Questions about Sailing Routes in the North Atlantic

Norway to the Chesapeake Bay (02/2008)

Question [edited for brevity]: I'm planning to sail from south Norway in mid-June in my Oceanis 46, hoping to arrive in the Chesapeake Bay by the beginning of August. The crew will be 5 to 6 relatively experienced sailors. Presently I’m looking at routing via Færoe and Iceland, then across to Newfoundland and then coastal. My idea is to be on the northern side of east-moving lows so as to get fair winds. I have excluded the southern option due to the risk of hurricanes even though it is relatively early in the season. I would appreciate your opinion on my route selection.

Answer: I think that, assuming a mid-June departure, you are wise to avoid the southern route with the early hurricanes we are seeing these days. However, the route you are planning will in all likelihood be a rugged one with lots of head winds, at least one or two gales and then fog and ice on the Grand Banks. You should only take this on if you are really confident in your crew’s and your boat’s ability to withstand these conditions.

Your strategy of staying north of the lows may or may not work, depending on their then-prevailing tracks, which are in turn generally dependant on the position of the jet stream. My guess would be that, unless you are very lucky, you will spend much of the trip beating, particularly during the last half.

Also, be very careful that, in your effort to avoid westerly winds, you don’t get any closer than say 150 miles to Cape Farewell (the south tip of Greenland). If you go any closer, you risk getting caught in dangerous wind and sea conditions caused by the crush zone between the stationary Greenland high and an Atlantic depression. It is also likely that at that time there will be pack ice extending as much as 75 miles south of the Cape.

In summary, the trip you are planning can certainly be done and has been done, but it will not be easy or pleasant. Also, I’m no expert on the Oceanis 46, but you need to be sure the boat and its gear is designed to take that kind of a beating.

How about leaving say 4 to 6 weeks earlier—I would want to be safely in the Chesapeake Bay by early July at the latest—and taking the southern route south of the Bermuda-Azores high pressure system? The south route at nearly 5000 miles is 1500 miles longer than the north, but I’m not sure it would take much longer since, if you play the high right, you will have fair winds most of the way. It’s sure to be a lot more pleasant.

The other option is to go north, but break the trip down into smaller hops, that can be timed for weather windows, by stopping in Greenland and Labrador. However, this option is very much dependent on the ice in Prins Christians Sund (to avoid rounding Cape Farewell close aboard), which does not usually clear until well into July. Also, even though the hops are short, it is a trip that can be tough too. The last time we did it east to west, we had a real dusting after leaving Greenland bound for Labrador and then a lot of weather to deal with getting south. If you decided to take this option, as well as making sure your boat can take the conditions offshore, it would be a good idea to be equipped and experienced to deal with anchoring and using shore-fasts to withstand storm conditions in remote anchorages with poor holding.

Timing, Caribbean to Europe (02/2008)

Question: What is the best time of year to sail from the Caribbean to Europe?

Answer: Due to the earlier hurricane seasons of the last few years, you really don't want to be out in the western North Atlantic any time after early July. So you probably want to leave the Caribbean for Europe in May. Of course, the amount of time the passage will take will depend on a number of factors including how fast your boat is, how strong a crew you have, weather conditions, how long you wish to stop in Bermuda and the Azores (if at all), etc.

For further information, I suggest the RCC Pilotage Foundation's Atlantic Crossing Guide and/or Jimmy Cornell's World Cruising Routes. Jimmy's site Onpassage is a good resource too.
 

North Atlantic Crossing, East to West  (01/2008)

Question: [Edited for Brevity] I’m planning an east to west crossing via the northern route from the UK to Canada. Ideally I would like to do this in August or September and without stops. My boat is a Hallberg Rassy 46. What do you think?

Answer:
I would strongly recommend against this passage, at that time of year. The distance from Scotland to Newfoundland direct is 1700 miles. Since it is likely to be mostly to windward with plenty of heavy weather I’m guessing that in your 46 foot boat it will take you at least 17 days and maybe more. In August or September your chances of getting hit by an extra-tropical storm—a hurricane that has turned into a huge and powerful mid-latitude storm as it tracks north—with nowhere to run to are unacceptably high.

If you must take this route non-stop, I would suggest a June departure to reduce the above risk. Even then, it will be a tough trip with the added sting of ice bergs and fog when you get to the Grand Banks.

