Canada…summer of 2023

CANADA, EH?

Lynn and I really enjoyed our trip to Lake Champlain last summer, so we decided that this year, we would push on into Canada.  The Chesapeake is very hot and humid in mid-summer, so we plan to leave July 9^th and return early in September. Roughly 60 days.

The route we’ve planned will take us:

• North to the top of the Chesapeake Bay
• East through the Chesapeake & Delaware canal
• South on the Delaware Bay to Cape May
• North along the NJ Coast to NY Harbor
• Up the Hudson River
• West on the Erie Canal
• North on the Oswego Canal to Lake Ontario
• Across Lake Ontario to the Thousand Islands
• North on the Rideau Canal to Ottawa
• East on the Ottawa River to Montreal
• South on the Richelieu (Chambly) Canal to Lake Champlain
• South through the length of Lake Champlain
• South on the Champlain Canal
• Back down the Hudson and home to the Chesapeake.

I’ve attached a link to a map of our route.  The map is interactive, so you can zoom in on it, and you can click on the little blue place markers for more info. Click on the blue hyperlink, then click on the map title to open the map: Interactive Route Map.

I estimate the distance to be about 1,250 miles – almost the same distance as a one-way trip to Key West. 

BUT IT’S GOING TO TAKE TWICE AS LONG, because of

• Restricted speed limits in the canals
• Transit times for over 100 locks!

We’re experienced with locks – we passed through 24 last summer, traveling up and down the Champlain Canal.  But this will take it to a whole new level.  Based on our experience last summer in the Champlain Canal, we allow ½ hour to transit each lock. So, imagine: 100 locks x ½ hour per lock = 50 hours.  One whole week of the trip is just lock transits!

We typically plan for 20 travel days to reach Key West, with a few stopovers along the way.  So, that trip typically takes about 30 days in total travel time.

We expect THIS trip to take almost 60 days, including 40 travel days. So twice the travel days to cover the same distance. 

I am going to have to learn to SLOW DOWN and enjoy the journey! 

Follow our travels at http://www.FreedomKeyWest2020http://www.freedomkeywest2020.com./.com.