[stevej37]

I know next to nothing about sailboats, but I used to know a guy (thru work) that lived in Tawas City on Lake Huron. He owned a 24? ft. sailboat with a strong engine.
He told me that every summer he would sail from Tawas to Phoenix and back. He would do that while his wife was working there to visit her.
I asked him if he went up the St Lawrence and around and he said no..that way takes too long.
He would go up thru Lake Huron and down Lake Michigan to Chicago. Take the river over to the Mississippi and down to the Gulf of Mexico. From there to the Panama Canal and then up the California Bay to some river that ends up near Phoenix.
He said he always took one person with him...he said it's not safe on the Mississippi alone.

I was tempted to volunteer as that person.

He also said that sometimes the wait at the Canal was days. There can be a log jam of small boats waiting to tag along with the big freighters. They only allow a couple with each ship.