The other option would to make the trip in short hops via Faroe, Iceland and Greenland. This trip has substantial challenges of its own and is about 500 miles longer but has the advantage that if an extra-tropical storm does develop, you can hole-up to let it go by. If you decide on this option, you still want to plan it so that you will be in Newfoundland before the end of August when the weather in the North Atlantic takes a substantial turn for the worse.

Autumn Crossing of the North Atlantic (10/2007)

Question: I am planning a west to east North Atlantic crossing and have read that most yachts leave in May and June. What about leaving in mid-September or early October? Is that still a possibility? Ideally I would like to cross from St. John’s, Newfoundland to Britain.
 

Answer: We don’t recommend autumn crossings of the northern North Atlantic. While it has been done—in one case by a 78 year old man in a 32-foot boat, albeit with a stop in the Azores—the bottom line is that most people do it in the early to mid-summer because that is the best time. (See the bottom of this page for some thoughts on summer crossings.)

Having said that, this question has come up a couple of times lately so I’m going to write at some length about why we feel this way.

One glance at the pilot charts will show that the gale frequency goes up dramatically in that part of the world once September 1st comes. But these charts do not really communicate the size and intensity of storms that start to appear in the autumn. Over the last 15 years I have often been working my way south from Newfoundland or even Labrador or Iceland when September came. During those trips I spent a lot of time hunkered down in snug anchorages listening to the wind scream in the rigging and looking at some pretty scary weather maps showing huge low pressure systems generating gale and storm force winds covering the entire Atlantic from Newfoundland to Ireland. The really nasty systems are often the result of a hurricane that has gone extra-tropical as it tracks north—if you want to know what that feels like, read The Perfect Storm by Sebastian Junger.
 

While the wind speeds in these storms are pretty impressive, what really makes them dangerous is the waves that their size and duration are capable of producing. Significant wave heights of 20 to 30 feet are common and the latest research indicates that this means there are 40 to 60 foot monsters around in such a storm. It was a storm like this in September of 1995 that generated a wave close to 100 feet high that hit the liner QE2, doing substantial damage, including bending the rails on the bridge—not a survivable encounter in most yachts.

Since it is difficult to predict the weather accurately for more than two to three days and the crossing from Newfoundland to Ireland will probably take close to two weeks, a yacht and crew contemplating a fall crossing should plan for and be capable of surviving storm force winds and huge breaking seas for several days. Based on my observations over the years, my guess—and it is only a guess—is that once September 1st comes the likelihood of encountering such conditions on such a voyage are better than 30 percent—not odds that we fancy much.

There is one arguably safer option, which is to break the crossing into smaller legs that will fit into relatively good weather windows by stopping in Greenland, Iceland, Faroe and Shetland. However, only yachts experienced and equipped to deal with the challenges of Arctic cruising, including surviving storm and perhaps even hurricane force winds in remote anchorages with poor holding, should consider this option in the fall. Also, stopping at these landfalls, if it coincides with heavy weather, could be even more dangerous than staying at sea. This is particularly true of the south cost of Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Sailing From Halifax to Bermuda in the Autumn (10/2007)

Question: I just brought my 34-foot sailboat down the Saint Lawrence to Nova Scotia, and I'm considering making the passage to Bermuda in November and then continuing further south for the winter. I've been hearing all kinds of differing opinions about the safety of heading out from Halifax in November, and I thought you could offer an experienced perspective. The boat is a well looked after double ender with cutter rig, storm sails, self-steering, etc. My experience with the weather systems in the North Atlantic is minimal, so any advice you have to offer is greatly appreciated.
 

Answer: This is a hard question to answer without knowing more about your boat, your own offshore experience and the strength and experience of your crew, if any. What I can say is that an autumn trip to Bermuda can be tough. The window is small (and sometimes nonexistent) between the end of the hurricane season and when the winter storms really get going. Add the Gulf Stream to that mix with its potential to generate mountainous breaking seas and violent squalls and you have a passage that should not be taken lightly.

For more information on the experience needed for the fall passage to Bermuda, see Crew Experience and Training.

If you do decide that you and your boat are ready to sail to Bermuda, your next decision is the departure point. While plenty of safe and seamanlike passages are made from Nova Scotia to Bermuda in the autumn, you can make it a potentially easier passage by departing from Newport or even the Chesapeake Bay, even though the distance is about the same to Bermuda from all three ports. The reasons are as follows:

1. A departure from Nova Scotia puts you closer to the center of the really strong lows coming off Newfoundland.

2. Departing from Newport or further south brings the prevailing southwest winds on the beam rather than right forward.

3. Gales that track up the east coast of the US (northeasters) tend to intensify the further north they go, so the further south your track the better.

