Florida to the Med

[budelkin]

I realize it is closer to sail across the pond from the north, but I would like to make the trip from Florida to maybe the Canary Islands, and then up to the Med. Is it possible to do so? If you look at the prevailing winds for any part of the year, it doesn't look possible.

Has anyone made this trip, or know anyone that has?

[JohnRPollard]

If you're not taking the Great Circle Route (the northern route) -- and there are a lot of folks that don't -- the usual path is to jump up/down/across to Bermuda, then head to the Azores. From there to Gibralter.

You would not head for the Canaries. They are too far south. You want to be just above that contrary trade wind belt. You stop in the Canaries on the way back.

Here, take a look at the routes that the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC) uses. On this chart, the solid lines are the route across to Europe from N.A., and the dotted lines are the route back with the favorable trade winds. The hardest part is sailing around that big logo thingy in the middle of the Atlantic.