Not sure how they'd survive but I imagine it could. I was in Ireland myself once and noted that on the coast I visited, there were palm trees. It was cold. I asked how this could be and I was told "the gulf stream terminates here, it brings up warm water so the trees survive." I don't really understand how that works because as I said, the air was darned cold. But regarldess, they were certainly there so they do in fact survive. If the gulf stream runs right to Ireland, yeah, it seems it could carry a boat there but like I said, could the sailors survive the trip?
I think the upshot is, they were dead when they washed up. True about the palm trees; the stream keeps the temperature stable, even if it's cold. The ag zone here is 5, and yet, along the Lake Michigan shoreline it is zone 6. It always feels significantly colder there though, in the winter.