We are thinking of having a 44′ trawler built for us in Turkey. After sea trials and shakedown cruise, we plan to take our new boat home to the east coast. What is your opinion about the best route and time of year to make this crossing? Thank you.

This is about the easiest routing question I ever got here at noonsite. The answer is very simple: whichever time you leave Turkey, make sure that you are in Gibraltar by September, the sail to the Canaries. As you will not be crossing the Atlantic before late November, you can either leave the boat there or spend the time cruising the 7 islands.

Come November and the safe season in the Caribbean, start your Atlantic crossing. You should arrive in the Eastern Caribbean just before Xmas. Make your landfall far south, in Grenada or Bequia, then spend the next 4 months cruising N and NW, so that by May you are ready to sail to the E. Coast.

All the above is described in great detail in my World Cruising Routes which I urge you to get as you’ll find it of great help.

Jimmy Cornell, noonsite