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sherwindu

lid wrote:

On Mon, 18 Feb 08, wa9zie wrote:
Can anyone tell me if it is possible to bring a small pleasure craft
down the Mississippi river from Minnesota to the Ohio River without
having a engine running ? (27ft boat with twins)
I am doing this for my grand daughter who is 10

After reading the replies so far, maybe I'm misreading your post.
Having said that.....

Frankly, I see no problem with your grand daughter's idea.
It's quite common for twin engine boats to troll all day long without
a engine, to save fuel. At trolling speeds you just don't need both.
But be ready to crank it up in case you need two to maneuver.

Rick

I hope that is what he meant to say. Having brought a 22 foot sailboat
down from Chicago to New Orleans, it would be highly dangerous to
not have power to maneuver out of the way of tow barges. You should
definitely stay on your side of the channel, especially on curves where
they might not see you until it is too late. They have very little steerage.

The other problem is avoiding shoals. If you couldn't maneuver around
them, you will be running aground endlessly. The channels are eratic and
you could easily be swept onto a shoal. I did see a bunch of kids going
down the river on a homemade raft and I don't know what happened to
them. By the way, I was not sailing, but under power with an outboard.
Certainly, locks would be unmanagable without engine power.

Sherwin