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(Above) Capt. Eric Forsyth and the Fiona


JUNE 29, 2009

Fiona arrived St. John's, NFLD, Monday. Now tied up at Queen's Wharf. Old and new friends welcome to visit.


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JUNE 24, 2009

Fiona left Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, 3 pm Wednesday, bound for St Johns, Newfoundland.


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JUNE 21, 2009

Fiona arrived Lunenburg, NS, at noon (EDT) on 21 June, 2009. We enjoyed good sailing all the way from the Cape Cod Canal except for the stretch from Cape Sable. There the weather really deteriorated to gale conditions, almost on the nose. We managed to tear the jib, so that will have to be repaired before we leave for NFLD. We motor-sailed the last ten miles into Lunenburg Bay,arriving in fog and drizzle.

 

JUNE 19, 2009

Fiona is now abeam Cape Cod, we transited the Cape Cod Canal Thursday and decided to bypass Provincetown,MA, and head directly for Lunenberg, NS, as the wind was fair for the next 24 hours at least.

 

JUNE 18, 2009

Fiona's current position is presented below, via Google Maps. Latitude:41.6523, Longitude:-70.6326.


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JUNE 14, 2009

We are all set to leave Weeks Yachtyard about 10 am on Monday, 15 June. We should arrive at Block Island early Tuesday if the wind is fair and leave for Buzzards Bay on Wednesday. The e-mail address for Fiona is "wrb5236@sailmail.com." This is a shortwave link of very low bandwidth, please keep messages short.

 

JUNE 4, 2009

An airline pilot, Russ, has signed up for the leg from St. John's, Newfoundland, to Nome, Alaska. This will give us a total crew of four for what I anticipate will be the most difficult leg across northern arctic Canada through the Northwest Passage.

 

 

MAY 29, 2009

Fiona was launched today, May 28, 2009.

 

MAY 8, 2009

 

MAY 2, 2009

The Bon Voyage Party for Fiona's attempt on the Northwest Passage will be the afternoon of 24 May 2009. Details to follow.

The crew for the trip consists of Ed, a fellow member of the South Bay Cruising Club, and Joey, a veteran of the 2006 cruise to the Antarctic. I'm trying to interest a young Canadian in joining the boat just for the leg across Northern Canada. Anyone considering joining the boat in Nova Scotia or Newfoundland please contact Eric via email.

JANUARY 30, 2009

FIONA'S 2009/2010 TENTATIVE SCHEDULE

This cruise will attempt the Northwest Passage to the west coast via northern Canada. Ice conditions vary every year, several yachts have successfully made the passage in the past few years but conditions for 2009 are unknown. At best our chances of success are 50/50. If we are blocked by ice the hope is to make a decision by about 22 August in the vicinity of Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island, or as close as we have been able to get, and initiate plan B, which is a return to the Atlantic.

Plan A, Cruise to the West Coast, Panama and the Bahamas

15 June, 2009 Leave Long Island
25 June Arrive Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
2 July Arrive St John's, Newfoundland
18 July Arrive Nuuk, Greenland
31 July Leave Upernavik, Greenland
13 August Arrive Peel Sound, Arctic Canada
17 August Arrive Gjoahaven, King William Island
22 August Arrive Cambridge Bay, Victoria Island
3 September Arrive Pt Barrow, Alaska
8 September Arrive Nome, Alaska
27 September Dutch Harbor, Alaska
2 October Leave Dutch Harbor
20 October Arrive Victoria, British Columbia
2 November Arrive San Francisco, California
Fly to New York and Return
2 December Leave San Francisco
7 December Arrive San Diego
10 February, 2010 Arrive Panama
10 March Arrive Bahamas
18 April Arrive Bermuda
8 May Arrive Long Island, NY

Plan B, Return to the Atlantic
1 September Arrive Pond Inlet, Baffin Island
15 September Transit Cape Farewell, Greenland
22 September Arrive Reykjavik, Iceland
2 October Arrive Faeroe Islands
12 October Arrive Oban, Scotland, UK
10 November Arrive Lisbon, Portugal
Fly to New York and return
5 December Leave Lisbon
7 December Arrive Madeira
20 December Arrive Canary Islands
5 January, 2010 Arrive Cape Verde Islands
30 January Arrive Fortaleza, Brazil
25 February Arrive Tobago, West Indies
20 April Arrive Bermuda
8 May Arrive Long Island, NY

 

 


Fiona off the coast of Maine. Photo by L Schatzer

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