Navigation Calculations for Greenland Trip First Leg

Polar Sun uses 1.25 GPH at 5 kts through the water. Given that info as backup to our making maximum use of the wind, I have been doing arrival times for our first stop - Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.

Waypoint south of Cape Sable

Cape Sable at the southwest corner of Nova Scotia is a notorious area to transit. It can be full of fog and there are big currents and tide rips near Sable Island to which one has pay attention. It's 206 nm to Cape Sable from the fair water buoy off our starting point of Saco, Maine. At 5 kts avg speed that's 41 hours. By standing off 7.5 - 8 nm the current and rips become a minor factor and adds no significant time or distance towards Lunenburg our first stop another 19 hours further along. 

Leaving at 6 a.m. on June 1 from the dock in Saco our arrival time in Lunenburg is:

@ 5 knots avg = June 3 at 5 p.m. ADT
@ 5.5 knots avg = June 3 at 2 p.m. ADT
@ 6 knots avg = June 3 at 10 a.m. ADT

We're hoping for a good southwest breeze to help us along and increase our SOG (speed over ground). Overnight the wind will likely die off going across the Gulf of Maine. Our intention is to maintain 5 knots minimum average speed even if that means motoring if the wind dies. As always, as prudent mariners we will have radar and AIS and eyes on watch looking out for other traffic.

It's gonna get cold.