"Yachts can use the part of the eddy that's flowing southwards to accelerate their flow," he said. "If they get caught in the northward part of it they're going against the current, so for ...

The Loop Current flow northwards into the Gulf of Mexico. Every 6-11 months, a bulge in the current cuts off into a clockwise-rotating eddy that then drifts slowly west-southwestward towards Texas.