You enter the ICW at BonSecour Bay which is the SE corner of Mobile

If you have the range (fuel capacity) and the crew endurance for the

Joe, Sitting at my computer at 3 AM when I read your message; this is from memory but I know the inland route very well and have done it recently: Approximate distances: Chicago to Grafton, Illinois 335 miles (Illinois River) Grafton to Angelo's towhead 230 miles (Mississippi R.) Angelo's to Paducah, KY 52 miles (Ohio R.) Paducah to Iuka, MS 215 miles (Tennessee R.) Iuka, MS to Mobile Bay 452 miles (Tenn-Tom Waterway) Mobile Bay to Bon Secour ~ 35 miles (Mobile Bay ship channel) You enter the ICW at BonSecour Bay which is the SE corner of Mobile Bay. If you have the range (fuel capacity) and the crew endurance for the trip, you may cross directly from Mobile to Ft. Myers. That could take a couple of days and you would want to have a good weather window. A couple of years ago I was one of a crew of 3 crossing from Clearwater to Mobile @ ~7.5 knots max. It was not the smoothest trip; one of the crew became quite ill, and it was 54 hours duration. If you follow the ICW east from Mobile you will have protected waters to Carrabelle. I don't remember the distance. From Carrabelle it is about 175 miles to Clearwater and I think it is about another 100 miles to Ft. Myers, maybe a bit more. This summer I tool a boat from Clearwater to Kenosha and the distance in statute miles recorded by GPS was almost 2000 miles. A couple of things to remember: Distances on river charts are in statute miles. It may be useful to set your GPS to read in Statute miles instead of nautical miles. Always plan to arrive in daylight. Do not try to travel the inland waterways at night. Towboats do it but you shouldn't. Before venturing into the Gulf the prudent mariner always checks the weather. It is also wise to check the river conditions on inland waters. The amount of rainfall upstream can affect the depth and flow of the rivers. Spring flooding can make some rivers dangerous. This is especially true of the Mississippi, Ohio and Tombigbee Rivers. Summer and fall are good seasons for going south, but you don't want to get to Mobile Bay before about November because of the possibility of hurricanes or tropical storms. I have crossed the Gulf (from the FL panhandle to South FL) with a crew of only 2 and it is very tiring, especially in a slow boat. If I can answer any questions, please contact me. Louis Letson seanote@scottsboro.org