15Feb2012 noon position: L31^-54'N, Lo076^-16'W, or about 250nm east of Savannah 
  The morning I left it was 26^ in Wilmington. When I got to the boat I started the cabin heater, and in a few hours the temperature was comfortable. It is a pressurized kerosene Force 10 heater, and when needed it really does the job. I ran it all the first day and the first night. It sure was good to be able to go below and be warm. When the weather gets cold, a boat is really cold. I carried all the warm clothes I have, coats, several sets of extreme cold weather long underware, insulated vests, two pairs of boots, hats, gloves. When I set off I was wearing two layers of pants and five layers of shirts. I was not cold, especially because of the nice warm cabin. Sometime during the night I got to the warm Gulf Stream. By morning I was sheading shirts and had the heater turned down to low. Now, I am down to my summer uniform, boxer shorts and a short sleeve shirt, and I have a sail bag full of cold weather clothes, plus boots, that I have to carry for the next two months. But I was warm that first night!
  Yesterday was all about the Gulf Stream. At times I was going through the water at 6 kts, and only making 2.5 kts by the GPS. I felt that I had to get through, because it gets dangerous in the Gulf Stream in certain weather conditions. So with no wind I motored hard. It is not pleasant motoring in open ocean. each wave slows the boat, and there are no sails to dampen the boat's motion.  So the motor is roaring and the boat  pitching around. Finally, my midnight log entry says,"Sailing at last." So I started sailing, and making some headway. Slowly at first, then good sailing, then really good sailing, then the radar alarmed on an approaching storm. Reluctantly I partially furled the genoa, and finished just as it started raining. The more I use the radar the better I like it. That rain was the start of a  blistering frontal passage. Lots of wind and lots of rain. The waves were spectacular. The boat pitched and twisted and plunged and leaped into the air, to come back down with awesome impacts. It sure is nice to sail a steel boat. By daylight the wind and rain had passed, but the waves remained, and it was really uncomfortable. I'll say again, the wind had passed. All day long I have been motoring through disturbed seas. And once again, no wind, no sails to dampen the motion. This is really tiring, and I am making very slow progress. The first day I made 85 nautical miles, the second 62nm. That is probably my slowest noon-to-noon ever. Hopefully today will be better. It may be  quite bouncy, but I seem to be averaging a little better than 3 kts, which will put me in the 80's again. My "budget" is 100 nm a day. And the next real wind that is forecasted is from the south. But I am out of the Gulf Stream, and sooner or later I will get the wind I need. And this beats motoring down the waterway for two weeks. It is almost 16:00, there is about 8 knots of wind I can use, the boat speed with motor is 4.3 kts, and the seas are gradually subsiding. It this holds I will have an easy night.
Reef Early,
Bill Doar