Don Street writes:
“... Braving the Bergs
Some boats, after leaving the
Caribbean,
head for the United States, run up the
ICW to Norfolk, sail coastwise to
Nova Scotia, then
head across the Atlantic. Others head north from
Bermuda to
Nova Scotia and across. For these boats, I recommend a coastwise
cruise from
Halifax to the Bras d'Or lakes and on to St.-Pierre and Miquelon, just south of
Newfoundland, which produce the best French bread in all of North America. That, the excellent wine and cheese, and the duty-free
beer make St.-Pierre and Miquelon a worthwhile stop for those doing the extreme northern
route. And from there to Mizzen Head,
Ireland, at 150 miles a day, it's only 12 days!
A study of the pilot
charts for May, June, and July, checking for gale frequency, wave heights, and ice conditions, reveals that the last week in June is the optimal time to embark on the northern
route from Nova Scotia. By that time, the ice problem is minimal, you have almost 24 hours of daylight, gales are few and far between, and you should have a following breeze all the way across.
When sailing this route,
monitor two things carefully: ice and
Race Rock, which is off Cape
Race,
Newfoundland. Ice reports can be obtained from the Canadian Ice
Service (
http://ice-glaces. ec.ca) or the U. S. Coast Guard International Ice Patrol (
www.uscg.mil/lantarea/iip). With
GPS, you can avoid Race Rock. In 1975, a D.R. plot I made in an area much rougher than the amount of
wind would indicate put us close to Race Rock, which I thought was about 15 to 20 feet down. I later discovered that Race Rock was only 9 feet down. Obviously, we shouldn't have gone anywhere near Race Rock.
When sailing the northern route, I strongly recommend taking a pause on the southwestern coast of Ireland. Crookhaven is a wonderful place to enjoy the rewards of a well-timed
Caribbean exit ...”
➥
Caribbean Exit Lines | Cruising World