Blog 009 – Islands In The Stream

Bahamas. This has been the goal of months of preparation and we finally get close and, well…things don’t go as planned. Bahamas. This was the goal for 2016. It still is going to happen, Lord willing…but not this spring. I’ll try and explain. We need to be out of the hurricane box before hurricane season – June 1st. This means not even a month in the Bahamas before prudence would say, get your home out of the way. We have tossed around the idea of still going to the Bahamas and hoping for a favorable weather window to cross back across the Gulf Stream before our deadline. Weather is a major consideration. We talked with several cruisers who went south only to be slammed by weather in the stream and turned back.

My son and daughter-in-law asked me the other day, if it is harder to navigate a sailboat on the surface than a submarine under water. Nope, just different. Submarines can go deep when the weather gets rough and with a nuclear power plant, current and wind were not a factor with thousands of horsepower available at a moments notice.

The Gulf Stream is not for the faint of heart. Let’s say you get in and didn’t do your home work. The gulf stream flows at 3-4 knots north – on a good day. On a bad day – twice that. The Gulf Stream is extremely warm water filled with fish! Huge fish! The Big game fishing club is just on the other side in Bimini. But let’s get back to the stream before we talk about the Islands in the Stream. The Gulf Stream can ruin your day if you are not prepared. The Stream carries warm masses of air on top of the warm current that flows up from Panama, and is further warmed by the Gulf of Mexico, and finally skirts the narrow gap between Florida and the Bahama banks. This carries so much warm water that peaches can grow in Maine where the Gulf Stream spreads into the North Atlantic.

But this river in the ocean carries as much bad as it does good. You’ve probably heard of a Nor’easter. Remember the movie, Perfect Storm? The warm Gulf Stream colliding with any low pressure system off the Atlantic Coast can create a virtual nightmare for mariners. Waves tall as buildings breaking over the deck. Waves so enormous you could get lost in between the trough. Think of the rollers off the North Shore of Hawaii, but surfing them with a boat not a fiberglass board. (Ok Mom, were not trying to keep you up at night worrying about us!
This is just to say we have a great amount of respect for the power of the Gulf Stream).

So this sounds like only a fool would cross it. Not so. Boats cross the 50-70 miles every week. Big power boats with huge engines, little pocket cruisers so small using the head is stepping to the aft rail and unzipping, and every size and type of boat in between. Knowledge is power. The Gulf Stream can be like crossing a pond on a good day and this can be forecasted very well.

You can trust a marine weather report two days but not three. This is a hard and fast rule. So this is what the perfect weather report for crossing the stream looks like. No northerly component in the wind at all. None. Zilch. Nada. Nothing. Any wind out of the north, north west, north east is a bad thing. Here is why. A North wind blows south. North, refers to where it’s from – not where it’s going. A north wind slams into the north bound current creating the untenable waves that pile up against the the wind creating those big troughs. Square waves are created making the trip very rough. North winds also carry with them colder arctic air that mixes with the warm air mass above the Gulf Stream and now you have the equivalent of a storm generator.

The next consideration is wave height. Waves are measured in meters. One meter is about 3.3 ft. Those are nice gentle waves but at ten meters you are looking up to see down. There are buoys measuring wave height in the Stream all day long. Any recent weather front can stir up surface waves for at least 1-2 days after it passes. So even if the storm has passed and it’s clear skies that does not mean smooth sailing yet. It may be another day or so.

Time is a real factor here. How fast can you go? We can do 7-8 knots all day – every day – but not against a 5-7 knot current. If you get the 7 knot current you’re almost stopped or even going backwards and being driven north all at the same time. This happens to many boats every year who were under powered and crossed at the wrong time. We are a sailboat but sailing the Stream is only a bonus. You can’t count on it, usually. Any contrary wind makes your passage even slower. Remember rule number one – you can trust a marine weather report for two days but not three. This is very important when crossing the Stream. You have got to give yourself an extra day for opposing current and for contrary winds and the possibility of equipment problems too.

There is a sailors technique to use the stream’s 3-5 knot current to carry you to your destination, usually the Bahama banks. To do this, go south along the Florida coast or even inside on the ICW. Go to Miami or even the the Florida Keys. Hop into the river and let it carry you north and just keep the rudder on an easterly course. You are in the Bahamas in no time-no propulsion required. This technique was used for centuries before the marine diesel power plant was ever conceived.

Another very important consideration is the weather. We have great tools like Passage Weather , NOAA (National Oceanographic and Meteorological Association), Weather Underground and the list goes on. But the professionals are the weather routers. These guys and gals are professional marine weather forecasters. Meteorologists who take your voyage plan and match the weather window that fits your ship’s and crews abilities. Yes, this comes with a price but for the cost of dinner out with the family they not only help you make the right decisions but also stick with you over the Single Side Band Radio. They give you updates and alternate routes should something change. Worth their weight in gold. Especially for us, being so new to this side of the country.

Last but not least – the forecast for Hurricanes is out. This season is projected to get underway early and be a very active season. The 2016-2017 season is going to be nothing like the last few years. El Niño kept the hurricanes at a minimum on the East Coast, but El Niño is officially dead, for now. So, back to hurricanes on the East Coast again. The near ten year low is over. And so is our hopes of making the Bahamas this spring. But we will be back in Florida Nov. 1st waiting on the first weather window over to “The Islands in the Stream.” Until then we are heading north. I would like to get a picture of Silhouette sailing in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty and Liana wants to visit the Chesapeake area. Thanks for following our journey, God Bless yours.