Squeezed between two major weather systems is a four-day sailing window from Buzzards Bay to the Chesapeake. This will not be pleasant summertime sailing, but so long as I arrive within four days there will be no gales to contend with. And that's going to have to be good enough. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL...

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Three weeks of shuttling back and forth between Padanaram and Hadley Harbor, the former to re-stock the larder, the latter to shelter from the storms. Sailing windows remain too short to safely head offshore to the Chesapeake Bay, some 350 miles. And so I wait. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON:...

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No time to waste. It's November and I am just departing Maine, southbound for Buzzards Bay, MA. Weather windows remain short, so forget any direct offshore hops to Bermuda or the Bahamas. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/user?u=12372934 HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/c-1981134 HOW...

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Short sailing windows, long waits. The pattern persists. Following a short stay in Bar Harbor, Maine, I find a day's worth of fair winds for a ninety-mile coastal hop down to Southport, Maine. There I ride out the next round of weather, re-provision, and look for a window to carry on to Nantucket...

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Beggars can't be choosers. Not in late October, not when you are southbound from Nova Scotia and ill-equipped for arctic sailing conditions. I am searching for a weather window to sail direct to Buzzards Bay from Shelburne, but the weather maps remain implacable. There is, however, a short but doable...

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I arrive in Sheet Harbour two days after departing the Bras d'Or lakes. There I spend the next nine days waiting for another sailing window. Fortunately there is a dinghy landing and supplies are a short walk away. I depart for Shelburne around 0300 on October 16 to catch the end of a fair norther....

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The current tables for the Great Bras d'Or Channel are accurate. Phew! Sailed out past Noir Point in fair winds and about 2 knots of fair tide. A beautiful night for sailing ensues, but the following day brings rain as the winds pipe up from the northeast. I make for Sheet Harbour, as the forecast...

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Looks like I will finally have a fair wind to exit the Great Bras d'Or Channel which leads back out into the Atlantic Ocean. There is, however, the additional matter of the tidal current, which can run over 6 knots at the entrance. So just time it, right? Not so simple. In fact my research is bringing...

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Inclement weather offshore obliges me to linger longer on the wonderful Bras d'Or lakes. SUPPORT HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON PATREON: https://patreon.com/user?u=12372934 HOW TO SAIL OCEANS ON RUMBLE: https://rumble.com/c/c-1981134 HOW TO SAIL OCEANS TEE SHIRT: https://maritimetees.net/search?q=how+to+sail+oceans DONATE:...

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I reach Baddeck, Nova Scotia, then cruise the wonderland of the Lower Washabuck. Angling for some top shelf drone footage of Ruth Avery with her topsail against the breathtaking background of the Bras d'Or's, I am yet continually thwarted by both Mother Nature and my own lack of practice. Sigh. SUPPORT...

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From from one idyllic anchorage to the next, I move my way northward through the Bras d'Or lakes. While it may appear all perfectly carefree, the Bras d'Or lakes pose some rather tricky challenges for the engineless sailboat. One is passing through the road and rail bridge at Grand Narrows. It is...

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So whilst I'm pondering how to transit the St. Peter's lock without inboard power, my friend Joe on Resolution shows up. They're headed to Newfoundland but taking the scenic route through the Bras d'Or lakes. Joe agrees to lend me his RIB with a 15hp Yanmar to push Ruth Avery through the lock. And...

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