Crossing the Gulf Stream

Well, departure dayis here, and everything is in order. So, we secure the dinghy, tie everything down, clean off the windows, and do the countdown to dusk. As a final send off, a squall blows in and causes a frenzy in the cockpit as we try to prevent everything from getting soaked on our way out to the Atlantic Ocean at night. Of course, it passes, and Rum Line II arrives to join us on the grand crossing. We realize as we head out and find the Gulf Stream that we may have been smarter to head a little further south - perhaps Fort Lauderdale or even Miami - in order to enjoy the benefit of the Gulf Stream rather than to fight our way through it.
Rum Line II is keeping pace with us - although truth be told, we cannot help but feel we are holding him back as we motor along at 4-5 knots. He could easily pass us at 8 - 10 knots, but Gary chooses to stay with us. By about 10pm, we are grateful that he has lagged along with us as Blair races below and I assume my station at the wheel. This feels like the repeat of a bad horror movie. It seems that we have lost all the hydraulic fluid for our steering. Blair reports that some pieces haver come apart that are related to the pump for the steering. I don't exactly understand the inticacies of the problem. All I know is that this situation we find ourselves in means that Blair is scrambling around in the aft cabin under the bed with a flashlight as he tries to add more fluid and repair the pump which has come apart. And I, accomplished manual steerer that I now am, have assumed my position at the wheel. I am grateful for my previous crash course in our last offshore passage, and we are equally (or even more) grateful that Rum Line II is our buddy boat. Gary is forced to stop playing in the waves and the Gulf Stream, and agrees to assume a position ahead of us to act as a beacon in the night. We manage to get the steering back, but no autopilot. We use the sails to give us a little added power as we motor along until the last fury erupts from overhead - an ugly squall that persists through to our arrival into Port Lucaya. We find our way in as the sun is rising, tying up to the dock behind Rum Line II. Randy Beck hails us on Channel 16 to welcome us to the Bahamas.
Some Interesting Facts on Crossing the Gulf Stream:
Crossing the Gulf Streanm in a vessel can best be compared to the progress of an ant trying to traverse an airport's moving walkway. The ant might have to make a direct crossing. But, inevitably during its transit, it will be taken beyond its target. For every hour a vessel is in the Stream, it will be pushed about 2.5 nautical miles to the north. Like it or not. If a vessel is crossing from a departure point, more or less on an equal latitude to its destination, its first concern is to minimize the time it will be in the Gulf Stream. If a vessel is departing south of its destination, then it is a different story. The goal, then, is to stay on that walkway for as long as possible to enjoy the free ride north before turning toward the destination.