Ocean crossings
Northwest Passage
Through Canada's Arctic archipelago between Atlantic and Pacific: about 2,300 miles, a four-to-six-week ice window, and only a handful of yachts each year.
8 episodes on the chart
- Distance
- about 2,300 nautical miles (varies with route and ice)
- Typical duration
- commonly several weeks under way; historic transits took years
- Season / best months
- Window opens around second week of August for 4-6 weeks; July to September access overall
- Prevailing winds
- Variable; frequent fog and cold; ice drift matters more than wind
- Start / finish
- Baffin Bay / Lancaster Sound (east) to Bering Strait (west), or reverse
- Permits
- Roughly 30-40 licences and permissions per person (communal, regional, federal); Canadian Arctic vessel reporting (NORDREG) is voluntary but recommended for yachts under 300 GT
The Northwest Passage threads the Canadian Arctic between the Atlantic and Pacific. The usual sailing route goes east to west: Baffin Bay, Lancaster Sound, Peel Sound, Franklin Strait and Queen Maud Gulf, then Coronation Gulf, Amundsen Gulf, the Beaufort Sea and the Bering Strait. Roald Amundsen made the first complete ship transit in Gjoa between 1903 and 1906, taking three years.
The passage is only navigable for about four to six weeks from roughly the second week of August, in a good year. Yachts generally arrive in the second half of July, wait at Nuuk or in Baffin Bay for the ice to clear, then go west. Sea ice usually retreats west to east, so the eastern end clears last.
Distance is about 2,300 nm depending on route. The real challenge is ice, poor charting (only a small part of the Arctic is charted to modern standards), fog, and dozens of permits and permissions. An ice pilot is widely recommended. Only a handful of yachts make it through each year.
Highlights
- Wake of Franklin, Amundsen and McClintock
- Polar bears, narwhals and belugas
- Remote Inuit communities such as Pond Inlet, Gjoa Haven and Cambridge Bay
- Sailing the full width of the Canadian Arctic
Watch out for
- Drifting ice can close straits without warning
- Charting is sparse and depths shallow in places
- Needs fuel, redundancy and usually an ice pilot
- Permit and paperwork load is heavy
Episodes on this route 8
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Northwest Passage - Northern Alaska
Cambridge Bay Nunavut, Canada
Ice fields, polar bears, storms, deserted islands, and mechanical problems — our west-to-east Northwest Passage adventure is underway.
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Northwest Passage - Quick Update and Engine Room Tour
Several people have requested an engine room tour. In this video I give a brief update on our quest to transit the Northwest Passage and then turn it over to our engineer Hudson Ducharme.
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Adventure artist sails NW Passage aboard Dove III, perhaps the smallest and 6th sailboat in 1995
See the pen and ink sketches and listen to the tale of the Northwest Passage, which were illustrated in Arctic Odyssey by author, illustrator Len Sherman.
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What it takes to sail the Northwest Passage... A family's journey Into the Ice
The Pennington's share their extraordinary 2023 adventure sailing the legendary Northwest Passage with their young son, Dean.
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Aluminum Expedition Sailboat Built for High Latitudes - BOAT TOUR
Step aboard SV Sentijn, a purpose-built aluminum expedition sailboat designed for high-latitude sailing and extreme conditions.
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Battling a Gale on Our Passage Across the BERING SEA
Sailing across the Bering Sea in borderline not-so-nice conditions. This is part of our attempt to sail the Northwest Passage (check the playlist below). 💥 These videos are crowdfunded!
Crews on this route
Read more
- Wikipedia: Northwest Passage
- Boat International: Northwest Passage by boat guide
- Cruising World: Strategy for an east to west transit of the Northwest Passage
A summary for learning and dreaming, not for navigation. Rules, fees, seasons and security advice change: check current official sources before you go.