Navigable Rivers (sea entry)

[Manie B]

Gents this is not a boat design / build question, this is a "cruising" question and i would like to know this from the BD.net folks point of view.

What are navigable rivers in your country where the sailor could come from afar and navigate from the sea, up river to the sights and places of interest in your country. Even if you haven't done this kind of trip before maybe it is on your wishlist, lets hear. London still has good inland cruising, so has New York, what do you know, where could one go, where not, what is relatively cheap, some yacht clubs offer free overnight berths for cruisers. Obviously there are limitations to overhead heights and depth, but i am talking about a 28 ft mono type of thing.

When i search around on other sites i find an abundance of "islands" palm trees and coconuts, all over scattered around the equator, but not really "older" stuff.

Two places are out :- Panama (way too expensive) Suez (down to Somalia)

I am hoping you can come up with the Americas, espescially Europe and Austral Asia.

Southern Africa doesn't have any, and Afrika in its totality you dont have to post, definately no interest there what so ever. And the whole of the India up to Yemen - Arabian sea and Bay of Bengal, thanks but no thanks i'll pass on those, aint going there never ever.

So what have you, i would like to read about interesting places, even Loch Ness, and in summer go and find the Vikings :D

[Bamby]

You could probably spend years exploring all the potential sites in the Mississippi River Basin Source (http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Image:Mississippi-map.gif)

[apex1]

And the next years cruising from Turkey, to Romania, all way up to Amsterdam on the Danube, Canals, Main and Rhein, then the Baltic (not inland but a bit sheltered), and go back via the River Rhine and the French Canals to the Med!

Plan for 5 years to see the most interesting places only!

Regards
Richard

[mark775]

Mississippi was my first thought, then Amazon, then Yukon...But if Panama is too expensive, I'd stick to the Amazon.
If you change your mind about expense...
That Amazon is a nice trip but more dangerous than Alaska. Try Yukon via Norton sound (you can go all of the way to Whithorse Yukon Territory!). Perhaps a less ventursome journey would be the Wood-Tikchik state park via the Wood River at Dillingham, then the Naknek River to Katmai National Park and the valley of ten thousand smokes ('nother world), then Kvichak River to Iliamna Lake and overland, by trailer ($2,000) to Cook Inlet. Ever thinking of a trip to Alaska, that little trek (plan a summer, not including getting there) makes one wonder why ever go where a cruise ship might.(Alaska is a playground, the only danger is getting run over by incompetents and things you do to yourself).
35717

The Valley of 10,000 Smokes is the site of the world's largest volcanic eruption this century. Beginning on June 6, 1912, the volcanic eruption at Novarupta lasted 3 days. The ash cloud that resulted reached an altitude of 20 miles high and spread for thousands of miles, with sulfurous ash falling as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington.

[mark775]

I'm tracing Richard's reply and planning a "some day" there myself!

[apex1]

You´re extremely welcome Mark!

[duluthboats]

I think it’s a toss up in North America, between the St Lawrence seaway and the Mississippi river. You could go up the Mississippi and out the St Lawrence. It would take years to check out all it offshoots and you would see a lot of the U.S. and Canada.
Gary:D

[marshmat]

Canadian inland waters can be quite appealing during the five months of the year when things are nice and warm.

The St. Lawrence takes you through some beautiful places, and the freighters there are confined to set speeds and narrow lanes. There's a wonderful taste of the Old World in Quebec City.

After enjoying a few days of vibrant Montreal culture, you can choose between the St. Lawrence seaway to Kingston, or the Ottawa River to the capital. From there, the 19th-century Rideau Canal can be transited in four to six days, taking you through dozens of inland lakes and traditional, manually-operated locks to Kingston.

A hundred or so miles to the west, the Trent-Severn Waterway takes you through to Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay, including a couple of very impressive 19th-century lift locks that are still in operation. Both the Rideau and the Trent-Severn are well maintained and charted, and a nice, relaxing trip for just about anything under 7 metres wide and drawing up to 1.2 m, boards up.

Georgian Bay and, farther up, Lake Superior offer a great deal of rugged, pristine territory to explore, albeit with some daunting navigational and weather challenges- not for the feint of heart, but a challenging and rewarding voyage for the dedicated cruiser. One could easily spend an entire summer cruising this area and still only see a small fraction of it. A few days spent heading south from here gets you to American waters and the numerous access points to their extensive inland waterway system.

The "Great Loop"- the cruise I've just described, followed by a hop over to the Mississippi basin via southern Lake Michigan, along the Gulf coast and back up the ICW- is a year-long cruise of as much as 6,000 miles, certainly one of the more popular long-distance cruising routes.

