I actually wrote a high school paper several years ago on the trade currents that run from Africa to Mexico and then to the Polynesian Islands. If you are down, hit me up, Ill forward it to you.
"Two of the major currents that exist in the Atlantic Ocean are the Equatorial Guinea Current and North Equatorial Canary Current. The Equatorial Guinea Current runs from southern Africa into the Gulf of Mexico and continues north forking off into several other currents. The North Equatorial Canary Current also ends in the gulf, but its origins begin along the North African coast and the coast of Spain and Portugal. Both of these currents are very interchangeable, meaning that at some point in travel these two currents meet and continue in an ongoing circle. It is also nearly imposable to break free from these powerful currents once a vessel has contact without the use of a motor."
Sources
Ivan Van Sertima, They came Before Columbus
Harold G. Lawrence, African Explorers of the New World
Thor Heyerhdahl, Kon-Tiki