Topic: Halifax Bermuda and back

Nice one smile ... but how did you fit the gang plank at Captain Smokes? Off the pulpit or off the transom?

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

:-) the gang plank was first attached off the pulpit, but was ripping my forestay out when it got bumpy so it ended up balancing on the pier. So, one person had to stand at the opposite end to counterbalance while the other jumped off it and onto the deck from 3 feet in the air. Spectacular boarding/diving, don't try that at home :-)

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

We love to see a few of your photo of your contessa 26 crashing through the waves.  You can put them on Photo section of this website.
So, do you have any other adventures in the near future?

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

very cool

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

Christian, did you ever post any pics anywhere, I for one am very eager to see them...you may send me some directly:  shannonrae@telus.net

“You get a boat for only one reason, because you want one.  If you’re worried about being practical, forget boats.”

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

Christian

Congrats on your trip  down and save return. I my father owns a contessa 26 and half dreams, half plans on doing the same trip. We live in Kingston Ont so a trip up the St Lawrence would be the first leg of the journey. I am going to talk to him about your posting here and may have some questions in the days to come. For now I am wondering how ‘stock’ is your boat. My fathers boat is in excellent condition but lacks some key equipment for a trip like yours. Can you provide a short list of equipment you feel is a requirement for this type of trip?
One of the items he does not own is a life raft, are you or anyone else aware of a company that might rent one? I have suggested to him that he might consider buying one then selling it apon safe return. One of the things keeping him from serious planning is that he does not want to spend 1000’s of $ on life rafts, EPIRB’s etc for a one time trip.
As well have you had time to post any pictures?

John vanZanten
Kingston, Ont

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

Hi John,

if your Dad wants to do Bermuda in June which is the best time before the onset of the hurricane season he needs to truck the boat to Halifax or New York. The trip down the St, Lawrence is going to take a few weeks and some ice may be left in the Gulf of St, Lawrence in May. Even without the ice, the Gulf is cold, damp and foggy, not an easy body of water to handle. Therefore, as far as timing goes, transportation directly to the start line is recommended. He should take an extra week for sea trials and get a feel for offshore sailing before he leaves.
If this is the first time he goes offshore then I strongly recommend that he takes someone with him with previous ocean sailing experience. If I were you, I'd discourage him from going alone the first time. This is not a walk in the park.
There are companies in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland that rent out liferafts and EPIRBs. I bought mine because I want to go offshore again, it's not a one-time thing for me.
Send me an e-mail home and I'll attach a list of equipment I had on that trip.

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

Another route would be to take to canals to New York in the late summer and leave the boat there over the winter. This would give you lots of time in the spring. When a crossed, I had my boat trucked to Salem, Mass.

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

could head down from oswego thru the canal to new york and head to bermuda from there.  it'd be a good start and a mini shakedown to cross lake ontario under sail, but lots elect to drop the mast kingston area and motor across the lake....  that way you can start mid mayish, and don't have to truck the boat at all......

Re: Halifax Bermuda and back

Hello Contessa people,

just got back from a short ride down south to the pretty little island of Bermuda. My crew and I covered 1800 NM in 18 days at sea with the 750 mile return trip in only 8 days, not so bad for such a small boat. We encountered pretty much everything out there, from squalls, to gales, thunderstorms, lightning, calms, ships, whales, dolphins and sharks. The Gulf Stream was really bad on the way down, we added 200 miles towards Europe and 30 hours of fighting the strong current with a little nor'easter blowing against it as well.
No matter how much you read about these boats, only being out there on the ocean in a real "blow-me-down" will make you appreciate the genius of these little vessels.
So there we were, rubbing fenders with Swan 70s and Hinckley 65s at Captain Smokes Marina in St. George's, with professional delivery skippers of multi-million dollar yachts taking pictures of our little Contessa. Not too shabby, eh?
We filmed 8 video tapes and a film will be edited in the next few weeks with about 60 min of pure exhilarating sailing and breathtaking shots of Bermuda.
If you guys have questions about this voyage, please go ahead, I'll do my best to answer as many as I can.

Best,
Christian