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#11
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
anchorlt wrote:
"Armond Perretta" wrote... anchorlt wrote: I have long wondered why some people appear to fear the Gulf Stream ... ... 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 ... Sometimes it happens that when you actually _get_ to the Stream, the "window" is closed. Leaving from Florida in one thing. Leaving from elsewhere on the East Coast or from the Maritimes, places that are more than a mere 25 or 50 miles from the West Wall, is often something else again. I have been in harbor in Bermuda and encountered "well found" boats who lost their rig, lost gear, and, worst of all, lost people in the Stream. I suspect your crossings have given you a perspective that applies well to the locations and situations which you have directly experienced, but not so well to the Gulf Stream in general. Be careful about encouraging foolhardiness. Foolhardiness? Please read my entry again. Please read _my_ post again. I did not limit my discussion to jumping over to Bimini, since you did not do so with title and tenor of your original post. While you discussed only having crossed the Florida Straights, your subject heading "Gulf Stream Myths" as originally posted makes no effort to limit your analysis to this specific region of ocean. For these reason it seemed appropriate submit the qualifications I did, based on my own experiences with this section of ocean. Florida may own the US Supreme Court and the Electoral College, but the Gulf Stream is still pretty much in the public domain. -- Good luck and good sailing. s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/ |
#12
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 07:41:05 -0500, "Jerry" wrote:
Does anyone know the physics behind the effect of the north winds on the Gulf Stream? Simple logic seems to say that a 15 know wind against an opposing current of 3 knots should have the same effect as a 18 know wind on still water. I know, from experience, that it ain't so. by why not? ================================================== This is the intuitive, "non-technical" version. I believe it is similar to what happens when a wave encounters shallow water. The forward motion of the wave is slowed, water starts to pile up from behind, and height/steepness increases as a result. |
#13
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
anecdote:
Old sailor was nearing Cape Hatteras with 5 GPS units, a sextant, 3 charts, and a Texaco road map, could not find the bouy and decided to turn back for fear of hitting imaginary rocks. The only rocks near CH were in his head. BB |
#14
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
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#16
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
I notice that the Navy site I used to check the Gulf Stream has disappeared.
Anyone have a URL for the weekly positions of the Gulf Stream? -- Dennis Gibbons dkgibbons at optonline dot net "Sherwin Dubren" wrote in message ... The gulf stream is somewhat like a river in that it never stops flowing. What does shift is the location of maximum current. Along the coast of Florida it is at a low speed, increasing towards the Bahamas and then falling off again as you approach Easterly closer to the islands. If it is a calm day, you won't even notice the stream unless you take a Easterly heading to say Bimini harbor and watch your boat move Northeast. I have a slow 22 footer and will steer a somewhat SouthEast course across the stream heading East, and although I start somewhat South of Bimini, I will usually hit Bimini right on the nose after a half day crossing. If you have a GPS, you can check your 'course made good' and also see the effects of the current. If you have been crossing in high speed power boats, the effects of the stream would be much less noticeable, but still there. Sherwin Dubren JAXAshby wrote: I been sailing for 46 years trying to find that elusive Gulph Streem. It moves around ya know? JAX (anchorlt) wrote in message . com... 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. |
#17
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
Try http://www.deos.tudelft.nl/altim/gulfstream/
-- Keith __ Everybody should believe in something: I believe I'll have another drink. "Dennis Gibbons" wrote in message et... I notice that the Navy site I used to check the Gulf Stream has disappeared. Anyone have a URL for the weekly positions of the Gulf Stream? |
#18
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
I have that one, I'm looking for the larger scale one with more detail.
-- Dennis Gibbons dkgibbons at optonline dot net "Keith" wrote in message ... Try http://www.deos.tudelft.nl/altim/gulfstream/ -- Keith __ Everybody should believe in something: I believe I'll have another drink. "Dennis Gibbons" wrote in message et... I notice that the Navy site I used to check the Gulf Stream has disappeared. Anyone have a URL for the weekly positions of the Gulf Stream? |
#19
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
Dennis Gibbons wrote:
I have that one, I'm looking for the larger scale one with more detail. For my money (IOW this isn't free) this cannot be beaten: http://users.erols.com/gulfstrm/ Clark's site is the granddaddy (or is it "grandmamma"?) of Gulf Stream references. -- Good luck and good sailing. s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat http://kerrydeare.home.comcast.net/ |
#20
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Gulf Stream Myths and Worse
Sherwin, you might just wanna take a look at a temp chart of the waters between
Florida and Newfoundland to see just how much of a well-defined "river" the Gulf Stream is. On the average, it "gets there", but there is not much "average" about it. The gulf stream is somewhat like a river in that it never stops flowing. What does shift is the location of maximum current. Along the coast of Florida it is at a low speed, increasing towards the Bahamas and then falling off again as you approach Easterly closer to the islands. If it is a calm day, you won't even notice the stream unless you take a Easterly heading to say Bimini harbor and watch your boat move Northeast. I have a slow 22 footer and will steer a somewhat SouthEast course across the stream heading East, and although I start somewhat South of Bimini, I will usually hit Bimini right on the nose after a half day crossing. If you have a GPS, you can check your 'course made good' and also see the effects of the current. If you have been crossing in high speed power boats, the effects of the stream would be much less noticeable, but still there. Sherwin Dubren JAXAshby wrote: I been sailing for 46 years trying to find that elusive Gulph Streem. It moves around ya know? JAX (anchorlt) wrote in message .com... 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. |
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