We are getting ready to make our first crossing to the Bahamas and plan on waiting for the appropriate weather in Biscayne Bay outside of No Name Harbor. The Admiral is concerned about crossing the Gulf Stream after reading and viewing many reports of rough crossings and I want this to go smoothly (pun intended). I know not to cross with any sort of northerly wind, but am unsure about the southerly component: do we need only a due south wind or not? How much of an easterly or westerly component is acceptable and for how long? I seem to recall that one should wait 24 hours after the favorable wind begins to allow the seas to settle, is this correct?
I am monitoring Windy.com and the NOAA marine weather while we are here in Fort Lauderdale finishing up preparations and it looks like mostly northerly winds for most of the week changing to East or ESE later on. I know there was a good window a few days ago with nearly true south wind, but we had family obligations then. What would the stream be like in such winds? Would this be good to go or should we wait for a more southerly component?
This being our first and long awaited crossing I want it all to go well and I emphatically do not want the Admiral to have a bad experience.