# Sailing from New York City to Montreal ... how long?



## Frag (Sep 7, 2012)

Hi guys,

I am looking for someone who did the trip. How long would it take to navigate a sailboat from New York City to Montreal thru the Hudson River, up to the Champlain Lake, up to the Richelieu to finish the trip by the St-Lawrence river?

I am looking for information for that trip on the net, but I am new to the sailing scene and do not really know where to look for that kind of info.

Thanks in advance!


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

I am going to move this thread to a more appropriate forum area so that people will see it.


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## Ulladh (Jul 12, 2007)

My 20ft boat went from Cape May to Montreal via Hudson, Champlain and the Richelieu with a previous owner in the 1980's. From the charts and receipts that came with the boat it took about 5 weeks, but I don't think he was in a hurry.

The deck mast step was damaged stepping the mast for the Richelieu and stayed damaged until I replaced it more than 20 years later.

The Richelieu can get rather shallow, check the latest charts and Parks Canada Parks Canada - Chambly Canal National Historic Site - Chambly Canal National Historic Site


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## eherlihy (Jan 2, 2007)

There is an excellent post on getting to lake Champlain in a Passport 40 here

Read it, study it, do it, and post about it here!


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## hellosailor (Apr 11, 2006)

The navigation will take about 30 seconds, to draw the line on a gas station map.

Actually sailing the boat up--or powering it up--is something else again. IIRC the mean depth in the Richelieu is only 4.5 feet, so for many boats the answer is "ain't gonna happen".

And IIRC Champlain is a no discharge zone, if you've got a head aboard you'd better expect to secure it.

How long does it take to get from here to there? How long is a string? A lot will depend on what kind of boat, more will depend on the time of year. It could be a fun trip, or a good reason to rent a trailer.


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## caberg (Jul 26, 2012)

I'd have no interest in heading up the Richelieu, so unless you _need_ to get the boat to Montreal, maybe think twice.

However, as Lake Champlain is where I keep my boat, I can't say enough about how great it would be to sail the length of it. Tons of secluded anchorages and islands to explore, very scenic, good marinas for resupplying. I'd actually go in September if I had my choice when the water is still warm, the winds are generally good, and the vast majority of people are gone.

Lake Champlain is roughly 120 miles in length, so it can be done relatively quickly, but at least a week would be my preference if I was trying to enjoy my time and explore a bit.


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## yossarian (Apr 29, 2012)

I took my boat through most of that route - I went from Cape May NJ to the northern edge of champlain where I live...

I did the whole trip in weekends, so you could do a lot faster than I did but here was my itinerary:

Weekend 1:
Day 1- Cape May NJ to Atlantic City.
Day 2- Atlantic City to Manasquan Inlet.
Day 3- Manasquan inlet to the Tappan Zee Bridge.
Parked the boat at a marina there for a week
Weekend 2:
Day 1- Tappan Zee bridge to Hyde Park.
Day 2- Hyde Park to Catskill
Spent the last half of Day 2 dropping and securing the mast, left the boat in Catskill for the week.
Weekend 3:
Day 1: Catskill to Lock 4
Day 2: Lock 4 to Whitehall
Left boat at Whitehall marina for the week
Weekend 4:
Day 1: Spent the morning stepping the mast, then Whitehall to somewhere near Mt. Independence.
Day 2: Mt. Independence to Malletts Bay
Day 3: Malletts Bay to St. Albans bay (home). 

So if you were able to do it in one push, you could cut a couple days off that and it would take you all the way to the head of the Richleau. Since you'd have to drop mast for both canals and the lake can be transited in 2 long days, it's not worth putting the mast back up - just motor up the lake...


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