4. A Chesapeake Bay departure point has the added advantage that it is much closer to the north wall of the Stream, reducing the time needed for a boat to get south and east of it. Since the accuracy of weather forecasts drops off dramatically after 48 hours, the shorter the time to clear the Stream, the lower the chance of encountering un-forecast bad weather in it. This departure point also has the nice side effect of reducing your sailing time in cold weather.

Sailing From the BVI to the Chesapeake Bay in October (2007)

Question: We are bringing our Beneteau 411 from the BVI via the Bahamas to the Chesapeake Bay,  leaving the end of October. The first leg of the trip, from the BVI to the Bahamas, is going to be the two of us (my husband and I). From the Bahamas to the Chesapeake Bay we will pick up two other crews. Since this is going to be our first time open sea sailing, I need your advice about what the weather will be like. My husband believes that the two of us can handle the sailing to the Bahamas with no third person but  I am not quite sure about this and quite worried. Please advise.

Answer: There is nothing intrinsically hard about the route; in fact, you can do the whole thing in fairly short hops and the winds will be predominantly from behind you. Once you get to Florida, you can go up the waterway, with no offshore exposure at all, as long as you don’t draw too much water and your mast is not over 64' tall.

However, the timing is not the greatest. It will still be the hurricane season when you start off and you will be sailing toward winter. I would be particularly concerned if you plan to go outside Cape Hatteras, less so if you go inside.

Sailing From Maine to Ireland in June (2007)

I am a 46 year old professional in fairly good health and in good shape. I am wanting to reverse the steps of my great-great-grandfather, sailing from Belfast, Maine to Bantry Bay, Ireland. I plan to leave June 3rd, 2011. What is my best/safest route? What time frame should I use? I have calculated sailing/motoring at an average of 7 knots (I am planning to buy a Macgregor 26M)?

Answer: There are basically two options:

1. The Great Circle Route with possible stops in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. This is by far the shortest, but is likely to be much more stormy and very foggy. It also exposes you to ice risk. Given your inexperience, I would not recommend it. It does however have the advantage that if you need to, you can always bug out before even leaving North America since you will be close to land for the first few days.

2. A much longer route is via Bermuda and the Azores. However, it will be warmer with no ice risk and a much reduced chance of gales and no fog after the first couple of days. Also, if you need to after the first day or so, you can always bail out by going into a port on Cape Cod.

Seven knots is optimistic, very. I would guess that in the Macgregor, 3 to 4 knots average over a trans-Atlantic would be more realistic. Morgan’s Cloud is 56’ long and a fast boat, that has won her class twice in the Bermuda race, skippered by an experienced offshore sailor with a lot of ocean racing under his belt, but even so, short handed we generally only manage an average of 7 knots for a passage, and that with the help of a big inboard engine and a long range under power.
 

Sailing From Newfoundland to Europe via the Azores in June (2007)

Question: We would like to seek your advice on my next summer’s trip from Newfoundland to the Azores, then on to Europe. We left our boat in Newfoundland last year and plan to leave for Europe in June to avoid the hurricane season.
 

Answer: I have read over your plan and it looks to me like you have thought it all out well. Just a few things that may help:

1. I think your plan to leave in late June is good and will allow you to manage the hurricane risk well. Your risk of being overtaken by a hurricane, or extra-tropical storm spawned by a hurricane, would be much higher if you left it until late July or August. If your departure date is delayed for any reason, you should maintain flexibility and not push too hard to get to the Azores, particularly if a bad hurricane season is developing.

2. My strategy would be to wait for a cold front to go through and then leave St. John’s immediately after the wind swings into the northwest. This is usually a dry cold wind that will be clear of fog and give you good visibility to transit the area of ice bergs east of Newfoundland. It will also be a fair wind.

3. In late June there may be a high concentration of ice bergs on the Grand Banks and so I would plan to heave-to for the hours of darkness for the first 2 to 3 nights. The bright spot is that the nights are very short in June.

If you are delayed until later in the season, the way to manage the hurricane risk is to stay much further north, heading for Scotland. You must even be willing to postpone the whole trip until 2008 if a bad hurricane season develops that prevents you leaving St. John's with a clear window for the 10 to 12 days you will need to get to Scotland.

The other advantage of the northern route is that if an unexpected hurricane forms in the south you can head due north to get clear of it and stay in the safe semi-circle, or even stop in Greenland or Iceland to let it go past. This route will, of course, expose you to a higher risk of gales and easterly winds, but better that than a hurricane.

