Hey Dave,

Actually, Sandy did precisely what he was banking on... Remember, his stated plan was to get to the EAST of the storm, the only way he could have managed that was for it to make the sharp left turn that it did...

Personally, I believe his intention to get to the east was bullshit, as he sailed due south after clearing Montauk... He was clearly gonna attempt to shoot the gap between the storm, and Hatteras...

If this guy knew anything at all about hurricanes, one would think he would have realized that late-season storms, which originate in the Western Caribbean, have historically been among the most intense, and UNPREDICTABLE, of hurricanes on record... Witness the crazy tracks taken by Lenny, Mitch, and Wilma (the first, the only Atlantic hurricane ever to basically move due east throughout the course of its life, the latter two, among the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes ever, and Mitch well known to sailing ship captains as the storm that stalked, and killed, the windjammer FANTOME) Should have been no surprise that Sandy, another late season storm spawned in the Western Caribbean, would have shared similar characteristics of an unusual track, and extreme intensity and breadth...

Furthermore, this storm was incredibly well forecast, although the US National Weather Service was rather late to the party... But the Euro models had it making the hard left turn towards the mid-Atlantic right from the start, and it took several days for the US models to eventually come into agreement... A bit of an embarrassment for US forecasting, to be sure:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2012/10/30/sandy-hurricane-models/1668867/

Below is a graphic of the ensemble models the day before BOUNTY departed New London... One thing that virtually ALL were in agreement on, was that Sandy would pass within 3-4 degrees of latitude of Hatteras to the southeast, at roughly the same time the BOUNTY would reach the approximate position of her eventual demise... No matter what track that storm took beyond that point, that wallowing pig would have foundered in the Stream off Hatteras, no matter what...

Once again, "unfathomable" is the only word I can summon to describe the decision this guy made... What captain, in his right mind, would set a course for Hatteras, after looking at such a prognostication?

best regards,

Jon