Our trip to Green Turtle Cay was uneventful, but we put a lot of effort in deciding to go. The trip from Great Guana Cay to any point west requires a short jump into the Atlantic before cutting back into the mostly protected Sea of Abaco. This jump is knows as Whale’s Cut as it goes around Whale’s Cay.
With the rough weather moving away from Great Guana we started planning our next jump. Our original plan had us staying in Great Guana for a few more days to allow the winds to settle, however a deeper look at the forecast and the potential conditions at Whale’s Cut forced a quick change for a Sunday departure. Whale’s cut seems really benign on the charts. It’s a fairly wide opening in a coral reef before passing Whale’s Cay on the west. We learned that the cut is nearly impassable during a ‘rage’. The rage isn’t forecasted, it’s a condition when seas move from the Northeast for several days creating large ocean swells that move from the 3000+feet water across the cut (less than 30 feet) within a few hundred yards. This condition turns ‘relatively’ harmless swells into full breakers as the swells are stood up by the shallow bar and made worse with an outgoing tide or wind. We picked our day based on 3 prior days of South and SE winds that prevented any swell build up. We also timed our departure to arrive at the cut at the end of an incoming tide with little to no current through the cut. We had a little more NW wind than forecasted but it seemed to help keep the 4-5 foot swells in check and allowed for a very uneventful passage after much angst planning the 2 hour trip. Unfortunately some fellow boaters didn’t fare as well, as they decided to pass during our original day and were struck by two successive breakers and sank their 36′ sailboat in under a minute. Thankfully another cruiser was close by and was able to rescue the 3 sailors aboard.
The island is 3 miles long and 1/2 mile wide and can only be accessed by ferry or boat. Three Sons docked at the Bluff Beach House Resort and Marina for two nights and we enjoyed the amenities including a beautiful pool, laundry, breakfast at their on site restaurant, The Boathouse, and Happy Hour at the beach bar, Tranquil Turtle. Using a golf cart and bikes for transportation, we explored just about every inch of the island.
