Beyond the Gulf Stream

We exited the south wall of the Gulf Stream this morning. Seas have continued to be rough, and choppy, and the waves are 7 – 10'. Last night, our SE wind went to SW, which is perfect for a crossing, although gusts into the low 40s resulted in a very sloppy ride. We are way off of our agreed waypoints, being unable to fight the current in the direction we wanted, and being unwilling to tack. Unbelievably, the Gulf Stream gave us a push of 4 knots at some points, making our speed over ground an astonishing 9.3 nm while our water speed was in the 5s and 6s. That current pushed us off course, and we are waiting for the predicted wind shift to the NW to get back on course. The other significant feature of the Gulf Stream is the water temperature. You can tell you are in the Stream when the temperature rises. We saw 77.2 degrees last night, but it is now back to 73 degrees. The seaweed of the Sargasso Sea floats around us.

At noon on 11/15/2007 our position is 36 53.811 N, 66 31.200 W. Our bearing to Bermuda is 178 degrees, but our course is approximately 160 degrees due to the wind. Winds remain in the upper 20s and the seas unsettled. Walking in the cabin requires careful thinking and three appendages always touching a solid surface. We are 290 miles from the customs dock in Bermuda.

We have had less equipment failure this time. Something is jamming the intake of the bilge pump, and it can't be diagnosed until we are settled somewhere. The current to the stern light has failed, and the wire needs to be traced. Another dock side job. Smaller issues have been handled in route – the steering wheel fell off on Michael's watch, but a wrench and a little locktite fixed that. As we were on deck yesterday, his life jacket cartridge opened and his jacket blew up around him. It was pretty funny to see him with big cheeks. The inevitable line wrapped around the radar reflector was untangled. Our use of the inverter and the autopilot seems to drain the new batteries faster than expected. That is on the "think about" list.

Food consumption remains minimal. Crackers, nuts, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, occasional fruit and homemade biscotti as snacks have become the meals. Except for the first night out when we enjoyed a hearty soup by Kate, there have been no hot or joint meals. Queasy stomachs prevent much eating. Jay has memorized the nutritional information of each product and tallies up his caloric intake – to what end I am uncertain.

I remain extremely frustrated by our internet connection, and have spent hours each day trying to get messages – in or out. My priority remains getting the weather charts, sending the blog, and then e-mail. Globalstar is supposed to have good coverage in this area, but our experience is that 90% of the satellites must be broken. There are two other providers, but none as cheap. Given an annual fee of $800, my expectations are apparently too high. I will catch up with folks in Bermuda when we have access to internet cafes.

DT and Team Welcome.