Green Turtle Cay to Great Guana Cay via "The Whale

Trip Start Oct 19, 2008
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Trip End Jan 05, 2008


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Flag of Bahamas  ,
Sunday, February 22, 2009

We were away from the dock at Bluff House Resort and Marina at 0700.  Sea Mist was close behind us out of the buoyed channel.  We set off for the "Whale Channel,"  it was quite windy and rolly so we put up the main sail to steady the boat.  Apart from Sea Mist there was no other boat traffic.  We listened to the Abaco cruisers reports on VHF 68 for the weather and passage reports at 0815.  Sea Mist asked us on the VHF if we were going for it and we said our plan was to poke our nose into the channel and see if we liked the conditions, we would call and update them.  We soon had a call from another boat in the Green Turtle anchorage asking us to let them know how it was.  On VHF radio all conversations can be followed and listened in to, we do it too!  As we progressed towards the Atlantic we found the wind on the nose made our sails slat annoyingly, there was a good swell running which made us rock and roll and fairly short waves at 4-6 feet with an odd one or two at 8 feet which made us duck but there were no breaking waves and apart from the sail slatting we were comfortable and Rafiki was behaving very well.  We called all interested parties that conditions were "doable."  A trawler had called us as it approached asking if we were going and as they saw we were doing well zoomed past us, they seemed to be rolling uncomfortably as they passed us.  Dave had earlier made a comment that someone has to be "the fish in the bucket"  this time it was us!  Once through the Whale Channel we entered the Loggerhead Channel a marked channel that was now abandoned.  Disney had built a resort stop at the north end of Great Guana Cay but had abandoned it as the cruise ships too often had trouble getting through the channel. 

We soon let the genoa go and had a good sail to Great Guana Cay and decided to take a look at the moorings in the harbour.  We entered with caution and picked up a mooring ball in very shallow water - it was nearly low water.  As Dave stepped out of the cockpit to help me with the mooring there was an ominous "clunk."  The moorings are giant concrete blocks and we decided that as Dave stepped on the side deck the boat heeled over enough to clonk the keel on the block which stands about 2' above the bottom. We dropped the ball and called our friends on Sea Mist that we would go to the anchorage around the corner in Fisher's Bay as it was too shallow here for our 5' draft and for them at 6' too.   

Fishers Bay proved a perfect place to stop.  The moorings made us feel safe, they are owned by Dive Guana and so are probably checked fairly frequently, the cost is $15 a day.   We had another front forecast and indeed had plenty of wind during our stay.   By evening we seemed to have our flotilla assembled - Jingles had made it through the Whale too and also Nimue III the next day.

We enjoyed our stay here.  The town was very small but had 4 bars and a grocery store and a nice bakery.  The dock at Grabbers Bar in Fishers Bay was being repaired, the ladders were broken and there were planks missing and the dock was so warped and twisted we felt as if we had had too many Bahama Mama drinks before we had even landed on shore!   We walked the extent of the town in half an hour and went up to "Nippers" a bar on a bluff facing the Atlantic.  Painted in wild caribbean colors with the turquoise sea as a backdrop we sat and enjoyed a rum drink called a "Nipper," with our friends from "Sea Mist"  The drink did not lack rum and we found ourselves giggling as we attempted the hazardous business of negotiating the crazy dock and broken ladder to enter our dinghy on our way home!

We visited a pub called Pirate's Cove the next day.  A simple establishment facing the harbour that drew in the cruising crowd with comfortable chairs, cheap beer and free internet access.  Unfortunately the internet was down and  so we spent the afternoon chatting and drinking beer.  We all took turns hosting dinner aboard our boats with 8 people in our floatilla it was a squeeze but good food and good fun was had by all.  Dave and I enjoyed walks on the wild beach on the Atlanic side, we paddled but it was cool and windy most days so we did not swim.

Once again we had our eye on the weather and another cold front coming soon we decided to move on and make our way south to White Sound on Elbow Cay before it came through in about 5 days time.
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