I can't seem to find any info on going from the Oswego canal to Lake Ontario, through the Wellan canal to Lake Erie to cleveland.  Our boat is too tall to go all the way through the Erie canal.   Any help appreciated!

Not low enough that it should be of any issue for 99% of leisure craft (including sailing vessels), the St. Lawrence seaway is a full deep-water class comercial waterway, with its own vessel class: Seawaymax (as [New] Panamax is to the Panama Canal and Souezmax is to the Souez; i.e. the largest vessel dimensions that can navigate via the given waterway). A Seawaymax vessel may navigate all wayerways from the North Atlantic as far as Deluth, MN.

The specs for Seawaymax are:

Air Draft (Height above waterlevel): 35.5M (116ft)

Draft:7.92M-8.08M (25ft 11.8in - 26ft 6.1in) *Multiple sources differ on this.

Length: 225.6M (740ft)

Beam: 23.8M (78ft)

Note:This is the bounding box for the maximum sized vessels that are able to traverse the St. Lawrence Seaway Locks. Stretches before, between, and after the locks are therefore able to support even larger vessels (although, in the case of a larger vessel between two locks, it would obviously be trapped). Furthermore, Lake Freighters: vessels which only travel within the Great Lakes Waterway, are often built larger than this, but therefore are contained within the lakes. There is no specific spec for Lake Freighters, as the ships are generally purpose built to either remain within a single Lake, or move between a specific subset of Lakes, and because, since the St. Lawrence Seaway has tighter bounds than the entirety of the Great Lakes Waterway, the vessel is intended to remain waterlocked within the Lake system.

 

SO TO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION: 35.5 Meters / 116 Feet would be the height restriction (from water level to top of mast [or bridge, antennae, etc.])

 

This is obviously a nominal height, extrapolated from the upper quartile of yearly maximum recorded water levels, rather than the absolute. Since we are dealing with an inland waterway, particularly a northern waterway which is highly influenced by seasonal snow-melt, during certain seasons, the actual clearances in some areas are likely a few to several feet higher. In addition, during extreme periods of flooding (usually caused by rapid snow-melt in conjunction with unusually high rainfall), it is possible that actual clearance could be reduced by a few feet. However, this would be extremely rare (like once in a century, rare). The maximum height for spec is a fair amount lower than actual, since many shipping lines will build their vessels to the outer bounds of the spec in order to increase efficiency.

On a side note, one thing to consider when taking this waterway, is that it is a heavily trafficked comercial canalway. Comercial vessels have almost always possess right-of-way over private vessels, in all but a very few select circumstances, so the normal right-of-way rules will not always apply, and a tanker will often not even attempt to stop or maneuver out of your way if you are within its lane, so it can be a stressful journey. Comercial vessels also have priority when it comes to using the locks and the bridges. Those vessels are usually on a pre-determined schedule, and as they are often built to maximum dimensions, it means that you're often not going to fit behind one within a lock (depending on the size of your vessel; If you can fit, you'll likely need to pull in sideways and tie up to the ship, something that can delay schedules and often is not allowed). That means waiting until there happens to be a break in the schedule, sometimes hours before you get your turn, or going during an off-peak season when there are alloted slots for smaller vessels. The same goes for bridges, as they will only open for pre-determined amounts of time, usually just long enough for a ship to pass. Anchorages can be difficult to find as well, as the few that exist are generally reserved for comercial traffic- however, there are plenty of overnight docks (but expect to pay nearly what a hotel would cost, especially if you want dock power and water or pump-out). Finally, I assume anyone taking this route would go in the summer, but for anyone thinking about doing it in wintertime, while it may be possible with a steel hulled vessel, the ice can build up thick, and even with regular ice-breaking, the flows can be dangerous- large and thick enough to crack a fiberglass hull if you're going over 3 Knots, and enough to destroy Gel-Coat at any speed. Ice can form as early as October (although usually Nov/Dec), and may still be present into late May or even June in some spots (but it is usually gone by mid-May).

 

Best of Luck!

 

**Of another note: The Champlain Canal is only open to non-Comercial traffic between Memorial and Labor day, and has a minimum depth of around 6ft. I spoke with a lock operator when planning a trip a few years ago, and he recommended against taking any fixed hull sailboats up it (so only a centerboard). Would also need to take the mast down.

***I may be mistaken, but last I checked, the Western Erie Canal was no longer in continous operation (i.e. some of the locks no longer function, and only sections of it are open). About 15 years ago, I drove past some sections that had been completely drained as well, although I believe that was for repairs. So make sure to check that. I can't see bringing a fixed hull sailboat or one with any mast (besides maybe a sunfish) down the Eirie either. I know for a fact that certain lift bridges on the Western section are no longer functioning.

Any height restrictions on the the longest route traveling from the south is along the northeast Atlantic coast sailing past the spectacular sites of Nova Scotia?

Thanks.