Gulf of Maine Passage to/from Nova Scotia

[c_witch]

Hiee all,

I'm wondering if anyone on the site has made passage accross the Gulf of Maine to/from or both to Nova Scotia. From the Boston area it looks to be some 231 nm and I'm curious as to what that body of water can be like. Like are there any major currents with the tides ie Bay of Fundy related sudden squalls etc. I'm thinking in terms of a straight passage from Cape Sable to outside of Boston in the future. This would be in a 22 foot swing keel cruiser. This would be sort of a practice run if you will of a passage down the eastern seaboard and jump accross from southern Florida to the Bahama's with further crusing in the carribean.

Thanx

 

[Manureva]

you sir are one courageous fellow,if you think your boat can make it go for it, but do talk to some other sail boat owner before you do an plan it well

 

[Maine Sail]

I delivered a boat from Portsmouth NH to Yarmouth then up to Digby back in the 90's. It was a nasty slough in a N-NE fall blow. That water can get very nasty but if you watch your weather windows and do this in the summer you can easily find no wind too.... I would probably not suggest doing this in the spring or fall as the fronts move in fast and hard and you can easily find yourself in 30+..

You might consider sailing down the East coast of NS to Yarmouth or so, though Yarmouth is not the most hospitable harbor for a cruising boat and is mostly fishing, ships etc. they do have a decent dinghy dock, then crossing over to ME and gunkholing it down the coast. Much more scenic...

 

[Manureva]

yes down the coast would be a lot more safer too

 

[Rick2413]

Although I haven't made the crossing yet, those I've talked to at Armdale who have, caution that the tidal currents are very strong and have to be accounted for and of course fog is even a bigger issue as traffic is fairly busy. I was visiting in Yarmouth in September and checked out the Marina right downtown. I was impressed. A bit small but quite new with showers and reprovisioning facilities right on the doorstep. There were three boats there getting ready to cross that night. I plan on going down at least that far this summer(with the thought of possibly going across and playing around northern parts of Maine). The various Cruising Guides and others on this forum really praise the area. Norm Raines from AYC has made the crossing many times and is always willing to offer advice.(his # is listed in the phone book)

 

[c_witch]

Hiee all,

Thanks for the responses.

What we are thinking of doing is making the passage straight accross from Cape Sable Nova Scotia to Cape Cod Mass. and then coast hopping down to southern Florida.
From there we could cross over to the Bahama's and start our adventure. Keel up we only draw 2 feet of water so we can definately get into area's where the bigger boats can't lol. I'm thinking that if we can cross the Gulf of Maine as described then the passage from Florida to the Bahama's should be a snap all things being 'Equal' .
As a teenager I can remember being caught out in the Gulf of Mexico several times by squalls that came out of no where. 20 some odd miles out in an 18 foot boat with 10 foot sea's leaves something to be desired and this was a power boat, solid but seemed quite small at the time. Needless to say I am Much less adventurous now days .

Happy sailing,
Brina