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Delancey · 12-06-2014, 13:31

New York to Falmouth in July, opinions sought. All responses appreciated.

If I have it correctly, a common approach is to make up the coast to somewhere off Mistaken Point, Newfoundland, before hopefully being able to pick good weather to make the jump across the Labrador Current, then making way northward to 50N and before heading due East. Maybe I have it wrong, you tell me.

Accepting the vagaries of the weather and their influence on decisions of the moment, I have a couple questions I hope you will indulge me in-

My understanding is that a more inshore route is preferable than a more southerly one because it is more direct and because any potential benefit from chasing the Gulf Stream can just as easily be negated by eddies? Also, a more southerly route means having to make more northing later on when it might not be desirable to do so?

I have read some who suggest a passage inside LIS and through the CCC is favorable but my sense is to go well enough offshore and stay there. Does anyone have a solid reason for or against going outside of Nantucket?

Assuming your route is well enough offshore, is there any reason to go so far as off shore as to be outside of Sable Island?

Once you are in the vicinity of Mistaken Point, just exactly what weather are you hoping to pick to make the jump across the Labrador Current? My sense is that cooler north winds will diminish the presence of fog, which brings me to my next question…

July is supposed to be like the worst month for fog on the Grand Banks. I have no idea what this means but it makes me wonder if a southern route could be taken to avoid it? I am not sure if the fog lies strictly at the interface of the Labrador Current and the Gulf Stream, or if it is broader and more regional in its scope?

Lastly, once you step off for the home stretch, any thoughts besides that the center of the low is to you left when the wind is at your back?

Thanks!

Delancey · 13-06-2014, 12:08

Or am I totally missing the mark on this one?

If I were out there today making for a point well south of the ice limit, I would be heading to 40N and 40W before I started to turn north, practically all the way to the Azores. That would be great because I would be skirting the low that is right in the middle.

The problem is that low is sitting there parked because it's stalled by the high that is extending all the way to the British Isles. Then what? Light or no wind the rest of the way?

We'll see what it looks like in three weeks time.

I have to say, having been watching the North Atlantic for a couple months now, and as someone who is for the first time contemplating an transoceanic passage, the weather really seems like a crap shoot.

Expecting to be able to make route changes on fly with assuredly positive results seems dubious to me, seems like a better strategy is to be make sure you are prepared to hack it if you get beat up, or not go there at all.

BTW, I think I have figured out it's a bad year for ice. Practically had to go all the way back to march of last year to find ice this far south in the Ice Patrol Chart archives. By this time last year the ice was well to the north.