Charleston to Maine, day 2 – uncomfortable ride on the Gulf Stream

Wednesday 27 Jun: Cape Fear (Southport) to Cape Hatteras
After midnight dark clouds are coming our way and luckily they pass ahead of us without any lightning activity. An uneventful night, just looking out for squalls and a few passing cargo ships. We are still motoring, going further out at sea in search for the Gulf Stream which would give us a good boost. A golden moon sets astern as the dawn comes in on our bow. The sun rises behind what looks like very threatening black clouds. But soon the sky clears and we finally start seeing some wind on our beam.
The engine takes a break after 20 hours of motoring. Hm, we already used 100 litres of diesel. Time for sails out! We are not exactly fast, doing only 5kts, but feels good to have peace and a more gentle rhythm at last. Couple of hours later we find the Gulf Stream which helps us with 1.5kts of current. Now that’s more like it, 7+kts SOG is what we like to see. By midday we are getting almost 3 kts helping us. And it is needed because the wind has dropped to just 6-7kts and a large Atlantic swell has set in against us. Its about 2.5m high but a long 40m between waves, making us feel like we are climbing and descending a hill every 15 seconds.
In the afternoon we get 4kts of current, which was lucky, because the wind drops further and we are only doing 3-4kts boat speed. The swell is chaotic, coming from 2 different directions, and with the 30 degrees angle they feel like sand dunes, not waves. It’s probably the most weird sea we have yet experienced. By 7pm wind dies completely and on comes the engine. Going faster also means an even more uncomfortable motion, as we are riding the chaotic waves faster now. We both felt drowsy and seasick all afternoon, and even Glen takes a pill against seasickness.
On AIS we see a motorboat which is heading straight out towards Bermuda, and we call them on VHF to ask if the swell is just as bad closer to the shore, or it is a local effect of the Gulf Stream. As anticipated, they tell us that out of the current the sea is not so bad, so after we let a cargo ship pass in front of us, we change course -45 degrees to get out of the current and into shallower sea. Now the waves are side on, but somehow rolling doesn’t feel as bad after we have been pitching for 12 hours. Its a bit sad to leave that 4 kt current but both boat and crew are pretty stressed by the extreme motion.
We spot a lone dolphin jumping next to the bow, but none of us is brave enough to go out there and watch its performance as the bow is dipping into the steep faced waves then riding high to slam down again. Cloudy Bay doesnt normally slam, but today she does, sending shudders through the rig, the hull and the crew!
After just an hour on the course to more peaceful seas the gulf stream current drops to 1.5 kts and the sea state loses its anger. Still uncomfotable, but now bearable. So we change to our northerly course, parallel with the 500m contour and heading directly to Cape Cod, 480 nm infront. And so we motor into our second night with full moon on a glassy lumpy sea.