Heading for the Whale

Here's Nimue (last year) motoring out the Channel from White Sound, Green Turtle on her way to the Whale. We had enjoyed our stay at Bluff House Yacht Club and visits with new friends that we had made on our way to the Bahamas. Before we left, we, of course paid our bill at Bluff House. That's when we discovered we still had a few "Docking for Dollars" left on our tab. So we treated ourselves to an order of delicious conch fritters with some Kalik beer to go with them. By 12:20 we were pulling away from the dock.

You may be asking yourself. What's the big deal about the Whale Cay Passage? I've written about it before in Nimue's Logs, but I thought that this description found on Marinas.com (click for a picture of the Whale) was a good indicator of why mariners approach it on tiptoes:

"Whale Cay is perhaps one of the most treacherous areas in the entire Abacos island chain. While Whale Cay (uninhabited) is not of any particular danger, the surrounding waters and shoals are sometimes among the most treacherous anywhere, due to shallow water and long ocean fetches....If you draw more than 4 feet, you must navigate the outside east edge of Whale Cay, where depths are not a problem, buy waves and wind can be. If the wind is blowing out of the northeast, the passage around the outside of Whale Cay, especially around Whale Cay Channel, can be deadly. Yes, deadly. The shallow water in this area and a long fetch to the northeast can result in sea conditions often referred to as a “rage.” No boat should be out in this are during these conditions. "

With that said, we decided to make our passage on Saturday, February 21st. We left Green Turtle at low tide so we would have the current with us in the cuts. The wind was from the dreaded northeast, but was about 10-15 that morning. Other boats going through had described the seas as 4-6 feet. We headed for the Whale Cay Channel and decided it was doable. The seas were confused and the boat got a good rocking and rolling and a nice coat of salt, but we motor-sailed through the passage without incident. The two boats sailing with us who didn't raise their sails seemed to be tossed about much more than we were.

By 5:30 we were safely anchored in Fisher's Bay on Great Guana Cay. The rest of our sailing, until we head home we be in the protected waters of the sea of Abaco. Whew!