Sailing adventures on a Hallberg Rassy 40 in higher latitudes
There is something very special about Labrador and from the moment we arrived in Red Bay, we knew we would enjoy our stay here. This area of Canada is sparsely populated and full of exciting abandoned places to explore, and the people we met were super friendly and helpful, which made it hard to depart for Greenland.
We had a great time sailing up the west coast of Newfoundland. There are some beautiful anchorages, but sometimes the charts data is not completely correct. We had to get off Rocky Harbour dock quickly because of a bad combination of big swells and a gnarly dock and the steep mountains can create some strong at times.
We wintered longer than planned in Gloucester, finding warmth and welcome at Cape Ann Marina during the coldest season in years. With excellent facilities, friendly locals, and live music every night, it became a perfect place to winter the boat. From boat toilet upgrades to Boston day trips, our stay was full of memories, scallops, and kind-hearted connections.
Since clearing into the US we’ve slowed down due to extreme weather and social visits. It was a tough sail to Portland that left Snow Bear frozen, but we made it safely. We had a great Christmas, explored Portland and Portsmouth. Now, we’re wintering in Gloucester, doing a few boat projects and enjoying the area’s rich maritime and cultural scene
In this post we return to the boat and continue south covering around 750NM along the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. We share our tips for sailing in lobster season and would like to hear your experiences navigating around traps!
We start to feel winter and also some rough sea, while making preparations to depart from Canada before Christmas.
We spent a month in southern Greenland and had an amazing time visiting this quite remote destination. We had heard rumours of an amazing anchorage and were not disappointed by it. The supermarkets here are so well-stocked, which really surprised us, but there is one thing we just couldn’t find! And we also share the recipe for a great drink to make to celebrate a successful cold crossing.
While waiting for the ice to clear and right wind to make the passage to Greenland we have been exploring the beautiful Western part of Iceland. The steep mountains often makes the gust in the harbours accelerate so the windy nights can come as a big surprise. We are really glad we had the extra time to explore more of Iceland and visit many excellent and completely free harbours.
We spent almost 3 weeks in Reykjavík as we visited relatives and had friends visiting the boat. This gave us a chance to experience a lot of the city. We also had the time to do some boat work and order new bikes and a VHF for the boat. In this post you can also get a discount code for reusable 316L filter for your watermaker.
We ended up spending a little more time in Faroe Islands tha planned as we couldn’t find the weather window to sail to Iceland. Faroe Island was amazing and we found a very special experience in Klaskvík. The strike however resulted in empty shelves, no gas or busses so we felt a little captured in the end. We also put some tips for planning your sailing trip to Faroe Islands in the post.
We spent a week in Tórshavn harbour, where we rented a car and drove around the Faroe Islands. Following the scenic routes in the road map is very pretty, but it is a good idea to bring food and drinks on the trip. We also visited the famous bar on the island Nólsoy.