FLIGHT NORTH
Flight North must begin with our boat - she is a 2006 Monk 36 trawler yacht that is named FLIGHT because the name represents our flight (fleeing) from sailing and the Island Packet 38 sail boat we cruised the Chesapeake Bay on for 10 years. While sailing is a beautiful and wonderful way to travel on water, winds can be fickle and many times, not available. We came to realize our interest was in destinations and found ourselves motoring much of the time. This led us to the decision to look for a different style boat and a slow moving (6-8 knots) fuel efficient trawler fit the bill. In making the change we also decided we would give comfort and convenience a high place on the specification sheet.
FLIGHT is self contained with H&C water, two cabins each with toilet, a shower stall, refrigerator, air conditioning and heating system, propane cooking and a generator to provide AC power to run it all when we are on the water.
She is also well equipped with the latest GPS navigation electronics and VHF radios. Oh, and a T-V, stereo system and iPod. We like her a lot.
The voyage we are calling FLIGHT NORTH was conceived in the fall of 2006 as the boating season came to an end. For a long time we have discussed an extended period aboard our boat such as a winter trip to Florida or the Keys but then it occurred to us that it would be nice to spend summer in a cooler climate. Many cruisers take their boats to Maine in the summer and that had some appeal but we learned about a water route that is known as the “Little Loop” and encompasses parts of New York and Vermont as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.The route will take us from our home port of Rock Hall on Maryland’s Eastern Shore thru the C&D Canal to Delaware Bay and on to Cape May, NJ. We then plan to transit the New Jersey coast north to New York City and the Hudson River. Just above Albany at Troy is the entrance to the Erie Canal which will take us west to the junction of the Oswego River / canal and to the town of Oswego on the shore of Lake Ontario. We then will go northward crossing L. Ontario to Kingston and the entrance to the historic Rideau Waterway, a system of canals and locks that connect a chain of lakes and ultimately ENE to Ottawa, the capitol city of Canada on the shore of the Ottawa River. That river flows to Montreal where it joins the St. Lawrence River and Seaway. East on the St. Lawrence about 50 miles is the town of Sorel and there we will enter the Richelieu river and canal to the north end of Lake Champlain. After transiting the lake to the southern end we will enter the Champlain canal which will carry us back to the Hudson at the point we entered the Erie. All total we expect the FLIGHT NORTH to be about 1400 NM and roughly 2 months to complete.