York College of Pennsylvania ~ Geography of North America

1. York College of Pennsylvania~Geography of North America Geography 341.01 Course Project – Fall 2005 George Hay Kain, III

2. Course Project Assignment • Create a detailed and descriptive itinerary for a trip across the U.S. and Canada. • Distance covered must be at least 1,000 miles. • Route must pass through at least three states and/or provinces.

3. Theme Selected: A Nautical History of Northeastern North America • The project trip is a voyage by sailing vessel from Baltimore, MD to St. John’s, Newfoundland. • Ports of Call en route all have a significant connection to the nautical history of northeastern North America. • This project is a concrete planning step in an actual voyage I hope to undertake in the summer of 2007.

4. Background • I have been a member of the Boy Scouts of America both as a youth and an adult for almost 50 years. • My current position is as the Skipper of Sea Scout Ship 25 in York, PA. • Sea Scouting is a coed program for youth ages 14-21 seeking to instill character and citizenship in a nautical setting.

5. World Scout Jamboree 2007 • In the summer of 2007 an international World Scouting Jamboree will be held in England to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Scouting movement. • My Sea Scout group hopes to sail across the Atlantic Ocean in 2007 to attend this Jamboree. • Our actual planning began several years ago.

6. Actual Preparations to Date • 2003 – Acquired a Mason 43 ketch named Kuan Yin • 2004 – Participated in the even-year biennial Annapolis, MD to Bermuda Ocean Race • 2005 – Participated in the biennial odd-year Marion, MA to Bermuda Ocean Race

7. Future Plans • 2006 – Participate in the 100th Anniversary Newport, RI to Bermuda Ocean Race. • 2007 – Sail across the Atlantic to Brownsea Island, Poole Harbour, England. • Brownsea Island is the site of the first Boy Scout encampment in 1907. • Organized by Lt. Gen. Robert Baden-Powell to test his ideas about Scouting for Boys.

8. Geography Course Project • The route that we propose to use to sail to England in 2007 will take us along the northeast coast of North America. • Departure Date is tentatively June 10, 2007 from Baltimore, MD. • Arrival Date at Brownsea Island in England is tentatively mid-July 2007. • Jamboree Dates: July 27-August 8, 2007.

9. Geography Project Tie-In With Proposed Trans-Atlantic Crossing • The natural sailing route to England during the summer months is a great-circle route. • The great circle on the spherical surface of the earth is the path with the smallest curvature, and hence the shortest path between two points on the surface. You can see this great-circle route on Google Earth

11. Observations • The Google Earth image shows clearly that the shortest route between Cape May, NJ to the southern tip of England will bring us close to Nantucket, Massachusetts, Halifax, Nova Scotia, and St. John’s, Newfoundland. • These areas are rich in maritime history, so it would be worthwhile to visit them, along with a few others nearby, on the way. • These stops will also provide harbors of refuge in the event of necessity before committing to the final open-ocean leg of the trip.

12. Geography Project Ports of Call • Ft. McHenry, Baltimore, MD • Old Road Bay, Patapsco River, MD • Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, MD • Cape May, NJ • Newport, RI • Nantucket, MA • Halifax, Nova Scotia • Ste. Pierre and Michelon • Argentia, Placentia Bay, Newfoundland • St. John’s, Newfoundland

13. Ft. McHenry, Baltimore, MD

14. Defense of Baltimore, 1814

15. Old Road Bay – Battle of North Point and Fort McHenry

16. White Rocks Marina Kuan Yin’s Home Port

17. Leg 1 – 114 Nautical MilesBaltimore to Cape May, NJ

18. Leg 2 - 339 Nautical MilesCape May, NJ to Nantucket, MA

19. Leg 3 – 412 Nautical MilesNantucket to Halifax, Nova Scotia

20. Leg 4 – 693 Nautical MilesHalifax to St. John’s, Newfoundland

23. Nantucket, Massachusetts • Historic Whaling Community. • Site, offshore, of the sinking of the Italian ocean liner ANDREA DORIA in 1956.

24. Halifax, Nova Scotia Halifax Citadel One of Canada's most visited national historic sites, the Citadel features exhibits, audio-visual presentations, guided tours, the noon gun and the 78th Highland Regiment.

25. St. Pierre and Michelon • An integral part of the French Republic, these islands are the last remnant of France’s once large possessions on this continent. • Although Fishing Cod on the Grand Banks was the main industry for centuries, this is an island that has known War, Deportation, Revolution and the spoils of Prohibition.

26. Placentia Bay, Newfoundland Churchill meets FDR aboard the USS Augusta (CA-31) at their 1941 secret meeting at Argentia, Newfoundland, lasting August 9th through the 12th. This meeting resulted in the Atlantic Charter that the U.S. and UK officially announced two days later.

27. St. John’s, Newfoundland • The oldest city in mainland North America. • John Cabot entered the harbour on the evening of St. John's Day, 1497 A.D. • From the very first years after Cabot's discovery, ships from Western Europe came to Newfoundland to fish, and St. John's was a rendezvous for them all. Captain John Rut of the British Navy described his visit there in 1527, and aboard his ship, the "Mary of Guildford", he wrote the first letter from North America to Europe and sent it home to King Henry VIII by an English ship that was returning with a load of codfish.

28. Total Nautical Mileages • Leg 1 – Baltimore to Cape May – 114 nm • Leg 2 – Cape May to Nantucket – 339 nm • Leg 3 – Nantucket to Halifax – 412 nm • Leg 4 – Halifax to St. John’s – 693 nm • TOTAL NAUTICAL MILES – 1,558 NM

29. The End May you have fair winds and following seas