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 depart the USA and are greeted in Canada with a fine on arrival. Despite the rocky start, Nova Scotia turns out to be an incredible place to sail and paddleboard. We explore stunning anchorages, navigate the shortest canal to Canada’s inland sea, and emerge into a world of lobster traps, big ships, and a giant fiddle.
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.
After a pleasant crossing from Labrador to Newfoundland, we explored St. Anthony’s and the historic L’Anse aux Meadows, marking the end of our Viking Route. Stops in Lewisporte, Twillingsgate, Bonavista, and finally St. John’s offered scenic hikes, vibrant local culture, boat maintenance, and incredible encounters with local hospitality and 2 difficult harbour entrances.