Flying Fish

June 6, 2024

My story originaly published in the Shell Point Sailboard Club (SPSC) News letter

If you ever find yourself in SE Florida in the winter, with your windsurfing equipment, after a cold front has passed, go to the beach and look East at the horizon.  If it looks bumpy, the Gulf Stream is “up” and you should rig up and head out.  The wind will probably be NW 15 to 20 knots and so you will want to use a long board just in case the sail you rig, turns out to be too small or the wind decreases after you get out there.  You want to be on a board that can sail up wind in all conditions, ie. Plaining and sub-plaining.  Assuming you want to get back to where you left from, and wind from the NW, sail out to the Gulf Stream close hauled on the port tack.  I forgot to mention, wear your warmest wet suit, and to be really safe bring a handheld water proof VHF Radio and or Personal Locator Beacon (PLB), just stick them in your wet suit.  The edge of the Gulf Stream is about 3 miles from land in Miami Beach and only 1 mile from land in Palm Beach which where the edge of the Gulf Stream comes closest to shore.  To get there you will have to sail close hauled on the port tack as previously mentioned.  You will know when you are in the Gulf Stream when the water color abruptly changes from greenish to a deep blue color, the water temperature gets noticeably warmer and the ocean swells get much larger, like 6 to 10 feet.  You will still be able to see buildings on shore, but depending on how far out into the Gulf Stream you go, you may find the lowest floors of the buildings are not visible because they are below the your Western Horizion.  Hopefully you have convinced some other sailors to go with you, and when you are down in the trough between these large swells, you will only be able to see the tops of the sails of the sailors that came with you.  You will also notice that the wind is stronger when you are on the top of a swell and lighter when you are in the trough, and these swells are surfable, you may need to pump your sail a few times to start surfing down a wave.  The reason the swells are so large after a cold front is due to the wind from North blowing against the Gulf Stream Current which comes from the South.  Anytime you have wind opposing current you will have larger waves.  For example if you are sailing out a inlet or pass, example Port Everglades (Ft Lauderdale) or Boca Grand Pass (Just north of Ft. Myers).  If you have an onshore wind and a outgoing (ebb) tide or a offshore wind and incoming (flood) tide you have wind opposing the tidal current and the inlet or pass will have larger than usual waves.  When Surfing down the Gulf Stream swells you will be going in a Southerly direction, but the Gulf Stream Current will be taking you in a Northerly Directions so your direction back to land won’t change that much.  You may still find that before heading back to shore, you need to sail upwind some to get a good angle on your Starboard tack back to shore.  By far the coolest thing you will see are Flying Fish.  The noise of your board slapping the water surface scares the flying fish and they often will take off a foot or two in front of the nose of your board like a surface to air missile, and fly 10 to 20 feet before landing back in the water.  In the event of a equipment failure, try to jury rig some way to sail back, but be prepared for a long paddle back to land.  If you really get into trouble call for help on your VHF Radio or activate your PLB, but I think most likely you will be able to paddle back without a problem.  I have never had to paddle back from the Gulf Stream myself, however I consider it well worth the risk, to sail & surf on giant Gulf Stream Swells with Flying Fish.