On Sat, 15 Jan 2011 13:33:35 -0800 (PST), Tim
wrote:

During the summer (thunderstorm) months you can find yourself in 40 to
60 knot winds on the Gulf Stream with almost no warning. *Experienced
east coast boaters like to head east before sunrise to minimize their
chances of being caught by a storm during the crossing. *


I'm too big of a wimp.

That doesn't sound like much fun to me. but it DOES sound exciting!

Experienced boaters in south Florida have a great deal of respect for
the Gulf Stream and will not attempt a crossing unless conditions are
right, even in 50 or 60 footers. Some significant number of 20 to 30
footers get capsized every year either from poor weather planning or
because they thought they could out run a storm and couldn't. Others
get in trouble re-entering inlets that turn rough during the day as
the tide changes.

There are a couple of other Gulf Stream issues that catch people. One
is something that I'd label the "twin engine problem". A boat with
twin engines sets out from either Florida or the Bahamas expecting to
run on plane the entire distance and with an adequate amount of
reserve fuel. Then one of the engines fails for some reason, and now
the boat is no longer running on plane because it lacks power. Fuel
economy decreases drastically because the boat is now plowing water,
and the boat eventually runs out of gas. If you're on the way back
to Florida when this happens, and within 25 miles, SeaTow will come
out to get you at no charge if you're a member but it's going to take
a while. Over 25 miles offshore the towing charges become
astronomical.

Another variation on the "twin engine problem" is the what I call the
"buddy boat syndrome" or "safety in numbers wishful thinking". One of
the boats develops an engine problem and the buddy boat starts to tow
it. Everything is OK if this happens near the beginning or end of the
crossing, but in the middle the buddy boat usually lacks sufficient
fuel capacity for both of them to make it home, again because they are
no longer able to run on plane. This now turns into a double rescue.