[BradyLS]

Crossing the broad ocean would be daunting, but theire's no reason to think they couldn't touch Iceland, then Greenland, then Labrador, and so on via the Great Circle route. Currents may have helped them a bit, too.

[breakem]

Your scenario makes sense to me. One landfall to the next instead of straight across would have been much easier.

I'm trying to remember where I read that Columbus knew from old sailors that the earth was round and that he could reach land by sailing west. It also said that most educated people at the time believed it also.