Gulf Stream question

[keith4001r]

How Far east from the mouth of the Chesapeake do you have to sail to be out of the Gulf Stream?

(Watch, the correct answer will be Portugal!)

When we eventually head south, I'd rather sail offshore than motor down the ICW.

But wait...
If we have to go to Portugal, the good news is that we can do the ARC on the way back! Timing.

[Auspicious]

Where are you headed?

From the safe water buoy at the mouth of the Chesapeake I sail 135°T until the sea temperature peaks, drops, and stabilizes. That's about a day. Heading to the Bahamas I go to about 77°W depending on the forecast and turn right for North Man o' War Cut. For the Caribbean I aim for 65°W for the BVI and a bit further East for down island. Get your Easting early.

I have a warped sense of humor so I call all of it "aim for Bermuda and miss."

[hobopacket]

If it were me I would take the icw to morehead city. South of cape hatteras. Then head offshore at cape lookout. Then you can stay close to shore out of the stream and hop in and out with fun stops like Wilmington nc. Charleston. Savannah. St Augustine. And so forth.

[estarzinger]

Originally Posted by Auspicious

I aim for 65°W for the BVI

yea, exactly, the delivery skippers call it I65. Most aim for about 65W and 27N and then turn for the islands.

But to answer the OP's question, the gulf stream moves around a bit, and there are usually all sorts of swirls east of the main stream. But here is a picture of what it looks like right now:
current.jpg Views: 163 Size: 236.7 KB ID: 149469" style="margin: 2px" />

And you are out of the main stream at about 34N 74W

ps - there are all sorts of sources that will give you (free) updated gulf stream pictures.

[Delancey]

Link to one of several sites that provide current and predicted currents.

https://earth.nullschool.net/#curren....63,36.79,1420

[keith4001r]

Thanks for all the good answers. It won't be for many moons before we head south. I'm a dreamer and planner so this information will allow me to do both.