We had come up from the Bahamas, and passed Hatteras a couple of hundred yards off Diamond shoal light, doing 14 knots. Of course we had a favourable wind, and the Stream was running strongly, about 6 knots .
We turned West for the Chesapeake, and in 20 minutes went from shorts to lots of clothes and foul weather gear. It was evening, so the drop in temperature as we left the beautiful blue Gulf Stream waters was emphasised.

It is well known that H is a lousy place in any wind near NE, so waiting for a weather window is essential.

With the speed boost in the stream you should make the 65 miles from Cape Lookout to Diamond Shoal in under 6 hours.

If you leave Beaufort and find weather is turning bad before Cape Lookout, you can go back
Once past Diamond shoal, you can always duck out of the Stream/

If the wind is OK, you can have a fast run to NYC