User blog comment:ChrisL123/Spanish "Canada"/@comment-32656-20110811081440

France gets a lot colder than Spain.

Chris, you're missing the point. And, the route he took across from the Canaries would mean that it is NOT a shorter route. At best, it is about the same. Nor would they have any chance of getting to Newfoundland at all until the last little bit of the voyage.