CCA Essential Passage Guide to the Viking Route: Includes Faroes, Iceland, Greenland, Newfoundland & Labrador
Edited by Viking route passagemaker William Strassberg, MD, with assistance from a number of other Cruising Club of America members who have sailed this route.
Published by CCA Nautical Publishers
ISBN-13: ‎978-1734086379
This book is avilable from Imray (see discount link above)

The Guide provides essential information to sailing the northern transatlantic route, an extraordinary series of ocean passages interspersed with some astonishing coastal cruising. It has been sailed for at least 1,000 years, but it is rigorous sailing with challenging conditions, even in the summer months. Put simply, to follow the Viking route takes you from the east coast of the US, across the top of the planet via Newfoundland, Greenland and Iceland, back down to Europe via the Faroe Islands. Or indeed, the other way round.

As the introduction of the guide says:
“This guide was written for those who dream of far horizons and adventuresome sailing in high latitude waters. It is for those who wish to learn how to sail high latitudes, and for those who aspire to gaze on landscapes that few have seen before. This guide is for those hardy souls wishing to challenge themselves and their boats to perform at a higher level. By connecting the reader with experienced high latitude sailors, the Viking Route Guide compiles essential information to safely sail the Viking Route”.

Created by members of the Cruising Club of America (all very experienced high-latitude sailors), this guide is the first of its kind as it follows a specific route and is not a general Arctic waters guide (of which there are several). The book is laid out in a logical, manageable format making it easy to follow the crucial information that sailors need to know when taking this route across the Atlantic and stopping to explore the numerous islands en-route.

Unlike other Atlantic crossing routes, the Viking route requires skills for high-latitude sailing as well as ice navigation (dodging icebergs, sailing in fog and a succesion of gales being common challenges). The guide gives a huge amount of very useful, detailed information on how to outfit your boat for high-latitude cruising – a must-read for anyone considering this type of voyaging even if  not planning to attempt the Viking route. In fact, much of the 284-page guide focuses on topics unique to sailing high-latitude waters.

The guide begins with passage planning and potential itineraries for this route. Then follows a chapter describing high-latitude weather patterns, how they are different and how to avoid getting caught out. Subsequent chapters include details on ice navigation, equipment, communications, leadership and overwintering. The excellent chapter on the development of a safety culture on board (remember there are polar bears) is extremely useful, particularly for those new to cruising Arctic waters.

Each of the stepping stones along the Viking Route are worthy cruising grounds and more than half of the guide gives in-depth information about selected harbors along the route. Harbors have been chosen for location, accessibility, activities, history, and passagemaking benefits and it’s clear that perhaps just one season cruising this route won’t be enough.

Editor Bill Strassberg assembled the Guide’s focused, mission-critical information while preparing for his own passage in 2019, with help from Shepton, Steve Brown, Sally and Simon Currin, Dick and Ginger Stevenson, and several other CCA members who know the Viking Route waters well.

“Our goal,” he says, “is to help prospective Viking Route sailors prepare thoroughly and minimize those things they did not know they did not know. I feel that the guide presents a good mix of high latitude specific skills and safety and seamanship information, with routing data and harbor specific details that together, will make for safe passagemaking and memorable, fulfilling, stopovers.”

Beautifully laid out with stunning photographs and very useful harbor guides and chartlets, a great deal of time and effort has gone into producing this guid. Even if you thought cold water cruising was off the agenda, this publication might just change your mind!

This book is avilable from Imray (see discount link at top of page)

Related Links:

Across the Atlantic via Nova Scotia – Yachting World Article June 2021