Hi
@Jonbabco,
Congratulations - the Ericson 35-3 is a great boat!
I purchased my 1987 35-3 last May in Shelburne, VT and delivered the boat from Lake Champlain to Maine, so I had a similar, somewhat shorter voyage. It took me three weeks to prepare myself and the boat, plan the route, and 13 days to make the 760nm journey (no night sailing). During my journey last June, I had to motor all the way down Lake Champlain, through the Champlain Canal, and then down the Hudson River, since the wind was out of the south. The mast was also down until Catskill, NY, since the bridges in the Champlain Canal are low and do not open. The first opportunity to really use the sails effectively was in New York Harbor. You will also have to motor through the Erie Canal with the mast down, so you should make sure that your engine is in excellent condition. Make sure that all of your instruments (engine and otherwise) work well and provide accurate data. You should also ensure that all belts, filters, alternator, impeller, heat exchanger, fuel lines, cutlass bearing, prop etc. are in great condition. If you did not do a mechanical survey during your purchase process, I would recommend you have one done before you leave. This is particularly important if the boat has been on the hard for the past three years. A full electrical audit would also be a good idea to see if there are any looming electrical issues. After 38 years, most boats have diverged widely from stock.
Boat-specific issues would probably be uncovered during a survey. If you did not do a survey during the purchase process, I would highly recommend having one done. The dorade vent box and anchor locker are common sources of wet decks and rot on an Ericson 35-3. At 38 years of age, any deck hardware is a potential source of water intrusion. Hopefully, you had the chance to do a sea trial to determine the condition of the running rigging, winches, and sails. It would also be a good idea to get a professional to inspect the standing rigging as you will likely be sailing quite a distance to get to western Lake Superior.
If the mast is not already down, label the wires at the terminal under the headliner near the mast so you can easily reconnect them correctly when you step your mast.
You will be going through many locks (12 in the Champlain Canal alone, 57 in the Erie Canal). I had never gone through locks before and it took about 4 locks to get the process down really well. Good, big fenders and a fender board will help protect the boat in the locks and rubber gloves will protect your hands from wall slime. We had two people and found the best approach was for each of us to have a boat hook with one person midships holding on to one of the lines dropping down from the top of the lock wall, pushing off fore or astern of the line as needed. The person at the helm can help maintain distance between the stern and the wall while shifting the boat into forward and reverse as needed to keep the boat parallel with the lock wall. We used the port wall of the lock so that prop walk would help pull in the stern in reverse and using the rudder in forward to help bring in the bow. If you have a third person, they can guard the bow. If this is your first time piloting a larger boat, you might want to practice landing in tighter quarters a bit as you may have company as you pass through the locks.
If you are going to be traveling at night, be sure that the boat is equipped for safe night sailing, including (red) lighting that does not ruin your night vision and perhaps AIS to avoid ships. You should also have a complete set of charts for the voyage on board in case you have electrical issues.
Four to six weeks may be optimistic to both prepare the boat and complete the journey as weather and conditions may not always cooperate. You should spend some time getting comfortable with the boat and learning about its systems.
All this being said, I thoroughly enjoyed my trip to Maine and was very impressed with the performance of the boat in a wide variety of sea and wind conditions. We routinely sailed at 7+ knots and hit 11.2 knots surfing in a following sea. It is a remarkably dry boat with only a couple instances of minor spray reaching the cockpit. You will certainly know the boat better by the end of the journey.
Good luck with your planning and preparation!
Dave