Hi all,
We made it back this morning from our stay in the Bahamas. 25 hours from the Berry Islands to Ft Pierce, Fl. There were some interesting occurrences along the way that I hadn't encountered before while sailing. There were several spots along the Northwest Providence Channel that slowed us down and the chop built substantially. Probably as it collides with the Gulf Stream causing eddies in the flow. Some spots took about an hour to get through. Then it would flatten and push us along.
The other occurrence was the Gulf Stream itself. We got into it after dark so I couldn't see any visual difference but we could feel the power, more than when we went east. Several ships followed us into the stream then turn north for points further up the coast. It was amazing how fast they would disappear. The other point was when we needed to keep our course for Ft Pierce. I had set a bearing south of the inlet but had to readjust many times with the wind and wave coming from the southeast.
At one point within 30 miles of the coast I had nearly 40 degrees difference between bearing and COG on our autopilot. At about 15 miles we eased out of the stream and the bearing and COG again were the same. Another boat had missed this observation and was swept northward having to beat their way back south with wind and wave on their beam. The wind of course grew stronger making it a tough slug to get in. Overall our trip was OK except the following wind and wave made for an annoying day.
All U Get
We made it back this morning from our stay in the Bahamas. 25 hours from the Berry Islands to Ft Pierce, Fl. There were some interesting occurrences along the way that I hadn't encountered before while sailing. There were several spots along the Northwest Providence Channel that slowed us down and the chop built substantially. Probably as it collides with the Gulf Stream causing eddies in the flow. Some spots took about an hour to get through. Then it would flatten and push us along.
The other occurrence was the Gulf Stream itself. We got into it after dark so I couldn't see any visual difference but we could feel the power, more than when we went east. Several ships followed us into the stream then turn north for points further up the coast. It was amazing how fast they would disappear. The other point was when we needed to keep our course for Ft Pierce. I had set a bearing south of the inlet but had to readjust many times with the wind and wave coming from the southeast.
At one point within 30 miles of the coast I had nearly 40 degrees difference between bearing and COG on our autopilot. At about 15 miles we eased out of the stream and the bearing and COG again were the same. Another boat had missed this observation and was swept northward having to beat their way back south with wind and wave on their beam. The wind of course grew stronger making it a tough slug to get in. Overall our trip was OK except the following wind and wave made for an annoying day.
All U Get
