THE ADVENTURE

 This map is courtesy of the AGLCA (America Great Loop Cruisers Association)

Our plans include leaving  our marina in the spring, heading down the Delaware, around Cape May and up the coast to New York City to the Hudson River.  Many "loopers" cut across the Erie Canal but our plans take us up to Lake Champlain as seen by the red line next to VT. We enter the St. Lawrence and and turn left toward Montreal, entering the Ottawa River. Using the Rideau Canal, we journey back down to the St. Lawrence at Kingston. After a few days in the Thousands Islands, we head to Trenton,ON and the 'Trent-Severn Waterway'. This waterway is 220 miles and puts us into the Georgian Bay of Lake Huron.  A north west heading takes us pass "30,000 Islands" and into the 'North Channel'. Summer is ending and time to leave Canada. We re-enter the US, pass Mackinaw City, and turn south down Lake Michigan. We say hello to Chicago and enter the Illinois River which feeds into the Mississippi. South of St Louis, we turn into the Ohio for 60 some miles to the Tennessee River and Kentucky Lake. Our journey continues down to the "Tenn-Tom Waterway" and eventually Mobile, Al. Hurricane season should be over and winter season starting. With a cruise along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Florida panhandle, we set our sites on the Florida Keys.  The line cutting through Florida is a short route through Lake Okeechobee to the east coast which we do not plan on doing.  Early spring we start our travels up the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway and back to Philadelphia. This route is only possible because of the brilliant engineering to connect the waterways through lakes, rivers, man-made canal cuts and hundreds of locks which raise and lower vessels throughout the waterway.  This is our travel plan. It started as a dream (how could we do this) then a goal(buy the boat), and a commitment to learning as much about the route, the boat and its many systems, navigation, maintenance, handling and most important, safety. I am so happy to be able to share our adventures with you. 

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