Travelling North on the Hudson

M

ModMMax

Member
Joined
Jan 15, 2007
RO Number
24876
Messages
6
Hello All,
I'm new to this site and looking for some infomation about the earliest I can use the Hudson to travel from New York to the Erie Canal. Boat is in southern states. Moving it to Georgean Bay this spring/early summer. Planning to be in New York by May 1. Is that too early? Any advice appreciated.
 
No problem with May as far as the river goes. Ill leave it up to the others on advise for the trip.
 
The river is always open...there is commercial traffic 24x7x365. I think your gating factor will be the locks on the canal. When are they operational for the season?
 
Walshie,

I would not say the river is always open, because it does freeze over or at least have significant pieces of ice that would make travel quite dangerous. That being said, there should be no problems if you are coming around May 1st, but take it slow because there is usually a lot of debris in the river at that time frame. And as hogan said, check with the canals and make sure they are open and ice free. Then you should be good to go.

Jeff
 
You should be ok, the canals are scheduled to open May 1st. unless there is a deluge of rain they should open on time.

How many people will you have on the boat with you?

It can be cold and windy so be prepared.

Jonathan
 
We did the Hudson and Lake Champlain to the St Lawerence River.Other than Debris in the water it was a beautiful trip On the way South we came off Lake Ontario at Oshwago The Norbound trip was by far the nicer way to go We might do this circle again this summer
 
The Hudson's still pretty full of trash by May? Had hoped it usually cleared out around the first or second week of April. Darn...
 
Be on the lookout any time after a heavy rain.
 
Thanks folks. We (my wife and I) are travelling in a 47' Hyatt. The boat is new to us and I am really hoping we will be able to handle it. We are quite prepared to hold up for bad weather. Hope to be in NY no later that May 1st but could easily stretch it to 7th of May. We have set a few weeks aside to do the Hudson, Erie and Oswego. Hoped to hold up in Hamilton for 2 weeks before moveing to Trenton to pick up the Trent Severn. Am I hearing that crossing Lake Ontario and using the Trent Severn to get to Midland is a less prefered route than going through Detriot?
 
quote:
Originally posted by Rugger8

Walshie,

I would not say the river is always open, because it does freeze over or at least have significant pieces of ice that would make travel quite dangerous. That being said, there should be no problems if you are coming around May 1st, but take it slow because there is usually a lot of debris in the river at that time frame. And as hogan said, check with the canals and make sure they are open and ice free. Then you should be good to go.

Jeff

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I take the Hudson River line every day, twice a day...I'm am amazed that there's always at least one tug/barge combo out there or some other commercial ship...no matter how cold it is. It really is amazing. Of course they have to watch for ice but the channel down by us at least, has always been open in recent years. Then again, there are chunks of ice in the ocean as well....just ask the crew of the Titanic.
 
You will have no other help on the boat for the lock portion of the trip???

My wife and I did the trip from Oswego to the Hudson first week in May about 5 years ago. It was a real struggle when the wind kicked up the last day. Between the wind, the rushing water in the lock and the drop of some of the locks it was a challenge for my wife to keep the boat steady and near the wall. The Flight of Five we needed some help from crew on another boat.

My boat was a 41' that weighed about 30,000 loaded. The weight and wind made a difference. smaller boats travelling with us had no problems but the boat wants to move when the water is let in or out of the lock and with the wind itcreated a wind tunnel in a few of the locks.

Also be aware that most docks are closed in the locks that time of year. We found one or two that were open for fuel. You should be able to make it without stopping for fuel so make sure you are tanked up before you enter the system. We stayed at the Lock parks at night. No power to plug into, we had to run the genset up until bedtime to keep the boat warm.

It takes 3 days to make it thru to Lake Ontario so bring enough provisions too. It won't take weeks, 2 1/2-3 days from Troy to Oswego if you run all day.

If you need any more info......let me know.

Jonathan
 
Too bad you couldn't make that trip later in the year - you're missing out on some of the best and most scenic cruising waterways around, anywhere...
 
Thanks guys. We may have to convince out kids to join us for this portion of the trip. While I think we are both pretty capable, I'm betting that an incident would be poor. Our boat weighs 30,000 lbs and as an aft cabin fly bridge it catches a lot of wind. So I hear ya, and thanks for the advice.
 
quote:
Originally posted by ModMMax

Am I hearing that crossing Lake Ontario and using the Trent Severn to get to Midland is a less prefered route than going through Detriot?

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Even though shorter the Trent canal would probably be a slower route but not difficult. Time would be the primary factor. A normal passage through the trent is usually about 7 days. I think if you really worked at it you could probably cut that to 5 days. It's 385 kilometres (240 miles) with 46 locks. There's just no way to rush through it. Hamilton to Midland via the Trent is just a tad over 325 nautical miles.

Going around the other way your first obstacle is the Welland Canal, 8 locks and dodging commercial shipping and the whims of the lockmasters. A passage through there can take 24 hours or more and you'll need at least 3 aboard for the transit. From Hamilton to Midland via the Welland, Erie, St. Clair & Detroit rivers, Lake Huron and into Georgian Bay is just a tad over 700 nautical miles and you're sailing in larger water so you'll be subject to the weather.

If you want to go the long route, you could continue the Erie Canal all the way to Buffalo. That'll get you on the upside of the Welland. It wouldn't necessarily make it any shorter but you'd avoid the hassel of a Welland canal transit.
 
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