Hobie Crafte wrote:
What about going from the Gulf of Mexico to Lake Michigan or Lake Erie via Mississippi? Is it something you Americans could dream about? Will it be too troublesome? Can it be done in two or three months? Would it be difficult to do it in late spring as temperatures rise? Is it more reasonable to take the same route in the opposite direction in the autumn?
You are referring to the "Great Circle Route" and it is best done counter-clockwise. In the spring boats head south from the Great Lakes; Lake Michigan, Chicago River, Illinois River, Mississippi River (here you have a choice: continue south or head east, up the Ohio River, Tennessee River, Cumberland River, Tenn–Tom Waterway, Alabama River, coming out in the Gulf of Mexico 500 miles further east.) Once in the Gulf, you go round Florida (or across it via Lake Okeechobee) and head north up the Eastern Seaboard on the Inter-coastal Waterway; heading back to the Great Lakes via the Hudson River to the Erie Canal (or Hudson River to Lake Champlain to the St. Lawrence Seaway) or continue north, rounding Newfoundland and take the St. Lawrence Seaway to the Great Lakes. Once in the Lakes, you can take the Welland Canal or the Trent-Severn Waterway.
Some of these rivers and canals are very commercially orientated, with almost no amenities for private vessels for hundreds of miles and LOTS of commercial traffic. Mostly I'm referring to the Lower Mississippi, but the Ohio River, Welland Canal, and the St. Lawrence are heavily commercial. The Mississippi and Ohio Rivers normally flow at 5 to 6 mph, increasing to 7 to 9 (or more during floods) in the spring. It would not be possible to go upstream for any distance in a TI. The upstream section on the Ohio is fairly brief, under 30 miles.
I've done most of the route by large powerboat and I want to eventually do the full circle in my TI.