Boat on Lake Erie

CurrentSea

CurrentSea

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I just spoke to a guy about a boat on lake Erie in Ohio. 2 questions:

1) Can you navigate from Lake Erie to Long Island?

2) How long of a trip is this?

Thanks.
 
Yes you can.. Take the Erie Canal to Albany then you are on the Hudson River.

Erie canal is no wake so you are looking at a good 2 to 3 days.
 
Any idea how far in miles?
Trying to guage if I would ship it or drive it.
 
A couple of years ago when we were at Hyde Park a boat came in from Ohio, took them over a week. Buffalo to Albany is 4-5 days...Albany to NYC is 6 hours or more...then you have to figure where ever in Ohio to Buffalo, would be a nice boat trip though.
 
I would suggest driving it down.. It is a very nice ride..
No wake but the scenery is great and the ride is relaxing.

Try Googling NY Canals for the milage.. also depends on where you are starting from on Lake Erie.
 
It is in Lorain, Ohio. It looks like Lorain is about 200 miles from Buffalo. So at 25mph, that is a 8 hour ride at least right there. Then if Buffalo to Albany is 5 days, it looks like we are looking at about 7 days or 1 week. Figure total run is about 60 hours, at say 30gph or $150/hour or $9000 in fuel! That may compare pretty cheap to shipping and alot more fun!

Boat Trip!!! I may be taking crew applications soon!
 
So what are you looking at which will do 25 MPH and only burn 30GPH? Oh, the assumption is it is at least 35' long....or are you looking diesel....sounds like a nice way to put a "new" boat in your slip[:-baseball]
 
Depending on clearance you can do the Erie all the way from Buffalo NY. Even stop in at the finger lakes if you like. But 5 days is tight. You'll need crew to handle the driving if you are going to push it. It takes us 4 days to hit Oswego, minimum is 3 to Brewerton.

What's the salary? :D
 
All the beer you can drink!

I don't know the true numbers on cruise and burn. I am guessing.
Actually, according to Rommer's specs in Regal forum, this setup, which is not Diesel. I want Diesel, but can't find one in Diesel that is in my price range, anyway, the 8.1 Mercs cruise at 26mph and burn 36gph. So figure an average of 30 with the 5 mph zones.

So what is a good estimate if you cruise 8 hours a day? Figure 1 day to get from Lorain to Buffalo. Then what is left?
I need these numbers to decide how to work deal. Shipping will come into play at some point.
 
Five days is about right from Buffalo to Albany. Once you are out of the man made cut, east of Little Falls you might be able to pick up the pace here or there.

Those fuel burn rates seem high but I have no experience with twin 8.1 mercs to justify.

One nice thing about the canal is that you don't have to spend $ on marinas if you don't want to. There are plenty of towns along the way that offer free docking. Many have free water and electric too. Of course it is first come / first plug in and usually a two night max. stay. Usually within walking / bike distance of restaurants, stores, laundry etc.
 
Dave Lorain to Buffalo is about 180 miles. I came up with about 6.5 hours at 26 knots and 233 gallons. I hope the boat has large tanks. Note the Erie is all 10 mph.
From Kgn, I'd say add in a couple of days. And then add in one or two to get South where the banjos are. I don't have charts for the erie out past three rivers (oswego canal goes north from there) but given the distance, it has to be at least two days from there to Buffalo.
We have someone in the marina that recently came down from further out on the lake and it took him a week to get to kgn. as I recall. I'll chat with him up next time I see him.
These days I'd hold out for diesels.
 
One of our ROs is in the midst of a trip from Brewerton NY to Kingston and back again in a twin engine 28 - he told me over the weekend he expects to spend about $2K on gas for that trip, which is a round trip of over 400 miles...

Perhaps we can pick his brain when he gets home...
 
Dave -
keep in mind that most of the 5 days on the canal is no-wake - - you're not gonna burn 30 gph in a no wake zone. . .. sure, during a few short spirts - Cross Lake, Lake Oneida, etc. - you'll get some time on plane, but most of it is 'slow and steady.'

BTW, I'm jealous!
 
Thanks everyone. Still waiting on the numbers from this guy for the trade of my boat. If he cuts me a good deal, I will do it.

Will recruit crew once its a done deal. It may be a round trip as I may drive my boat there and the new one home. But that is all negotiable with the dealer and who pays for what. So we are looking at a possible 2 weeks on boats, thre in my 34' and home in the new 38'! What a blast!

He is upside down on loan he has from bank for this boat, so he is anxious to reduce costs.
 
