Planning to Cross the Gulf Stream

Latitude 27 degrees 66’00” N  Longitude 80 degrees 37’14” E Vero Beach, Florida

Vero Beach Municipal Marina

When we last left our "heroine,"  she was scrubbing the boat within an inch of its’ life.  That fervor has since subsided and S/V NORTHERN STAR has continued her journey south within the barrier islands of eastern Florida on the ICW.*  

Goal:  To position our boat far enough south on the Florida shore to make the jump across the Gulf Stream without being pushed north of the Abacos Islands, the northernmost islands of the Bahamas.  

The Bahamas extend from the Abacos off the coast of Florida, to the Turks and Caicos Islands on the far east.

A Brief Tutorial on the Gulf Stream:

For those who were paying attention in school, the Gulf Stream is, of course, a powerful warm ocean current moving east out of the Gulf of Mexico and up the eastern coastline of the United States and Newfoundland on its way to Northern Europe.  The warmer Gulf water moves east between Cuba and the Florida coast and after it has cleared the large “obstacle” (Florida) in its’ path, shoots its' way north at an increased speed of 2 1/2 knots (or 5.6 mph) at the surface. So, here we have this jazzed up stream from the Gulf carrying both warmer water and warmer air northward where it will collide with the colder water and air of the North Atlantic.  As you know, warm air colliding with cold tends to produce squalls along the line where the two meet, and, wind from the north blowing against the northerly flowing current produces big waves.  End of today’s lesson.

Stratocumulus.  Cloud layers over horizon indicating convective activity.

Plan:  To get NORTHERN STAR across that fast moving stream of water as quickly as possible, and we need to do it when there are no squalls brewing and there is no northerly component to the wind. The Gulf Stream is about 62 miles wide and about 3,000 feet deep between the Bahamas and Florida.  For those 60 some miles, the Stream will be pushing our sailboat northward while we will be trying to go eastward.  We’ve decided that we will bring the boat at least as far south as West Palm Beach before crossing over to the Bahamas.  From there it is pretty much due east to the westernmost part of the Bahamas, the shortest route possible.

Dinghy dock at Vero Beach.  Jax waits for permission to jump out of the dinghy.

When we depart, however, we will set a course heading that is a few degrees south of our intended destination, given that the Gulf Stream will naturally be pushing the boat more northerly as we sail east.  Sailors call this tactic “crabbing.”  (Crabs walk sideways more often than not, as they are able to do that more quickly than moving forward. This is a function of how their legs are built. I hope that crabs end up where they plan to go. I hope we do too).   

Entry to Bahamas, northeast of West Palm Beach at Memory Rock South on the Little Bahama Bank.

Our intended entry into the Bahamas will be Memory Rock South, which is off the northwest coast of Grand Bahama Island.  Once we reach that point, we will be out of the Gulf Stream and we will be sailing on the very shallow waters of what is called Little Bahama Bank. 

We have enough provisions onboard for the next 10 weeks. 

Our job now is to be ready to go when the weather is right.   We have provisioned with foods that are difficult or extremely expensive to acquire in the Bahamas.  We watch the weather and listen to our weather router, Chris Parker, who broadcasts on SSB (Single Side Band radio) every morning.  A weather router is a person who has all of the available weather data sources at his disposal. The router is skilled at interpreting the weather information and anticipating the characteristics of the weather that will be developing near shore and offshore over the next day and the next week. This particular weather router is an experienced sailor, as well, who understands the implications of that weather for a boat at any given latitude/longitude of the eastern shore and the Caribbean.  

Spent a lovely day with an old friend from Duluth.  

For a fee, we also receive a daily afternoon email from him with updated information about the wind and waves and current forecast models.  Some clients also choose the additional service of talking directly to him with specific questions about their particular destination and route.   We can listen in on those conversations over SSB and benefit from that instruction, especially when the caller is in our vicinity.  With the help of the weather router, we can be fairly confident about choosing a departure day and specific time that will enable us to make the crossing without getting caught in nasty weather on the way.  As of now, it appears that we will likely not be crossing to the Bahamas for another week.  We await the next reasonable weather window.  

Brown Pelicans hang out nearby.

We received an email yesterday morning from friends, Jim and Chris Walden on S/V RadioWaves.   We met them while traveling on the ICW with them.  (Chris writes a blog too, called Mangoes, Marley and Mermaids. They have just arrived in the Bahamas.  They reported a somewhat uncomfortable crossing and said that they ended up entering the Bahamas 12 miles north of their intended destination, courtesy of the Gulf Stream, of course.   Yesterday afternoon we ran into some other Minnesotans on M/V Summer of ‘42, who invited us for wine and cheese on their boat, a big, beautiful trawler.  

Aboard M/V Summer of '42, a large trawler 

Along with a wonderful evening of ogling the trawler, sharing wine and delicious finger foods, we also were allowed to pick the brains of these much more experienced boaters, about traveling to and within the Bahamas.  Just what we need, of course—to benefit from the experiences of others.  And to enjoy another day in Vero Beach.  

Vero Beach Municipal Marina's huge mooring field.  Most boats are live aboards. 

*ICW  Intra-Coastal Waterway