SAILORS HAVE BEEN USING THE GULF STREAM FOR CENTURIES

The Gulf Stream is part of a global conveyor belt of ocean current that mixes global ocean waters (salinity density and temperature) around the globe.  Like creatures of the sea, sailors have been using different currents in this conveyor belt for centuries.  A very important current in the Atlantic Ocean is the Gulf Stream. Basically, SE trade winds blow and drive warm surface water from the mid/south Atlantic between Western Africa and Northeastern South America northwest through the Caribbean to the Gulf of Mexico.  The turning of the earth and the west winds then drive this current north east up eastern North America.  As the gulf stream gets more north it splits in a few different directions towards Europe and the North Atlantic.

The Gulf Stream is very important for the European climate as it brings warm air to the continent that would otherwise be quite cool.  The Gulf Stream is 10,000 km long and moves at 2m/sec making it the largest and fastest of all the ocean currents on earth.  Some people liken it to a river of water in the ocean.  The Gulf Stream was discovered by early Spanish explorers over 500 years ago and was used to both colonize the West and bring wealth and fortune back to Spain.  For this reason the Gulf Stream has had a huge impact on the history and culture of the Caribbean, the Americas and Europe.

Consider Christopher Columbus’s final transatlantic voyage, when conquistadors carved out a vast and wealthy overseas empire for Spain, first in the Caribbean as far north as what is now Florida and then on the mainlands of Mexico, Central America, Colombia, Venezuela, and Peru: these early ships used the Gulf Stream.  Products of these tropical and mountainous territories brought high prices on the Continent, and Spanish galleons sailed home laden with exotic dyes, sugar, tobacco, chocolate, pearls, hardwoods, and silver and gold. These so-called “treasure fleets” made Spain the most powerful and envied nation in Renaissance Europe. Thanks to the travels of Ponce de Leon in 1513, Spanish navigators knew that the best return route from Spain’s rich Caribbean possessions was along the Gulf Stream, through the Bahama Channel, and past the shores of Florida. The Spanish knew they must defend this peninsula to prevent enemies from using its harbors as havens from which to raid the passing treasure fleets.  The Spanish built Forts to defend their positions in the New World.  One such Fort was built on the East Coast of modern day Florida:

 CASTILLO SAN MARCOS, St Augustine Florida

See https://oceanposse.com/castillo-san-marcos/ to learn more about the Spanish Must See Fort along the Ocean Posse route in San Augustine, Florida.

For Ocean Posse vessels looking to cross the Atlantic Ocean the Gulf Stream has been and continues to be very important voyage planning consideration.  Two big challenges are the higher amount of large vessel traffic in the Gulf Stream and the warmer water in the Gulf Stream which translates to thunderstorms or worse. For these two reasons many mariners cross the Gulf Stream as quickly as possible relative to their destination.

by EDITOR