Slipped into the gulfstream under the cover of darkness entering at 37 30'N, 070 30'W last night at about 2145. The darkest night I have ever been in. Water temperature rose sharply, from 14C in New York harbor, and 16C up to the continental shelf, right up to 28.8C in the middle of the stream!! Amazing phosphorescence - we had a tail like a meteor that stretched out towards the horizon. I got splashed by some water from a misbehaving wave and it's like bathwater. We raced across all night and exited the stream just after 6am this morning, as the first hint of light hit the sky.
One consequence of the stream is that each of us came on deck, and over a period of time, everybody finally said 'I am so hot!' and removed a few layers of clothing. We were still wearing hats, gloves, longjohns and so on. Now it's not quite t-shirt weather, but we're just wearing light clothes under our foul weather gear, and that despite 30 knts and a bit of spray.
Haven't seen another boat for two days.
After looking forward to seeing the color of the stream for ages, we kind of missed it by crossing at night. Still, now on the eastern side, the water is a dark purple colour - really quite amazing. I referred to it as aubergine which has caused hours of entertainment for the boys at my expense.
Right now, 1030 on Tuesday, we're in a squall, breeze to 30 knots and around 8-10' seas. We've triple reefed the main, and have a sliver of jib flying, but we're still cruising along in the 7's. Lots of spray, but it's nice to see again after such a dark night. I'm also relieved to be over the stream: we're out of the zone that has a reputation for becoming dangerous. So for now a bit bouncy and uncomfortable, but boat feels fine and balanced, and we're tearing down the rhumb line for Bermuda.
A bit hard for me to write, so will leave it here. 312nm to Bermuda; we're just passed half way. Water temp still 25C.
[some of Sylvain's photos attached]
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