GL: Boat for the Great Circle

[Charles Culotta]

>> We completed the loop last year in a 455 Cruiser Yacht, but saw  
>> everything
>> from a jet ski to 60 sail boats. Trawlers made up 60-70% of the  
>> boats and  seem
>> to average 8 kts. With fuel prices high, probably the best choice.   
>> Sailboats
>> don't seem to work well since there is a lot of river and inter   
>> coastal
>> cruising...and bridges.
> 
> 
> ar more inconvenient.
> 
> The trip was accomplished in four summer stints and included side  
> excursions of a few weeks of cruising in the Finger Lakes, the Fla.  
> Keys and the Bahamas. 
> Except for narrow rivers and canals, large portions of the trip can  
> be made under sail. The Hudson, Lake Champlain, the Great Lakes,  
> Georgian Bay, the Mississippi, the Gulf Coasts, the Florida Keys,  
> Chesapeake Bay, Delaware Bay, and the Jersey Shore are all great  
> sailing venues.
> Based on our experience, I would say that the boat was large enough.  
> It was very easy for a couple to handle in canals and locks. 

  We anchored out
> 90% of the time so that saving paid for our weekly indulgence. With  
> the wisdom of hindsight, I would choose a slightly larger boat today,  
> but not one much bigger than 30'. Probably 36' would be the maximum  
> size. Two elderly people can muscle a boat of that size in locks and  
> into fuel docks without the assistance of dock attendants. Our basic  
> philosophy remains the same. The boat should be self contained as  
> much as possible and not require any marina hookups. Anchoring out is  
> a pleasure, not a chore.
> 
> Larry Z


Larry hit the nail on the proverbial head with his post.
1-Go slow, we are doing it at 8 miles per hour, not knots, with twin 
engines, Perkins 6.354N's and burn 2.8 gph TOTAL.
2-Take (much) MORE than one year. There is no way to see the sites on 
the Circle in one year. Look again at Larry's list.
     We are on our THIRD season on this LEG and have, as of today, 7,000 
miles under the keel. It is a coincidence that as we docked at a lock on 
the Erie Canal that the odometer turned 7,000 miles from Patterson. 
This does not include the Southern portion of the trip on the Tenn-Tom 
waterway which adds 1,500 miles to this total. By the way that leg 
includes all of the the Tenn. river and Cumberland River.
We spent  almost 3 months in the Chesapeake Bay alone, we are told that 
most on this trip spend about a week. Also Montreal, Ottawa, and the 
Rideau Canal along with the Champlain Canal, Thousand Islands in Canada.
This year we left Geneva,NY in April and did the Trent-Severn, Georgian 
Bay, North Channel, Lakes Huron and Erie and we are now in the Erie 
Canal on our way back to Geneva to store the boat for the winter so that 
we start from there next year to go to Nova Scotia and down to Maine and 
then Florida to position for the Bahamas in the winter of 2010.
We also went to Key West and the Dry Tortuga's on our way to the East Coast.
3-I fully agree with Larry on the size of boat, 36 feet is just about 
right. Our boat a 45 CHB Pilot House is large and comfortable but not 
required. We do dock with no assistance from shore and handling in locks 
are both functions of the operators skills as opposed to the boat.
4- The boat should be as self contained as reasonably possible. Like 
Larry we anchor  about %90 of the time or take advantage of  free docks 
that often have no services.

Bottom line go for a reasonable size boat and definitely plan on more 
than one year. For us it appears that it will be 5 seasons plus.

We are doing all of the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca and Oswego Canals in 
addition to parts of the St Lawrence Seaway and others.

We left Patterson,La March 1, 2006 went to Fla., Key West and Dry 
Tortuga's and then up the East coast to Baltimore.
Second year, Baltimore to NY, Champlain Canal to Canada, St Lawrence to 
Montreal and Ottawa. Then down the Rideau Canal to Kingston and the 
Thousand Islands area to Geneva, NY.
Third year, Geneva to Trent, Georgian Bay, N Channel Lakes Huron and 
Erie to Erie Canal back to Geneva.

What would we do differently? Do all of the East coast and Bahamas 
before the other portions.


CCC

CHARLES C., JR. & PAT CULOTTA
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS
M/V CCRIDER
PATTERSON, LA.
charlesculotta.com