PRACTICAL
and from there you can make a circuit of it,
either by looping north to Cayman, Jamaica
and the south coast of Cuba, or by heading
west round Cape Grace a Dios to the Bay
Islands of Honduras, Guatemala’s Rio Dulce
and the extraordinary ecosystems of the
world’s second largest barrier reef off Belize.
Inland on this route the remains of ancient
Mayan civilisations give way to the Aztecs of
Mexico, by which time you will be taking a free
ride from the burgeoning Gulf Stream as ittracks north-eastwards across the top of Cuba.
The classic routes on from the Caribbean
are via Bermuda, direct to the Azores or on to
the USA, the timings of which are governed
by the start of hurricane season. Aim to be in
Bermuda for June. If you have not tarried too
long in the eastern Caribbean an alternative is
to continue hopping along the coast to Puerto
Rico, the Dominican Republic, the Turks and
Caicos and the Bahamas before heading in
to the USA coast and connecting with the
Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) south of Cape
Hatteras. For deep draught yachts the choice
of stopping places on this route can be limited.
Whatever your draught, on the passage from
Puerto Rico to Grand Turk beware the Silver
Bank where depths go from several thousand
metres in the Puerto Rico Trench to 2m (6ft)
within a short space of time. Another option
is to explore the north coast of Cuba, which is
rapidly becoming a popular cruising ground.
Much of the Atlantic coast of America is
bordered by a wide and relatively shallow
continental shelf, which can mean confusedseas in bad weather. Strong northerly winds
also produce dangerous wind-over-tide
conditions in the Gulf Stream. The ICW, which
runs from Miami to Norfolk, offers a calmer
solution. There will be quite a lot of motoring
but it is possible to sail some sections, though
the draught can be shallow. If you are later than
planned, be aware that the ICW is not immune
to hurricane devastation and sections can be
closed for long periods after a storm.
Aim to arrive in Norfolk in late May or
early June to stay ahead of
the storms and have time to
enjoy the summer cruising
grounds further north. From
Norfolk you can meander up
the Chesapeake and back down the Delaware,
sail into the heart of New York City – one of the
world’s great landfalls – or gorge on maritime
history in Long Island Sound and Rhode Island.
If the North American summer season is still
young there you can continue north to the
glorious cruising of Maine during June.
If you are heading across the Atlantic from
south of New York you should be able to sail
a great circle course to the Azores and enjoy
favourable winds and currents most of the way.
From around 40°N you can head direct for theAzores, though you may prefer to continue a
little further south to try to avoid the gales that
are common in these latitudes, particularly in
May and June. The first part of the passage will
be within the hurricane zone and it would be
wise to be east of 55°W before mid-June.
If you are tempted to stay a while keep a
good eye on the weather because by mid-
September, sometimes earlier, the passage to
Europe will be affected by succession of lows of
increasing frequency and intensity.
The other option from the north-eastern
US is to take the great circle route to northern
Europe, past Nova Scotia and the southern tip
of Newfoundland. This is a coastline that you
could enjoy exploring for many years, heading
through the canal at St Peter’s to the Bras d’Or
Lake and a multitude of interesting anchorages.
Sailing the Viking route to northern Europe,
passages from Newfoundland or Labrador to
Greenland and then to Iceland are relatively
short, so it is possible to pick your weather
to some extent and the length of days is your
friend. Onward from Iceland via Faroe to
Scotland each passage is only two days’ sailing.
Arriving in the UK in August or September, you
could even spin off into the following season,
with a trip to Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea.{}
Taking a great circle course
across the Atlantic from south
of New York, you can sail from
about 40°N direct to the AzoresJane Russell is the author of the new edition of the RCC
Pilotage Foundation’s Atlantic Crossing Guide, which was
published in December 2017 and costs £50; bloomsbury.com
The RCC Pilotage Foundation is supported by the Royal
Cruising Club. Close collaboration between its experienced
sailing authors and the many yachtsmen and women who
contribute information makes it an authoritative provider of
pilotage books and passage planning resources for cruising
areas worldwide. See rccpf.org.ukAdmiralty Bay in Bequia, in
St Vincent and the GrenadinesTHE ATLANTIC CROSSING GUIDE
‘NEW YORK CITY IS ONE OF THE
WORLD’S GREAT LANDFALLS’
robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo100 February 2018
The Intracoastal
Waterway offers
more sheltered
exploring from
Miami to Norfolk