The Gulf Stream is a giant conveyor belt carrying heat from the tropics north and east into the Atlantic. During our crossing, the ocean temperature was around 70F (21C) in the open ocean and above 80F (27C) in the middle of the current.
There’s so much heat in the water that the Gulf Stream can create its own weather. As we approached, the western wall of the current was marked by an immediate change from clear blue skies to a line of white clouds. By the time we’d crossed to the other side, the friendly white clouds had given way to decidedly unfriendly thunderheads.
Torrential rain, shifting and gusting winds, and bright bolts of lightning with huge claps of thunder stayed with us for the final 2-3 hours of the crossing. It’s probably not possible to exactly capture the feeling of being on a small boat at sea in a lightning storm, so we’ll just call it unpleasant.
Twenty-four hours later, we’re still feeling the effects of the eddies that spin off the main current – a knot or two of head current gives way to a knot or two of extra push. But we’re now beyond the squalls of the Gulf Stream and are enjoying our own private blue disc of sparkling ocean.
Day Two
165nm
32 27.6N 73 20.1W
