Seabird underway from Isla Mujeres to Key West, dodging a waterspout.

No one could complain about this crossing, but I might have expected a bit more. Rather than acting as an aid, the Gulf Stream was a hindrance wherever we could feel its effects.
As we left Isla Mujeres, it was sweeping us up into the Gulf of Mexico where we didn't want to go, so we had to offset its effects, slowing us down. It flows up due north for about 250 miles then does a U-turn and descends to the Cuban coast.
One effect of this is to produce a counter-current along Cuba's northern coast. We very much enjoyed the effect of this when we sailed down in January, but on this trip it was to be avoided. So we headed north of it into what we hoped would be an area of little or no current, but we were wrong. The counter current extended further north than we expected, so we were fighting it for most of yesterday and last night.
An hour or so before dawn we had a mild cold front come through (as expected) bringing with it a few squalls. But they were visible on radar from about 20 miles away, so we could track them and maneuver to avoid them. At one point I thought they must be able to see us because, as I plotted them and took evasive action, they would change direction, heading for us again. But we got through with no trouble and carried on grumbling about the current.
Tuesday dawned with winds coming up to 15 knots from the north-west, so we took them and tried to make as much northing as possible. The wind is forecast to clock into the north then the north-east, our course, so we want to be as far north as possible when it does. All went well, a nice morning's sailing, but at noon we began to feel the effects of the descending leg of the Stream, pulling us south! So we fought this all afternoon until at dusk we finally broke through and are now sailing on a close reach towards our destination.
So the lesson learned is that, in this neck of the woods, the stream is not all that helpful even if you are traveling in its direction. But we'll be in Key West today by noon, and all will be forgotten except the excellent sailing in the cooler breezes!