Where are we

Wednesday 14 June 2017

On passage to Newport RI

Stuart, Florida to Newport, Road Island
We cast off from our mooring in Stuart yesterday at around noon and followed the channel out to open water and the Gulf Stream, which is around 8 miles offshore in that area. The wind was light but we were able to sail until 1800 when it dropped completely and we turned on the engine. Not far from shore we were visited by a small pod of speckled dolphins and we surprised (and were surprised by) a large sea turtle just a couple metres from us.
We could tell when we reached the Gulf Stream as the water surface, stopped being a pattern of regular waves and got quite messy. Once properly in to the Stream the water loses the messiness and the water temperature rose a couple of degrees to 31 C. The maximum current we experienced was just over 3 knots. We were particularly grateful for it as our boat speed was only 3 to 4 knots in the light winds and when you added in the current, our speed over the ground was 6+ knots.
It's great that it doesn't get completely dark until around 2200. It makes for a nice short night. We motored through the night with the odd rain squall. Squalls tend to form along the warm waters of the Gulf Stream and they tend to follow each other in a 'squall line'. We crossed the squall line so got a little wet twice and then could watch the others pass us in the distance.
Today we carried on motoring in very light winds, and only just now at about 1700 have we got a little wind and are under sail again. Hurrah. It's much quieter and we're not using any diesel.
We've left Florida behind us and are about 120 miles off the coast of Georgia. So all is good and I'm just about to start getting dinner ready - bratwurst sausages with sauerkraut and mustard, steamed carrots and potatoes - Tim is just about to get the latest weather report and update our position and post this little blog.
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At 14/06/2017 22:02 (utc) our position was 30°43.48'N 079°16.79'W

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2 comments:

  1. Trying again to post comment! Really enjoying your blog glad all ok
    Elaine

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    1. Thanks Elaine, got the comment, just arrived in Newport RI although we can't see anything as thick fog.

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