Looking at a boat in Annapolis MD and wondering if there is an inside route or short cut to get to the Hudson and ultimately to Oswego NY?? How many days approximately would it take weather dependent??
We've made that trip 5? times. wThe run up the Bay, across the Canal, and down the Delaware Bay is influenced strongly by current. If you have favorable current, you can make good time. Conversely, it can go the other way. The Delaware Bay can be miserable when current and wind are opposing, so yes, very weather dependent. If you're planning the run in the summer months, the weather tends to be more stable and there won't be as much trouble finding a good weather window, plus you have more daylight in which to travel.
We did the trip from Croton, NY to Middle River, MD in a single 36 hr. run last fall. We've done the trip from Middle River to Oswego a number of times, but we've never been on a delivery timetable. A reasonable itinerary from Annapolis might have stops at Chesapeake City, Cape May, Atlantic City, Sandy Hook, Croton, Kingston, Waterford, Scotia, Ilion, Sylvan Beach & Oswego. So maybe 11 days. There is an inside route from Cape May north, but we choose not with our 5 ft draft. It's weather dependent, and of course, the cruise speed of the boat, & how hard you want to push. If it's the 1st trip with a new (to you) boat, there's something to be said for a relaxed pace. Your crusing experience should temper your itinerary. It might be unwise to try to cram into a short time the learning curve that comes with a new boat plus coastal cruising, plus New York Harbor, the Hudson, and the locking experience - all that is a lot to absorb. Even for an experienced cruising couple, that's a LOT to compress into a small time window. If it's all new and things don't go as planned, it could be very stressful.
Allow yourself enough time to enjoy the cruise!