Hi all,
Just a little note on some research I’ve been doing about the Gulf Stream and how to ride it. We were sailing out of Great Sale Cay and got a call from a boat called Exuberant about our destination while crossing the stream. Since they were heading for a similar port we decided to alter our course and pick on their experience of many crossings compared to our few. Instead of using Mantanilla Shoals to exit the bank we angled northwest (about 310 degrees) at the Lily Bank which was 25 miles sooner. This helped with the wind coming from the southeast at 15 kts and swell from the east 2-3 feet. (A little rocky)
We discussed entering the stream a little later because the wind from the south never materialized and we started to get a little from the north about 5 kts.(not good because we got a little chop and started hobby horsing). The other item was squalls coming from the Florida Keys. At sunset they sort of dried out but were holding the moisture for later. We also had one storm cell about even Latitude with Cape Canaveral but east of the stream. That on wasn’t moving and started a lightening show that began at sunset and continued for 8 hours.
Exuberant had GPS weather and would get updates frequently so we could alter direction to avoid the cell. We were lucky to be able to keep some distance from the storm and could track its location by radar, the closest being two miles but the largest at six.
We hoped that the waves in the stream had a chance to relax since we were approaching them quicker by trying to avoid the storm. So we eased near the Longitude 79*30W that our weatherman said was the eastern edge. We picked up speed to 8-9 kts slowly escaping the storm but the storm also drifted into the edge so it followed us. The light show was incredible with multiple strikes every second.(it looked more like the finale of the Fourth of July fireworks). At 3 am we had distanced ourselves from the storm and were now near the center of the stream Longitude 79*50W. Our speed was over 9 kts and the seas dropped to 2-3 and following with swells from the east nearly three at 7 seconds bringing back the rock and roll.
By morning the wind was less than 5 from the north and seas were more comfortable. We adjusted our course to 350 degrees making great progress north without going anymore west. With the sun out it was very nice and we made 9 kts all day long. By evening we got to a point near Latitude 30 north where we parted course with Exuberant (we headed north on Longitude 79*55 and Exuberant slightly more west heading for Port Royal.
By night the weather update noted squalls at Lat 31* N strong on land and moving east over the water but losing energy. Our direction was going to change to 30 degrees east about that time so we would head towards Charleston. The Gulf Stream also makes its turn towards the east at about the same spot bringing 80 degree water to meet the cooler air coming off the coast. All night we had rain, heavy at times, passing over us. The only bright spot was that the rain beat down the waves so we only had the swell from the east at 7 seconds, more comfortable. The wind was light and variable but mostly NE in direction (the prediction was light from the south for two days which we never got).
By morning of the second day the rain continued as we neared Charleston but getting lighter. NOAA weather predicted wind to come from the east at around 10 kts so we decided to make Winyah Bay our destination. We came out of the stream with about 50 miles left to travel against some current and two foot seas. We hadn’t seen any boats all night except one fisherman so we thought. We crossed the sea lanes that had several container ships and tankers all keeping a good distance except one (there’s always one).
We now calculated tide times for the entrance of Winyah Bay, low slack at 5:30 pm, and to ride the current in. This worked well with the swell dropping to less than two and no strong eddies near the breakwater. We kept centered on the range lights and made an easy entry. Behind us the clouds were again forming over the Gulf Stream for another night of rain. We were glad to be heading to the anchorage but still wondering if we could have gone further. Neither of us had much more than a few hours sleep for three days so it nice just to get in. We dropped anchor 60 hours after leaving Great Sale Cay and think we did pretty good for an elderly couple.
Just a little note on some research I’ve been doing about the Gulf Stream and how to ride it. We were sailing out of Great Sale Cay and got a call from a boat called Exuberant about our destination while crossing the stream. Since they were heading for a similar port we decided to alter our course and pick on their experience of many crossings compared to our few. Instead of using Mantanilla Shoals to exit the bank we angled northwest (about 310 degrees) at the Lily Bank which was 25 miles sooner. This helped with the wind coming from the southeast at 15 kts and swell from the east 2-3 feet. (A little rocky)
We discussed entering the stream a little later because the wind from the south never materialized and we started to get a little from the north about 5 kts.(not good because we got a little chop and started hobby horsing). The other item was squalls coming from the Florida Keys. At sunset they sort of dried out but were holding the moisture for later. We also had one storm cell about even Latitude with Cape Canaveral but east of the stream. That on wasn’t moving and started a lightening show that began at sunset and continued for 8 hours.
Exuberant had GPS weather and would get updates frequently so we could alter direction to avoid the cell. We were lucky to be able to keep some distance from the storm and could track its location by radar, the closest being two miles but the largest at six.
We hoped that the waves in the stream had a chance to relax since we were approaching them quicker by trying to avoid the storm. So we eased near the Longitude 79*30W that our weatherman said was the eastern edge. We picked up speed to 8-9 kts slowly escaping the storm but the storm also drifted into the edge so it followed us. The light show was incredible with multiple strikes every second.(it looked more like the finale of the Fourth of July fireworks). At 3 am we had distanced ourselves from the storm and were now near the center of the stream Longitude 79*50W. Our speed was over 9 kts and the seas dropped to 2-3 and following with swells from the east nearly three at 7 seconds bringing back the rock and roll.
By morning the wind was less than 5 from the north and seas were more comfortable. We adjusted our course to 350 degrees making great progress north without going anymore west. With the sun out it was very nice and we made 9 kts all day long. By evening we got to a point near Latitude 30 north where we parted course with Exuberant (we headed north on Longitude 79*55 and Exuberant slightly more west heading for Port Royal.
By night the weather update noted squalls at Lat 31* N strong on land and moving east over the water but losing energy. Our direction was going to change to 30 degrees east about that time so we would head towards Charleston. The Gulf Stream also makes its turn towards the east at about the same spot bringing 80 degree water to meet the cooler air coming off the coast. All night we had rain, heavy at times, passing over us. The only bright spot was that the rain beat down the waves so we only had the swell from the east at 7 seconds, more comfortable. The wind was light and variable but mostly NE in direction (the prediction was light from the south for two days which we never got).
By morning of the second day the rain continued as we neared Charleston but getting lighter. NOAA weather predicted wind to come from the east at around 10 kts so we decided to make Winyah Bay our destination. We came out of the stream with about 50 miles left to travel against some current and two foot seas. We hadn’t seen any boats all night except one fisherman so we thought. We crossed the sea lanes that had several container ships and tankers all keeping a good distance except one (there’s always one).
We now calculated tide times for the entrance of Winyah Bay, low slack at 5:30 pm, and to ride the current in. This worked well with the swell dropping to less than two and no strong eddies near the breakwater. We kept centered on the range lights and made an easy entry. Behind us the clouds were again forming over the Gulf Stream for another night of rain. We were glad to be heading to the anchorage but still wondering if we could have gone further. Neither of us had much more than a few hours sleep for three days so it nice just to get in. We dropped anchor 60 hours after leaving Great Sale Cay and think we did pretty good for an elderly couple.
