Or a dramatization of it, to be more accurate. From here:

In 1883 Lieutenant J.C. Fremont, Jr., U.S.N., in command of the schooner Drift, was detailed for the first Gulf Stream current investigation to be made from a vessel at anchor. The vessel was supplied with 700 fathoms of galvanized wire rope three-quarters of an inch in diameter, and instructions issued to observe current at various places near the 100 fathom curve along the Coast, and also in the stream between Jupiter Inlet and Memory Rock. The Drift is a small deep-draft schooner of about 100 tons. Not being fitted with a steam windlass, the rope, which was coiled on deck, was veered and hove in by hand. In spite of this, Lieutenant Fremont succeeded in occupying five stations across the channel, the deepest anchorage being over 400 fathoms. The currents were observed by floating cans attached to a log line. It was discovered that, "contrary to expectation, the greatest velocity was not found at the supposed center of the stream, but somewhat to the westward of it. The greatest velocity noted was 4.7 knots in latitude 27o05' north and longitude 79o44' west. The depth here was only 190 fathoms, the distance west from the supposed axis 10 miles, and from the Florida coast about 20 miles."

The Drift was converted to a lightship, (the WLV97 Bush Bluff lightship) and eventually scrapped in 1945.

A side note: Under Captain Robert Platt, the Drift was noted for having reported a sea serpent sighting in 1886, which eventually ended up in one of Charles Fort's books.

Dare we hope this is part of a forthcoming historical book?