To try and manage the risk of headwinds, carefully track the eastbound lows coming off the North American coast and alter course to stay south of the centers so that you stay in westerly winds, even if they reach gale force.

As little as 10 years ago, none of this would have been an issue until well into August, but with the warmer water temperatures in the Atlantic, the windows for safe crossings are getting dramatically smaller at both ends of the hurricane season. I think to be safe we must all learn to be more flexible and alter, or even cancel, our plans to suit the season.

Sailing From the UK to Boston via the North in June (2006)

Question: I wondered if I could seek your advice on a trip that has been suggested to me but that I have serious reservations about: Sailing from the UK to Boston, leaving around the end of May, taking the North Atlantic route. The skipper seems to be under the impression that we will have easterly winds en route but my pilot books don't back this theory up. They say we'll have it cold and on the nose most of the way. What about the ice? Satellite images show there's more of it about every year.
 

Answer: You and the pilot charts are correct. If you head directly across from the UK to the USA you will have head winds most of the way as you will be on the track of low pressure systems crossing the North Atlantic. Most will pass north of you, first giving SW winds and then NW after the frontal passage. At least one or two gales would be par for the course. You will also be in the ice zone as you cross the Grand Banks off Newfoundland. Fog will be likely for the last third of the voyage. All in all, it’s going to be a tough cold passage that only strong boats and crews should attempt.

To get downwind sailing you need to get under the Bermuda/Azores high, getting into the NE trades, by sailing way south past the Canary Islands and the Cape Verde Islands before turning west at about 20N. Once almost at the Eastern Caribbean you can turn north past Bermuda and head for the US northeast coast. This is a MUCH longer, but much nicer, trip. BUT, you will have to be VERY careful of early season hurricanes on this route. Ten years ago, I would not have worried until around 15th July, but with the warmer water we are seeing now, nasty storms are starting in June and even May.

I must be honest here, I would have real reservations about going to sea with someone who is wrong about such basic issues affecting the contemplated voyage. It shows a scary lack of planning that may have manifested itself in other areas such as boat preparation.
 

Sailing From France to Tortola in the Autumn (2006)

Question: I have an opportunity to sail from France to the Canaries to Tortola,  leaving the end of September through October. What can I expect from a weather perspective based on your experience? My assumption is we will be in the area of hurricane formation (eastern Atlantic) for the first week then right in the middle of the area where storms build to hurricane force for the last 10 to 14 days. Would that be your assessment? Are there any other things I should know about a trans-Atlantic?
 

Answer: Our major concern with the plan you have outlined is that you will be sailing during the worst of the hurricane season. A suggestion would be to cross Biscay in early September and then hang out in Spain, Portugal, and the Canaries until mid-November at the earliest before setting out for the Caribbean. With the water in that part of the world as warm as it is these days I would not want to be anywhere near the Caribbean before December 1st at the earliest and would be happier with Christmas. That means not leaving the Canaries until the end of November.

If you do go earlier, you might manage the risk by ducking way south if you see something coming and then making landfall somewhere south of the hurricane belt, e.g. Trinidad. Having said that, Grenada was supposed to be safe and the South Atlantic had its first hurricane last year.

Other than that, enjoy! Our trans-Atlantic passage was wonderful: a following wind, day after day of sunshine—it don't get no better than that!

For information on this topic from someone who really knows what he's talking about (we've only done one southern trans-Atlantic though we have done a number of northern ones), visit www.noonsite.com, Jimmy Cornell's site.
 

Sailing the North Atlantic Circle via Iceland (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?

Answer: You could do the circle via Iceland in June to September but you will be pushing the season hard on both ends. It will be a tough trip and you should plan for at least a couple of gales at sea. I would not attempt it without considerable ocean voyaging experience and a boat that has been fully tested in severe conditions offshore. The big challenge with the above route is getting around Cape Farewell without getting hammered by a late summer storm or worse still, a hurricane that has gone extra-tropical.

There is another option that leaps to mind. How about a passage to Bermuda in late May or early June. Stay in Bermuda for a couple of weeks. Then passage from Bermuda to Nova Scotia in mid-June. Cruise Nova Scotia and/or Newfoundland in July and August. Return home via Maine in September. If you do all of the above along with a circumnavigation of Newfoundland, you will have 5000 to 6000 miles on the log with some ocean work by the time you get home. However, you can be flexible and, say, cut out Newfoundland if you find you want to move more slowly.