Dave
FYI Mt. Clemens Ohio to Kingston NY took 10 days. They had to take a break a couple of nights and laid over for an extra night.
 
boatbum.........Is the name on your boat "FREEDOM" ??...If it is I saw you on the Canal on the way home last week. I thought you were going South?

Now on to the current topic.....
Our trip ended up being 449 miles (actually 448.7) and the total Fuel Cost was $1977.00. We got back okay and I just refilled it again this morning to get the exact expense from where it was full (at our Marina) when we left.
This was with a 28ft. with twin 350's and Alpha 1 drives.
There are areas of the Canal where the Speed Limit is actually now posted as 35 and 40 mph. and alot of it you can get away with going that fast even there's NO Posting.
I don't think the Canal Website will give you the actual mileages unless you feel like getting out a ruler and measuring distances according to their scale but we've also actually done the trip from here (Oneida Lake) to Tonawanda and the Buffalo waterfront district and Lake Erie.
I wish I had the stuff right here in front of me but all my stuff is on the boat. It seems to me that if I recall correctly it was about 225 miles to Tonawand from Oneida Lake and to think you'd be able to do it in any less than 3 days is just wishful-thinking. So 225 from Buffalo to here.....150 from here to Waterford.....70 from Waterford to Kingston and don't forget the 180 to even get to Buffalo = 525 miles just to Kingston. I know it sounds like alot but it really is a beautiful trip if you're into peaceful slow moving environments as we are and a trip that if it's affordable and you have the time really should be taken advantage of. from Buffalo to Kingston you're looking at 6 days without really pushing hard and knocking yourself out trying to just get from point A to point B.
As was mentioned above there are places along the Canal where you can spend the night and even have free power and water in some of them.
Unfortunately by the same token there are also places that USED to be free that are now charging so it's gonna be a hit and miss situation but a little common sense will get you through.

Another thought though would be to go through the Welland Canal into Lake Ontario and run the South Shore to Oswego and down the Oswego Canal to Three Rivers where you'd pick up the Erie heading East.
Depending on the Commercial Traffic in the Welland System you can probably gain a day that way and once on Lake Ontario you can run on plane and probably realize some Fuel Savings at the same time. From the Port in Oswego down the Oswego Canal to Oneida Lake you're looking at just short of a day.

I hope this helps and also that all goes well with the new boat deal.
If you're serious about getting some people along I'd be the first to volunteer and I'm really not sure I'd even make you buy the beer. (But THAT's only because I prefer Captain Morgan)...lol...
If you have any more specific questions you can feel free to E-Mail me at
CaptnMorgan at Clearwire dot net
 
Tang,

Nope we have been here all summer. The name is popular, and in fact we've had radio duels on Long Island with one of them.
"Hey! This is Freedom", "But We're freedom in Shelter Hrbr" "So are we in SAG Hrbr"....
 
Tang

Where are the free power and water sections on the Erie from Oneida to Waterford.

Ray
 
First stop after Oneida Lake is WEST of Lock 20. It's right at the Lock Wall before you go into the Lock on the Port side. We didn't stop there so I'm not sure about a water connection but there are Power Poles there. If you're traveling on a weekend try to get there somewhat early as it's a small dock there by a public (to the area) Park and not alot of room for ALOT of boats. After that...if you're gonna need gas and you will at SOME point.....get it at Ilion...it's about 4 miles after lock 17 on your right. There are two other places but one of them is St. Johnsville Marina and he's 12 cents a gallon higher....about 24 miles past Ilion and they're both 87 Octane only. There IS one other little Marina on the left between the two but I can't remember the name of it because we stopped there once years ago and they only sell to their Marina customers so it doesn't really matter.
Some Maps of the Canal show Frankfort as having a Marina with Gas and Pump-Out etc. but don't believe it....they did a long time ago and now even though they've built some pretty nice buildings at the site of the old marina and there ARE docks there etc. that you can stay at for free...there aren't any hook-ups for water OR power. Plus you have to be really careful because there's submeged tree-stumps and what have ya on the way in that there's no maintanance on because nobody uses it anymore except maybe a few small trailerable fishing boats etc.
The next stop is WEST of Lock 11 on the Port side also....little park there and free electric. The Trains going by will drive you crazy though till about 11 pm. Right AFTER Lock 11 is a nice little area on the Port side also called River Link where there's water and Electric at $1.00 a ft....If you go there be sure you get your discount coupon for the Steak House across the bridge.
Waterford is easily achievable the next day without running hard or long...just a nice ride although most of the river is 40 mph at that point.

When are you making the trip? Is Waterford the end destination?
Stay in touch and maybe we'll get together in Brewerton on your way through.
 
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