[gonzo]

If you go up the Plata river between Argentina and Uruguay, you can take two routes. One up the Uruguay river where you can sail up several of the tributaries including the larger one , the Negro river. That is about 400 miles of cruising. The other, is the Parana river which takes you all the way up to Paraguay

[Manie B]

Oh wow, woke up for my early morning coffee and Google earth is spinning like a top ! :D

jeeez some cool stuff here guys BIG THANKS keep 'em comin ;)

[TeddyDiver]

In the northern Europe.. From North see to Baltic the Göta chanel, and from the Gulf of Finland loop to Saimaa :)

[Pericles]

Go meet Old Father Thames. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/River_Thames

I prefer him without his non neoclassical shovel.:) When it's removed the elderly gent is advertising.:D :D

[boat fan]

Kool Pericles

[hoytedow]

What's with the shovel, Pericles?

[hoytedow]

Check out the Caloosahatchee River. You can go across the state of Florida from Ft. Myers to Port St. Lucie through Lake Okeechobee.

[wardd]

if you sail on chits creek dont forget a paddle

[hoytedow]

Oh, you've been on the Caloosahatchee, then?

[Manie B]

Guys what is the great loop ?? in America i presume - Missisippi ?

i saw this on Duckworks - looks like fun :D

http://greatloop.thedalamar.com/

[gonzo]

The Great loop connects through canals and locks the Mississippi, the Illinois River into Lake Michigan. From there you can either go through the St. Lawrence to the North Atlantic or take the Erie Canal through to the Hudson river and out through New York harbor. Then you go through the Intracoastal to the Gulf of Mexico and up one of the rivers. The Caloosahatchee is a shortcut into the middle of the Mississippi. Other options are taking the route to the North of Lake Huron and then the Ottawa or the Severn canal into the St. Laurence. From the St. Lawrence you can take another shorcut through lake Champlain straight South to the Hudson river.

[Manie B]

I have been reading about the great loop this afternoon and it is fascinating.
There are obviously many folks that have done this trip and have blogs on it.
Wonderfull stuff for a landlocked rat such as myself :(

Question for you guys that live on that side of the globe -
i do suppose it must be rather expensive to do this trip, is it at all possible to do it on the cheap, with a small 20ft sailboat perhaps?
Things like marina fees for night time berthing, lock fees? Fuel even for a small outboard at 6 knots - must add up.
And time - probably a year?

Any guesses??
no restaurants and fancy shopping sprees - just to see the country side

[Fanie]

Hi Manie,

You are right that SA does not have any.

There are however some very nice places to sniff around and explore. Just look at Moz, the islands and Makanetta, then there is the Moz channel that can be exciting if you go bugger around there at the wrong time :D and look at Madegascar ! Plenty of islands there right to Australia. There is 14 000 km of ocean and islands you can explore.

Also if you work up Africa towards Tanzania, very very beutiful there. One of my fishing friends moved to Tanzania, the pics he sent me looks like paradise. He now also says we are stupid to stay in this shit place.

[Bamby]

I'll see if I can round up a good source on doing the big loop. But I've read on it before enough to know you don't want to attempt it in a small boat of a dingy. The great lakes are involved and they're not referred to as great for nothing.

Here's a read written by a fellow on another forum I follow about doing some of the rivers here you may enjoy reading.

The trip took 3 months,2500 miles, 35 locks and an elevation drop of 900 ft.

Episode 1: http://www.houseboatmagazine.com/?pageID=10&ID=1371
Episode 2: http://www.houseboatmagazine.com/?pageID=10&ID=1372
Episode 3: http://www.houseboatmagazine.com/?pageID=10&ID=1373
Final Episode: http://www.houseboatmagazine.com/?pageID=10&ID=1374

[gonzo]

I did it parts of it with a 21 foot boat in 89 and parts in a 25 footer

[Manie B]

Gonzo, any wild guess as to what lock fees and berthing fees could come to nowadays, are there free spots to tie up at night?

[gonzo]

In the USA the locks are free. The Eire Canal has free docking. The Illinois and Mississippi have some places you can dock for free and plenty of free anchorages. I think some of the Canadian locks have a fee. Last time I went through the St. Lawrence seaway it was free, but a lock by Montreal had a small fee

[hoytedow]

Florida has : Tidal Shoreline - 2276 Statute Miles. Florida has more than 11000 miles of rivers, streams & waterways. Bring a fishing pole and get a fishing license, unless you fish with a cane pole(no reel).

[gonzo]

Right, there are the St.Lucie and Okeechobee canals through central Florida.

[hoytedow]

Off to work now, bye.

[cor]

I cruised 1200 miles of the Mississippi on a 18 foot boat a few years ago. We started in Minneapolis (at mile 0, the northern most navigable point) and spent one month heading south.

We did the trip very inexpensively. Most nights we camped out on the beach. There are many nice sand beaches and quiet anchorages along the river. Every few days we would find a marina to tie up at and then get a hotel room. The marinas were normally inexpensive and sometimes free. The upper Mississippi is a great mix of wild and scenic and nice development. Some days you would hardly see another boat on the river, other days when near the bigger towns and cities the river was full of pleasure boaters. The river offers small town charm and big city life too.

The main channel is well marked and maintained to a minimum 9 foot depth. There is some commercial barge traffic, but it is easy to stay out our their way.

We had a great time on this trip and would love to do it again.

C.O.