North Atlantic Circle Via Iceland

by John May 18, 2005

Question: Next May we are taking our new (old) boat on a shakedown to Bermuda and back (our home port is Deltaville, VA, on the southern Chesapeake Bay). After that, we’ve been imagining a summer voyage in the Atlantic, maybe Azores-Ireland-Iceland-Canada-Chesapeake. My question is, is there a good route strategy for this trip?

What Is The Middle Pack?

by John May 18, 2005

Question: I am planning a passage from Cartwright, Labrador to Disko Bay in Greenland leaving about July 1st. You wrote that I should watch out for the ‘Middle Pack’, please explain.

Trans-Atlantic Singlehanded

by John August 1, 2007

Question: I’m at a point in my life when it’s time to live the dream that I’ve had since childhood and that’s to sail across the Atlantic single handed. I’m a complete beginner to sailing. I’m currently doing a skipper’s course which will take me up to advanced cruising, coastal navigation and radio operation, although [...]

Coastal Overnights—They’re Tough But They Get The Job Done

by Phyllis November 18, 2008
It was hard to leave our favourite Maine anchorage at Somes Sound, Mount Desert Island, but chilly nights reinforced the message that it was time to go.

After spending much of the last four winters in Maine and Nova Scotia refitting Morgan’s Cloud, John and I agreed that a winter in the Bahamas would be just the ticket. So when the blazing fall colours and chilly temperatures of early October indicated that Penobscot Bay, Maine wasn’t going to remain the balmy summer [...]

Trans-Ocean Navigation

by John September 18, 2009
The chart shows various great circle (dotted orange) and rhumb line (solid gray lines). Counter intuitively, the curved courses are actually shorter. The difference between the two tracks is almost nonexistent on the Caribbean to US east coast passage; larger on the westbound trans-Atlantic passage; and very large on the eastbound trans-Atlantic passage, to the point that the great circle course takes you over land and the iceberg infested Grand Banks—a good reason to understand which type of course your GPS is using!

Question: We are crossing the Atlantic from the Canary Islands to St. Lucia. I found a large scale chart of the Atlantic (Imray Passage Chart 100). This single chart shows the entire Atlantic Ocean taking the earth’s curvature into account and therefore does NOT have a compass rose to help steer by. I am having [...]

Don’t Get Caught In The Gulfstream

by John October 18, 2009
Jenifer's Clark's Gulfstream chart

It’s the time of year when many cruisers turn their eyes south and start planning a fall passage to Bermuda. I started sailing to and fro between Bermuda and the U.S. East Coast some 35 years ago. Back then we often took lumps and did not even know why.

Watch Out For Whales—Part I

by Colin December 18, 2009
OVNI 435 Pèlerin with a friendly whale swimming close by.

Another race, another whale collision, yet again ending in the loss of a boat and injury to a whale. Thankfully no loss of life, although one day that may not be the case. What is happening out on the oceans? Pirates everywhere, climate change driven hurricanes, and now homicidal whales?

Watch Out For Whales—Part II

by Colin November 12, 2011
Lunge feeding humpback

Collisions with whales and dolphins are becoming an increasing concern for offshore cruisers, as I outlined in a previous post. But up until recently there has been no serious attempt made to quantify the level of actual collision events, or to plot their geographical distribution. Obviously, having some idea of where and when collisions might [...]