It's The Current, Stupid

At Sea, 29 45 N 080 18 W

Sometimes jinxes work in reverse. Yesterday, just after I posted the blog complaining of no wind, the wind came up.

We had a splendid ride last evening. With the wind at our aft quarter and with the Gulf Stream current we hit a peak of 11.2 knots!!! Average speed was about 8 knots. Outstanding.

Around 10 O'clock Libby called me on deck to see a jellyfish light show. We were in the middle of a school of fish that could blink on and off. It was spooky to see the blue-green light coming from under the water. Once before, in the Florida Keys we saw blinking jellyfish.

After midnight the wind shifted to the west. It shifted too far! The forecast said SW, but the wind was 22 from the West. It made it impossible to start heading back into shore. For the next 15 hours I tried to do something about it. I tried one tack, I tried the other. Nothing worked. Finally I resolved to just wait for the forecasted SW wind that should come late Sunday.

Around 1500 on Sunday the wind shift came. It blew at 14 knots from the SW. However I failed utterly to find a combination of sailing point and wind trim to make use of it. I had three alternate destinations in mind and I was unable to make the boat go in any of those three directions. I felt as if I didn't know anything about sailing. The frustration felt complete. I gave up, dropped the sails, started the motor and made way for Saint Augustine, 56 miles away. That put me in a thoroughly foul mood.

Three hours later the winds suddenly changed again. I was able to stop the motor, raise the sails and set a reasonable course and speed toward Saint Augustine. Everything worked as expected once again. After all the adjustments, the truth finally hit me. That was no second wind shift, we had sailed out of the Gulf Stream.

Ay ay ay. My 30+ years of sailing experience provide me with a lot of instincts about how sailboats behave in different conditions. That is except in conditions of strong currents. My instincts were all wrong in this case. Worse; I didn't recognize the cause. I still have much to learn.

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