Chesapeake to Newfoundland, when to leave?

[sully75]

I think I'm actually going to have everything in place next year for a long planned trip to Newfoundland.

My boat is in Baltimore. I'm wondering when the ideal time to leave is? I would hope to go straight from Cape May to Block Island. Probably spend a week or two around Boston and then make the jump.

Any idea when I should leave? Haven't had to ponder the details of this in a while but I'm assuming that you probably don't want to hit Newfoundland till at least June 1?

[GRIT]

Arrival in Nfld before July first is going to be a bit chilly, and foggy. But June is a good time to see icebergs.
Nova Scotia is nice in June, but I generally keep the espar working, at night, until July first. But a sleeping bag and a sweater will do too.

If you're going to Nfld, a stop in the Bras D'or, Cape Breton, is usually in order; and Sydney is the usual place to wait for a window to cross anyway. The Bras D'or Lakes is wonderful, and worth a month by themselves. But if you want to see much of Nfld, get there soonest, because summer is relatively short.

Have a great trip. Newfoundland is beautiful in summer.

There are several members of CF who live and cruise in Newfoundland, with luck, they'll chime in.

Cheers.
Paul.

PS, to answer your question, leave the chesapeake the first of May, assuming you have lots of time. Leave from Newfoundland Mid August to Sept first for an Oct arrival back in Baltimore. The trip south is usually best using frontal systems to get favourable winds for a speedy trip. Going south in the fall is quite nice, when you have 20 knots on the quarter, you can make good time with little fuss.

I've made the Cape Breton to Bahamas trip 7 times, and always leaving Halifax between Sept 15 and October 31. It's always been a great trip.

(5 trips single handed, on my Hughes 35, 2 trips with my wife, on my Corbin 39)

[hpeer]

Pretty much agree with the above. I have come back twice and too early....light wind on the nose the whole way.

Our next trip up will be up the Hudson and Erie Canal and down the St Lwrence.

[hpeer]

I would add nice places to visit include
Shelbourn.....a common canada landfall, nice village
Lunenburg.....you can tie up at the museum, between exhibits.
Halifax....great waterfront, and you can tie up right there. Cab or bus to Landfall navigation or North Sails.
Canso....take the inland route, sailing through a forest,
St Peters....the canal into Bras dOr...call ahead to see what days they are operating
Sydney....I used the North Sydney Yacht Club, OK, and closer to amenities I think. Some yach supplies available at Vernon dEon store.
Dingsall....near North end of Cape Breton if you are going up the West shore.
Louisburg.....SE center of Cape Breton huge redone fort, Williamsburg without the commercialism
St Pierre e Miquelon....try to be there on Bastile Day...need passports as it is part of France. Every other year there is a race from Halifax, quite crowded then.
Lewisporte .....it's a very nice marina with a decent marine store.
Mercers .....in Clarenville.....no reason to go there but it might be a good resource for some boat bits.

No bergs on the South shore, you need to go up the East Coast for that. Also for the whales, they follow the Caplin and can be quite rambunctious.

Not enough room to write all there is good to say.

I do recommend the cruising guides from Puffin Press for the whole area.

http://www.puffin-press.com

[AiniA]

We are also planning to go to Newfoundland and likely Labrador next summer. We are going to the Bristol Yachts 50th anniversary so will not be leaving Rhode Island until the 27th of June. We will go very quickly to Cape Breton (couple of overnights in there) and should be in southern Newfoundland by very early July. We will spend a month or so getting around the southern and eastern coasts of Newfoundland and have August for Labrador, unless we decide to skip the latter and spent more time in Newfoundland. We will return to Lake Ontario via the St Lawrence in early September. It is slow, but doable. We should keep in touch.

[sully75]

Sounds good!

[kerrydeare]

Originally Posted by sully75

I think I'm actually going to have everything in place next year for a long planned trip to Newfoundland.

My boat is in Baltimore. I'm wondering when the ideal time to leave is? ...

Both Peer and Quintana have pretty much "covered the waterfront" for you. I received much help from these folks during a 2010 cruise to the island.

One perhaps helpful rule about going east is to remember the old ships' rule: "One day out, three days back." This is less so perhaps in September and October but I would not want to be playing with the maritime weather in those months in the first place.

Calculate backwards from mid-July arrival, allowing for as many overnights (even multiple) and whatever repairs you can expect on your particular vessel.