Sailing From Newfoundland via Greenland to the Azores (2005)

Question: We plan to sail from St. John’s, Newfoundland mid-June straight to Sisimiut, Greenland direct, if possible. From there spend July and August sailing slowly to Cape Farewell from where we plan to leave bound for the Azores. Any comments?

Answer: The passage to Greenland is perfectly doable in mid-June as long as you don't go to sea until you can be sure not to tangle with the ice of the Middle Pack half way across the Labrador Sea.

It's being so late to leave Greenland and heading for the Azores that really worries me. Beth and Evans of S/V Hawk (see www.bethandevans.com) made going to the Arctic "on the way" to South America work by starting very early from Europe and being out of Iceland by, if my memory serves, late July. They also went straight to the Canaries, thereby getting out of harm’s way. Starting from the west you don't have these options.

You will be crossing storm alley at just about right angles with nowhere to hide right at the worst part of the hurricane season. What happens is that hurricanes go extra tropical as they pass Nova Scotia and then track south of Cape Farewell. These can be some of the largest and most fearsome storms in the world (“The Perfect Storm" was one). They are huge; potentially producing storm force winds from Newfoundland to Ireland and Bermuda to Greenland.

In 1995 a series of these went through starting late August and lasting well into October. Willy Ker, author of the cruising guide to Greenland and no shrinking violet, got trapped in Greenland and finally left his boat there and flew home. We were in Labrador (having crossed from Greenland via Baffin) tied to trees and rocks with one storm after another screaming overhead, looking at some of the scariest weather faxes I have ever seen. But at least we could coast hop all the way back to Maine.

If you must do this, make sure you have the charts for Iceland, Faeroe and Scotland (and the Faeroe tide information) so that you can bug out by transiting Prins Christians Sund and crossing in hops to Europe and then on to the Canaries.

However, even with this plan, you should be away from Greenland by August 20th and out of Iceland by the end of August at the latest and only that late if you will island hop east. We left Reykjavik too late on Sept 1st in 1997 bound direct for Scotland. We were lucky, getting in 12 hours before a Force 10 that lasted 4 days. And that after a miserable heavy weather trip with the wind on the nose.

Sorry to throw so much cold water around, but better me than a Force 10 storm!
 

The Middle Pack (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.

Answer: The "Middle Pack" is the tongue of ice that reaches down from Baffin Bay into Davis Strait and sometimes as far as the Labrador Sea. In early July it could easily lie on your rhumb line course from Cartwright to Disko. Also, as I'm sure you know, the ice may not even let you get to Cartwright that early. It is even possible, if it is a very bad year like 1991, that you won't be able to transit the Strait of Belle Isle that early, assuming that you are planning to go up the west coast of Newfoundland. We normally leave it until a bit later (say mid-July) to head for Greenland for just these reasons. Having said that, if you get a good ice year you will have more time in Greenland by leaving early.

One thought would be to leave from say Battle Harbour or a little further north and head for Nuuk or even further south on the Greenland coast. This has several advantages: it takes you further away from the Middle Pack, lets you cross "Ice Berg Alley" off the Labrador coast at the narrowest place, and means that your approach to Greenland will likely be ice free until the last 50 miles or so. You could then coast north to Disko without much worry about ice in most years. By the time you are ready to leave Greenland, the Middle Pack should be further north, so you could sail from Disko to Labrador, making landfall at say Saglek. We did something close to this in '95 returning from Uummannaq Fjord via Baffin, Hudson Strait and Labrador, and it worked great, although the gale frequency goes up dramatically Sept 1st.

Sailing From Newfoundland to Iceland (2005)

Question: Is heading from the Strait of Belle Isle towards a point about 200 miles south of Cape Farewell, then heading towards Reykjavik, a practical strategy given your experience with wind, weather and ice?

Answer: I have never sailed to Iceland without stopping in Greenland, so have no experience with this strategy. I think you are wise to give Cape Farewell a wide berth. The tough part might be after you round Cape Farewell and head north, when you may get on the wrong side of a low and have some pretty miserable weather on the nose. Either way I would want weather fax on board to watch the lows coming through and try to get on the right side of them. Also, give the southeast coast of Greenland a wide berth since it could very easily become a lee shore in a northeaster if a low stalls in Denmark Strait. On the bright side, July is about the best weather all year and if the fun really went out of the trip you could always crack off for Ireland or Scotland.

To return to the page you came from, please use your browser's back arrow.