You may want to consider a compromise.
You could buy the boat in the
Great Lakes, get her to Chicago, take down the
mast and take part of the Great Loop trip by going down the Illinois, Missippi,
Ohio, Cumberland and TenTom Waterway to pop out in Mobile.
Sail the Gulo over to
Houston or Corpus Christi after you step the
mast in Mobile and then have it trucked to San Diego.
You'd get the adventure of a parial
water delivery and a worthwhile compromise on the distance and complication of the
Panama Canal.
For more info on the Great Loop, check out
How to cruise America's Great Loop or
America's Great Loop Cruisers' Association
Even if you wanted to take the longer way around by
water, this would be a better "downbound" than the Erie and
ICW.
Murph
S/V Amalia
1965
Cal 30