Newfoundland Screech

Aug 9, 2017

The folks at Spartan Ocean Racing have been busy.

The Newfoundland Screech is a 600 Nm sail from Nova Scotia to Newfoundland, Canada. With a full crew, Challenger left Lunenburg on July 14th and sailed up the coast of Nova Scotia took a brief detour into visit the islands of St. Pierre-Miquelon and then on to the most easterly point in North America, St. John’s, Newfoundland.

As with any offshore sailing in the Maritimes, the weather can be unpredictable. For example, last July the Route Halifax-St.Pierre Race brought nasty, wet and wind beating directly on the bow for majority of the race towards the islands. This year, a different story – winds were light and the fog was as thick as pea soup most of the 600Nm. Just goes to show that you never know what the Atlantic is going to bring until you’re out there.

Sailing on the East Coast of Canada this time of year can also take you to an area famously known as Iceberg Alley. It’s like playing dodgeball with icebergs and they come in all shapes and sizes with only 10% of the iceberg above water combine that with the fog rolling by makes for a navigator’s nightmare or an exciting challenge for others. Iceberg Alley extends from the Avalon Peninsula of Newfoundland to the tip of the island around St. Anthony with over 1,000 icebergs having been spotted in North Atlantic shipping lanes since February this year.