Sailing outside of Nantucket

[Steve Laume]

We are planning a Maine trip near the end of August. I have done this before via the CC Canal and returned outside of the Cape through Pollock Rip. This year I am thinking about going out of Block Island Sound and around Nantucket. This would avoid all of the coastal stops and save a couple of days in transit. I have never heard of anyone taking this route and was wondering if there was a good reason. I am hoping to spend a week or two in Maine, then head over to Nova Scotia and return from there. It would seem to make even more sense to stay outside on the trip home.

If going outside of Nantucket, just how much berth should be given to the shoals? It gets a bit spooky when you are miles from shore and the water gets thin enough to see bottom, Steve.

[Al Levesque]

I would be concerned with the shifting of the shoals and the difficulty of locating and avoiding them during slack tides. North of Pollock Rip seems more predictable if you stay a bit offshore but the Nantucket shoals extend quite far out and would seem unlikely to save time. I've been there a few times with a local professional fisherman and. like you, was impressed with such shallow water so far from Nantucket.

[Klem]

I did a similar route once but elected to run up between the Vineyard and Nantucket and then across Nantucket sound before going outside of the Cape. The trick with this (and really the entire trip) is timing the currents. If you are coming from Block, it will be pretty hard to time as it is many hours away but should be doable.

The reason that I did not go outside Nantucket is the shoals, you really have to go pretty far out of your way if you want to be sure to avoid them. I would be willing to try it if the winds and tides worked best for that but I would never try it in the dark unless going way outside. It is probably worth studying a current chart of the area pretty closely to help plan your route.

Most of the time I find something in the forecast or timing that I don't like for going outside and just go through the canal. We always seem to do it in the middle of the night but it is almost easier then as there is so much less traffic.

[Joe Myerson]

Steve,
I'd second the other posters: Going around the Cape, via Pollock Rip, is doable--but watch those currents.
Going around Nantucket could be really tricky, which is why almost nobody does it. The shoals shift and charts are never up to date. If you know a local skipper who's willing to guide you, it might be possible.

--Joe

P.S. I sailed once from Pt. Jude to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, around Cape Cod. It was my first blue-water experience, almost 30 years ago.

[seadug]

I fished 20 years south of Nantucket and the Vineyard and never once crossed the shoals. I always went south of the corner bouy (south end of the shoals) when heading outside the cape or to George's Bank. It is easy to get into trouble in the shoal water and strong tides.

If i remember correctly you can catch the flood tide into Vineyard Sound and catch the ebb out of Great Round Shoal if you time it right.

[Bill Goldsmith]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nantu ... _12300.gif

[Joe Myerson]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Nantu ... _12300.gif

Bill's posting says it all.

[Steve Laume]

The reason I was looking at this route was to get clear of the shoals and currents in and around Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket.

I have done the Pollock Rip trip and you would definitely have to time things right. If doing that I would probably sail to Cuttyhunk and then try to time things to make it through Quicks Hole just as the tide started to run in and then out through Pollock Rip on an outgoing tide. This route would make for a very long first day and then a stop over at Cuttyhunk Followed by another long, well timed day to get clear of the Cape.

My thinking was that if I left Fishers Island sound at the beginning of the ebb, I should be beyond Block when the tide started back in. The overnight would fall in clear water, with little current, well South of MV. If everything went well I would be at the corner buoy about the start of another ebb. Shoot around the end of the shoal during daylight hours and be on my way.

The time saving would not be in mileage but in not having to make an overnight stopover and coordination of the tides. It is about 100 miles to the Pollock Rip exit or the corner buoy at Nantucket shoals. I also plan to do some more fishing and this area seems to be a prime spot.

I know the charts list this area as not for navigation but I understood that to mean, large ships. I could definitely stay entirely clear of the shoals if there are no navigable passages over the south end.

From the corner buoy it is about 50 miles further to Acadia than it is from the end of Pollock Rip. Maybe there isn't a great time savings but it seems like a less complicated route, Steve.

[CD_Sailor]

The reason I was looking at this route was to get clear of the shoals and currents in and around Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket ...

On my first trip to the Maritimes in 1989, I planned a route like this (outside Nantucket). Fortunately a huge low forced us inside and on through the canal. We really got it handed to us and were reminded of our own lack of experience, but the fact is that we're still here to lie about it. I think it's worth noting that the "charts" SE of Nantucket aren't worth a "bucket of spit" as they say.

[John Ring]

The Nantucket Shoals are actually larger than Nantucket itself, and extend far off shore. Even miles off shore it's only knee deep in many areas. With just a few barge loads of additional sand, the shoals could be the biggest real estate play since Manhattan.

John