Dear Boat Doctor,

I am considering taking my boat from the Great Lakes to the East Coast next season. I can go out via the Erie Canal or the Saint Lawrence Seaway. What are the pros and cons?

Joe Warren

Sarnia, Ontario

Dear Joe,

You can explore a lifetime on the Great Lakes, but the Atlantic is alluring. I am not sure what your goals are. The answer may change if your target was Maine cruising versus staging to go to the Caribbean, so I will keep my opinion generic.

The Erie Canal is a great shortcut; you can get from roughly Buffalo to the Hudson River in under two weeks. You will need to take down your mast, so you need to allow the time and costs of this. On a 36-footer, I’d allow two to three days on each end. If you can prepare the boat before the mast removal and put everything back together on your own, I’d plan for roughly $1,000 on each end. If your boat is bigger or you need more help, the price will increase significantly.

There are no tolls on the Erie Canal in 2024, but costs can change.

The Canal can get monotonous. There are nice little towns and pretty countryside, but at the end of the day, it’s 350 miles, 34 locks, and a lot of that countryside looks the same.

Once you reach the Hudson River, you are two days from New York City. Once in the city, you can head out the Verrazano Bridge to the South or make a U-turn up the East River and reach Long Island Sound within a few hours. Either way, the Atlantic awaits.

The Saint Lawrence Seaway is a longer and more involved passage. First, you must transit the eight locks of the Welland Canal from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. The Saint Lawrence extends from Lake Erie to Montreal—a bit under 400 miles—with seven locks. From Montreal, it’s another 1,100 miles to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Halifax to New York City is almost 650 miles.

There is a $200 toll on the Welland Canal and a $30 to $40 per-lock toll for the St. Lawrence locks.

The good news is that you can leave your mast up, and that 2,100 mile trip goes through a beautiful area. Atlantic Canada and Maine compose some of the finest cruising in North America.

Ultimately, the choice gets down to time and where you want to cruise. If you have the time and the aspiration to explore Atlantic Canada and the Northeast of the U.S., take the St. Lawrence. The Erie Canal is your best bet if you are making a mad dash for the Chesapeake or the Islands.

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