During 1983, 21 freely drifting buoys measured trajectories in the vicinity of the Atlantic North Equatorial Countercurrent. These provide a visualization of the flow field and the first direct measure of the seasonal variation of the velocity during a single year. From February to May the buoys moved gradually westward. From June to December the buoys moved swiftly eastward with the maximum speeds of 90 cm sec-1 located in the western Atlantic. The seasonal variation in current was similar to that measured by historical ship drifts except that the onset of the Countercurrent in 1983 was about a month earliar than usual. Of the buoys that drifted eastward in the Countercurrent, three went into the North Equatorial Current, two into the South Equatorial Current and seven into the Guinea Current.