We spent almost a week at Green Turtle Cay because we were waiting for the right weather window to make it through Whale Cay Cut. This cut is known as a dangerous, and sometimes deadly cut. Therefore, it’s wise to tackle this on a fairly calm day. Because the cut is quite wide, the dangers don’t lie in the barrier islands or the reefs that line the cut. Instead, the danger is from the deep Atlantic Ocean swells coming from over 6,000 feet deep to just 30 feet deep. If there are large swells and heavy winds this can produce steep breaking waves, the very thing that causes vessels to capsize.
You might wonder, why do you have to go through the cut? Why can’t you just continue sailing southeast through the Sea of Abaco? Good questions, and ones that I had at first. The reason we have to go through the cut is because there is a portion of the Sea of Abaco southeast of Green Turtle Cay that has shallow depths and widespread shoaling, so most boats with a draft more than two to three feet cannot travel safely from the northwesterly Green Turtle Cay to the southeastern Abacos through the Sea of Abaco without running the risk of grounding out. Thus, it is necessary for boats like ours, with a 4.5-foot draft, to travel out of the Sea of Abaco through Whale Cay Cut, into the Atlantic Ocean for about 9 nautical miles (or about 1-1/2 hour at 6 knots), and then reenter the Sea of Abaco through Loggerhead Channel.
This offshore route can be pretty uneventful if the wind and waves are light, but it can produce quite turbulent seas through the cut if the wind and waves are heavy and high. The east winds are the worse because they constantly push large swells and produce what is known as “a rage” through the cut.
We watched the weather closely every day and found a day with westerly winds at a light 7 knots. This was a good time to go through the cut. We pulled up anchor at 9am on Saturday, Dec. 2nd, along with our friends on Unfettered, and headed out of Green Turtle and into Whale Cay Cut. We had three-foot seas at a period of seven seconds and just glided our way through the cut, into the Atlantic, and back into the Sea of Abaco. We had some light rain along the way, which gave us a little boat wash, and it was a good morning to head south, with calm wind and waves.
After making it back into the Sea of Abaco, we stopped at the first northerly cay that you come to, Great Guana. We tried to anchor three times in Fisher’s Bay, near Delia’s Cay, but our anchor drug all three times and it was a little rolly there as well. So we picked up the anchor, fastened the chain with a shackle to secure it, and headed into Orchid Bay Marina. We picked up a mooring ball for $25 per night, and had a nice calm harbor to enjoy with a great night’s rest.
We got off the boat, walked around town, visited Guana Dive Shop, and had a blue cheese burger that served as our lunch and dinner. Then we planned our route to Marsh Harbour for the next morning to get groceries. It was nice to finally be in the southern Abacos.
