Thinking of heading south this fall to Florida, The Bahamas or The Caribbean?  Have questions and wonder the pros and cons of the various options, then read our three posts-Newport to the Caribbean-Newport to Norfolk-Norfolk to Florida.  You can find them all in the index of posts under the Navigation category to the right of this post.

One thing all the routes have in common is a Gulf Stream crossing which many who are new to cruising find intimidating.  Fortunately, most cruisers won’t have any problems and many will wonder what the fuss was all about.  I am not going to offer advice as to just what wind and sea conditions you should look for as every Captain, crew, and boat will have different requirements.  That said, I have listed a few observations about crossing that are relevant for every boat and crew looking to cross.

Crossing the Gulf Stream from Florida ports

I have watched many a crew lose their Gulf Stream crossing weather window while debating go or no go or while they searched for a “buddy boat” or because they hadn’t provisioned for the Bahamas yet.  On average it only takes 12 hours to cross, fall weather windows don’t wait but a day or two after which it may be several days to a week or more before another opportunity appears.

Thus my advice on dealing with a Florida Gulf Stream crossing; provision and position your boat for departure, have your crew onboard and if you need a buddy boat, have them in position with you, all provisioned and ready to go so that when your weather window appears you are ready to depart.

If the wind goes fair in the afternoon wait until after mid-night to depart, this will allow you a full daylight approach and entry to Bahamian ports.  If the wind goes fair overnight leave well before dawn so as to ensure a daylight arrival.  Bahamian harbors are no place to attempt in the dark even with chart plotters.  You can easily find yourself in trouble attempting entry to Bahamian ports in the dark as wind and wave have moved sandbars and channels around.  Bimini is a perfect example of this, the sandbars on both sides of the channel have intruded into the entrance channel and it would be easy in the dark to hit one, in daylight they are easy to see and avoid.

Speaking of crew, having a crew with a schedule will hinder you in your choice of opportunities to cross.  If time is running out on your crew’s schedule you may be forced to either delay your crossing or chance an iffy window.  Best to have them aboard with an open-ended stay for the crossing or have them meet you in the Bahamas at a later date.

From Florida, each Captain has to decide if the conditions are acceptable, both from a crew and a boats perspective.  In other words conditions on any given day may be right for some boats and crews but not for others.  As Captain do not feel compelled to cross just because others are.  Keep in mind that boats leaving on any given day may be faster, thus able to take advantage of short windows, or they may be larger and heavier and can safely and comfortably handle rougher conditions.

Also, keep in mind that there is no shame in turning back or heading for a different port because you found the conditions unacceptable.  I have turned back several times or bailed out for different ports because conditions were unacceptable or changed while we were en route.

On one such trip on a 47′ boat, we left Fort Lauderdale with another vessel of the same size for West End Grand Bahama.  By 0200 the wind had backed to the Northeast and increased in strength instead of veering from East as was predicted.  We opted to forgo West End, fell off and sailed for Lake Worth.  The other vessel continued on into the night, at dawn, a Coast Guard helo took the crew off a sinking boat.  Bashing into the seas a foredeck hatch had broken and down flooded the boat beyond saving before the crew, sick on deck, discovered the problem below.  By the time water was discovered in the boat she was down by the bow and taking more water than her pumps could handle with each wave.  I spoke with the Captain a few weeks later, he had continued on because his charter guests had paid to go to the Bahamas, well they survived but never made the Bahamas!
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Crossing the Gulf Stream North of Cape Hatteras

For those crossing the Gulf Stream north of Cape Hatteras on boats under 60′, know that it is difficult to get a weather forecast upon departure that will hold up and give you good weather to cross the Stream in 2 or 3 days time.  Weather in the fall in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream is quite changeable!

From the north on your approach expect wind speed to increase as the cold air over the cold North Slope water is sucked in to replace the hot rising air over the Gulf Stream which even at the latitude of Cape Hatteras is still running around 85°f in the fall.

If on your approach to the Stream the wind increases but the weather, in general, is good continue on, you may find the wind in the Stream itself to settle down.  If on the other hand, the weather is deteriorating you have to make a decision like “can I get into and across the Stream before whatever weather is coming arrives?”  If not then while still well away from the Stream heave too and wait for conditions to improve, I can tell you from experience you do not want to get caught in the Stream when the wind blows hard against the Gulf Stream current as it is strong enough to easily double the size of any waves you might expect from a given wind strength.

In 1998 I got caught in the Stream by an unexpected 30 hour Force 10 gale, the seas measured by a cruise ship passing us were in excess of 30′ and very square.  We lay hove too behind a sea anchor and lived to tell the tale, it was not an experience I would ever want to repeat or wish on anyone!

Departing Beaufort NC to cross the Gulf Stream

If you follow my preferred fall route south to the Caribbean and depart from Beaufort NC to cross the Gulf Stream with a good 24-hour weather forecast you are golden.  Leaving Beaufort at first light you will be into and across the Gulf Stream by midnight.  After that, any foul weather will usually form north of you off Cape Hatteras and be moving away from you. On this route, your only two hard decisions are when to turn south so as to avoid the windless high-pressure ridge that sits off the coast between Beaufort and The Caribbean or should you stop or not stop in Bermuda.

 

The only constant when it comes to crossing the Gulf Stream is it is never the same twice.  I’ve been in it in horrible conditions and seen it flat calm.  Usually, my crossings have been comfortable, sometimes lumpy and occasionally rough, sometimes crewmembers have spent their crossing sitting on the lee rail feeding the fish, sometimes they have laid on deck and watched the stars and meteors, in the end, everyone enjoyed the Bahamas.