Posted on November 21, 2010.
Is it possible to take the Mississippi River, Iowa Dubuque in the Gulf of Mexico in a 23ft boat? I live in Chicago and I'm not sure about makin Lake Michigan, but im only 1.5 hours from Dubuque. I have a 23ft boat and want to take a trip in the Gulf of Mexico. Can it be done?
Yes, it is technically possible but I'm not sure I recommend it. Above St. Louis you would go through locks. Below St. Louis there is no lock - only the barges and Huger to prevent you from practicing.
BTW, you can boat from Lake Michigan to the Gulf. It is part of the waterway of the large circle. The circle route is a navigable waterway in the eastern half of the United States that for the most part is in protected waters so that it is safe for small boats (although "small" in this case may be a little longer than 24 '). In general, understands more than 6,000 miles status, oceans, lakes, rivers and canals, dozens of locks, and takes about six months for most manufacturers shift to fill. In Chicago, you must enter the sanitary Calumet bypass which connects Lake Michigan, Illinois. The river empties into the Mississippi north of Illinois in St. Louis. I sailed north of the waterway of the Tennessee-Tombigbee in Alabama (the Tenn-Tom is in the Gulf at Mobile) through the Kentucky Lake, then to Ohio, then north on the Mississippi Alton, IL. It was a 34 'Sundancer and we have done over the high water (lots of iron in water) upstream with a crew of 3, 2 of them were experienced sailors. over a hunter with a car on the shore of the entire route (sometimes we had to carry fuel for the boat in areas where there were no marinas, esp on the Ohio). Cell phones do not always work for us because we were on the river, but we managed. We also had a radio (useful for locks) and good graphics.
On the other hand a few years ago, I read the story of a canoe trip from the source of the Mississippi in Minnesota at New Orleans. He traveled alone and left the river to St. Louis for some time to recover, I suppose, then continued his journey southward.
by type of boat, i don, t see why not. Are you smart enough to handle a boat? there, s lots of big ships on the River.
