Maggie's Farm

The Gulf Stream (as compared to the related North Atlantic Drift) is of as much interest to blue-water sailors as it is to fishermen.

Many years ago, I regularly fished for tuna with friends off Montauk on Long Island. We would usually leave at night, steam East, and hit the edge of the Stream by morning. There seemed to be a water color change, but the tell was the water temperature change. 

I did not know that Ponce de Leon was the first to take advantage of its 2.5 knot current, or that Ben Franklin mapped it in detail.

In any event, the Gulf Stream is particularly relevant to yachtsmen in the New York Yacht Club's annual Newport-Bermuda Race (aka The Bermuda Race), because their southeastern route tends to buck the current, and because the Stream is a "weather breeder."

The Stream is not static: it wiggles and throws off arms and segments. UConn Oceanographer W. Frank Bohlen has been providing updated Gulf Stream tutorials to the Bermuda Race race committee for years, for the use of the sailors.

Here's a sample of his reports, this from his June 2, 2008 report on the Gulf Stream.

Image is borrowed from Theo.