Here two days out at midday and 39-47N & 062-52W and a little less than 300 miles south of Lunenburg Nova Scotia, the Picton Castle is crossing the Gulf Stream. The Gulf Stream is a river of hot tropical water brewed up in the Caribbean and Gulf Of Mexico and forced north along the coast of North America by the relentless tradewinds piling these African ocean waters ever westward until they have to go somewhere.
Where they go is eventually the North Atlantic and Europe, keeping these lands warm enough to avoid looking and being like the eternal (almost) Greenland ice-scapes. Without the Gulf Stream, northen Europe would be anything but a benign living climate for us humans.
And now we are crossing it. The temperature jumps by 20 degrees F, the air warms up straight away, and best of all we spy flying fish, denizens of the deep sea tradewind waters of the world. Not tradewinds for us yet but all is looking up, nonetheless. Crew are shedding layers, even, gasp, some have gone barefoot!
The gang are getting used to steering, looking out, helping in the galley as we slowly open the ship up to better weather. Seas are small, wind is fresh from the SE, but all is good.