If you can get the Sked of these folks it is best to AVOID the places where they are.
Many places become a Zoo when a dozen boats arrive in one day.
Be early , be late , but don't be there when the gaggle arrives.
Band B , your boat looks high for the loop, what is the air draft?
Some like the groups, some don't. Just a matter of choice. Most spread out along the way, since no two boats travel the same speed nor do any two groups on boats want to do the same things.
Interesting observation on our air draft. The avatar is as delivered from factory. Since that time, we have done the following impacting height. The mast is now hinged and electrically operated to bring the radar and mast under 19'. We have removed the bimini top and had a custom hardtop built. It also clears. The minimum air draft now with no passengers, no water, 1/4 fuel is 18'11". So we will clear Chicago.
As to canal bridges, we will take Erie to Oswego and we will go from Lake Ontario to Erie through the Welland Canal.
The original boat with soft top only needed the mast lowered. Had we ordered the factory hard top, it had the electronics on the top instead of on the arch and mast and so it was over 22' even though the top itself was only 18'11". We didn't like the factory hard top for other reasons. Most of the sportier styled boats today are not designed to have the bridges fully enclosed. The tops cover a limited area and there are no enclosures offered. The slopes and angles, especially the wind shield, are not at all conducive to enclosures.
The top now has a center section with front and rear extensions that electrically slide out. The front extension is curved in the same pattern as the windshield so an enclosure is simplified.
Understand I hate making modifications to a new boat. In the past have gotten them delivered as we wanted them and everything set. In using a sports type boat for the loop, some modification was required. The top was the biggest item. We were very tempted to just go with the bimini but decided not to. The mast would have been easy to hinge, but we chose to double hinge it so it could lower but remain upright. It slides to the rear and then down. We also added and changed a few other things.
Resulting air draft 18'11", water draft 5'0". Any bridge under 22', we will lower the mast. If we ever do the Champlain or the Western portion of the Erie, it will have to be with a different boat or we would have to remove a lot of things for the trip.
we will be in Canada early in June so we can spend 2-3 months in Canada.
