Tom. Don't bring your boat down the Mississippi if you don't have to. Hull damage is common, drive damage is routine, and running aground for a sailboat is to be expected.

To give you a feel for how dangerous the lower Mississippi can be A friend of mine owns a tow boat company, and routinely need to swap crew out on tugs while they are on the river. To do this they need three operational powerboats. To achieve three operating all the time they own six. It's suck a big problem they are seriously investigating switching to hovercrafts so they don't have to have anything in the water.

[Stu Jackson]

issGee, another "Oh, God, you're gonna die!" OR "Sure, go for it, you only live once!" threads

Like much else in life, research is helpful as are these replies.

On a somewhat lighter note, Jonathan Raban (a very fine author) wrote a book about going down the Ole Miss. A great read.

Dunno if anyone else has written something so fine about the TennTom, I doubt it, but not because of the subject mattere, but because of the quality of the author.

Den dere's da blogs - might be a few, ya tink?