It looks like I will find myself sitting somewhere on Lake Huron in
September with an interest in heading south for the winter. I'm
comfortable with big lakes, and with my boat, but this would be a
first for me. I seem to have three alternatives:

1. Haul the boat and go indoors for the winter, which is not without
its charms, but I don't need any advice on how to do that, as I have
been doing it for years.

2. Head for Chicago and run down some combination of the Mississippi
and Tenn-Tom River systems to reach the Gulf just at the end of
hurricane season.

3. Head for Oswego, down the canal, then some combination of offshore,
coastal, and ICW southwards fast enough to avoid freezing my tail
feathers.

Living just across Lake Ontario from Oswego, I know lots of people who
have made the east coast trip, but very few who have gone the central
route. That makes it kind of attractive to do something different by
heading down-river, but means I don't have anybody local to pump for
ideas. The other thing that makes it attractive is that I will be
coming back up the east coast anyway, so I'd cover more territory.

So I guess I'm asking two questions. What would the central route be
like at that time of the year for a 35 foot sailboat drawing 6 feet?
Which route would you pick and why?

Cheers,

Ryk