Hello from Ohio River

[ulysses]

Willow-B: Your route problems are not new. You could have made the trip much easier in the early 1800's. The old Erie-Ohio canal would have taken you right into Portsmouth from the lake.

[Willow-B]

Originally Posted by ulysses

Willow-B: Your route problems are not new. You could have made the trip much easier in the early 1800's. The old Erie-Ohio canal would have taken you right into Portsmouth from the lake.

Right onto Portsmouth AND pass within 1/2 mile of my home in Lucasville.

[Willow-B]

Originally Posted by kthoennes

We bought a Mainship 37 -- not the trawler version, the 1996 aft cabin version...

And what a fantastic boat it is. I am a HUGE fan of Mainship. I love the bridge layout on this model. It sounds like you have most all the logistical hurdles addressed (or identified). I'm with you in that it will be a wonderful trip. And, as stated earlier, when will you have your boat available in this area again? Our paths may very well cross as my plans are to head west as soon as the First Mate's school breaks for summer. Should be Early June. All should be provisioned by then so we should be shoving off by June 3-4. I wish you the best on this trip westward.

[kthoennes]

I just wish we had more time so we could motor all the way to Toledo, or heck, take the whole summer and go all the way to Duluth (the closest we can get to home unless we swung around Florida and came up the Missouri). But that will have to come later in life.

[Willow-B]

We have decided that the Erie Canal is the route we shall make. The Southern waters will just have to wait another year. Seems to be about 1,000 miles from Hingham Bay to Sandusky/Put-In-Bay, OH . IF we hauled there and shipped overland to Cincy, this would be the shortest/quickest route.

BUT... Another 1700 miles around Michigan to Chicago and down the Illinois to the Mighty Miss. Then downstream to the Ohio then upstream to Portsmouth. I do believe this is the route for me.

Shortest & Quickest is two words I am trying to cut from my vocabulary. Whats 2700 miles @ 6knots (when running downsteam) anyway??? If I was in that big of a hurry, I would have bought a faster boat....

[ulysses]

Good attitude. Good plan. Safe travels.

[kthoennes]

Too bad we won't be doing our westward treks at about the same time. Would be fun to do it in tandem, but we're still shooting for the first week in May. The more research I do, the more we're trimming the trip and being more conservative. I think now we'll have it launched in Somerset, delivered to us in Bristol, RI, then the short run to Newport. At least one day in Newport making sure everything works, check expiration dates on flares, a thorough going-over, and stock up for the trip. If everything is good, we'll cast off for just one detour east to Martha's Vineyard, but then get going and start the run west. Mystic one night, then Essex, Deep River and Chester one night, then the run to Manhattan. One night there, then up the Hudson. That's the first week. Second week or eight days, Erie Canal, then we find a marina to pull it and ship it overland from Buffalo.

I may be too optimistic on the distance and time the first week. And if the Canal is still closed that early in the year for whatever reason (as sometimes happens), or terrible weather delays us, or the boat needs more prep time than we think in RI, then we ship it from Coeymans Landing marina on the Hudson instead.

[Bilgewater]

Don't be in too much of a rush to get through the Erie Canal. It is a fantastic cruise! We had to cut our trip short last year due to the early launching of #2 grandson. You can check our blog for our experience last year. We're going back in July and plan to spend the summer/fall on the canal, then head south. I'll pm you with info about our home marina in Sandusky that you might find useful.

[siestakey]

Welcome