x-no-archive:yes


Sherwin Dubren wrote:

It's true you mention 'wait for weather', but you should have emphasized
how important that is. The winds in the stream usually clock around in a
clockwise direction. The safest time to leave would be when the winds are
at least out of the SE. I would not risk crossing with an East wind, unless I
had a very fast boat. I have crossed several times in a 22 foot
sailboat, but believe me, I really waited for the weather. I once sat in
Angelfish Creek for over a week, until the winds swung around. Since it
usually took me 10-12 hours for the crossing, I had to really optimize
things. Any northerly component of wind is going to build up steep waves,
because of the current going counter to the wind. Wave height can be a
problem, but the steepness makes things much worse. In the summer you can
get days of almost dead calm for a motor crossing, but other seasons are
likely to have higher average winds.

Well I agree with both of you. If you can see the waves on the
horizon it is way too rough in the Gulf Stream. But we have crossed
in a dead calm too, even in the winter.

If you keep track of the weather movements you will know that the
winter winds *usually* start out of the north or northeast, and then,
when a front goes through, clock around east, southeast, south,
southwest, west, northwest and back to north. The question is how
fast they will clock. They will stay out of the north for a week and
then go very quickly through the cycle and come back to the north
again sometimes (often) in as short a time as a couple of days. This
may not be enough time for a slow boat. In that case you have to
wait. A week is not too long - sometimes you can wait for 3 weeks or
a month or even longer.

The winds not only have to be NOT out of the north but have to stay
not out of the north long enough to let the waves die down (especially
if it has been out of the north for some time) and then get across
ASAP so that the winds don't have a chance to get back to the north
before you arrive. The trick is to judge how quickly the winds are
going to swing.

The real problem is that people are afraid to trust their own
judgement, and/or don't take advice - contradictory, but both can be
true of the same captain. So they insist on going with a 'buddy boat'
and then the other boat doesn't travel at the same speed and the
faster boat (a trawler maybe) holds up and waits and then get socked.
Or the trawler wants no wind but goes with a sailboat who wants a
south wind. Or they get tired of waiting (or WORSE have a schedule to
keep), and go out and get scared and come back and add to the myth.

We've been in West End waiting for a window. The boat that left the
day before us had their sails torn out (professional skipper with a
guy who was paying for the charter). The next day, three of us left.
Us, a little catamaran, and a larger and faster sailboat than us. The
wind was a SE wind. I don't know about the cat, but we saw the
larger sailboat later - we went to Ft. Pierce - they went to Lake
Worth. We had a fast and slightly bumpy trip, surfing along in winds
of about 25 knots, taking advantage of the stream to help us get to
the northwest. They said they had a horrible trip, and had a horrible
trip north to Ft Pierce the next day. Of course their horrible trip
might be our nice sail.


anchorlt wrote:

I have long wondered why some people appear to fear the Gulf Stream
and build such large myths and worse about crosssing it.

I have crossed the Stream, from north of Ft. Lauderdale, to the Banks
south of St. Isaacs Light on the way to Abacos and south, to Exumas,
Long Islaand and even further south, and north, to extreme NE Bahamas,
more than 30 times, all without incident or concern.

If you have a reasonably well founded boat with good navigation gear
and good charts, wait for weather window and then "Go," keeping a
sharp lookout for other boats and ships. (Ships travel near western
wall when headed south and near the eastern wall when headed north.)
Devils and other boat-eating monsters do not dwell in the Gulf Stream.

Gulf Stream is like any other waters with a moderately fluctuating
intensity of current. Be assured that if you are on a boat that is, in
all resoects, up to date, you will even enjoy the passage. And when
you first spot a Bahamian land mass on the distant horizon, you will
be pleased with yourself and your boat.


grandma Rosalie