“In the gulf stream current if you get even a few yards apart you may not be able to swim back. The boat and the swimmers would be affected differently.”
I keep seeing this posted but I don’t understand how the ‘current’ can be so different in only a few yards apart.
Currents can differ within even a yard of depth. The boat is on the top and the swimmers legs dangle even if wearing a vest.
The fastest swimmer (Olympic level) could swim in place against the gulf stream speed ~5 miles an hour. If you have clothes and a flotation vest you can’t swim fast enough to keep with the boat. Then imagine doing that in 6 foot swells...
“I keep seeing this posted but I don’t understand how the ‘current’ can be so different in only a few yards apart.”
It has to do with weight and shape of the objects being moved in the water.
For example, a capsized but floating boat would offer less for the Gulf Stream to move it. It stays, more or less, on the surface. A person’s body usually hangs down in the water. The human body would naturally be moved by the Stream more easily.
I don’t think the current is as much of a factor as the wind and the waves. The boat has a higher profile and would tend to follow the wind. The waves are going to also push it in whatever direction they travel. Neither will have as much affect on a body which is 95% submerged.