THE BAHAMAS ADVENTURE

Page 9

12/16/00 (Saturday)

Woke up early and left about 1/2 hour after sunrise (7:30AM).  We started heading Southeast along the east shore of Great Abaco Island.

The day started out clear with little wind and we were heading into what little wind there was.  Around 10AM the sky started to get cloudy and we could see a rain squall coming toward us.  By 10:15AM it was raining but by 10:30 it had stopped.  The sun was out again.

We were heading to Treasure Cay to pick up Diane but first we were going to stop at Green Turtle Cay and drop off the dingy motor. ( You remember, the one we dropped into the bay in Fort Lauderdale, Florida ).

The Dolphin Marina at Green Turtle Cay was closed when we arrived.  We asked at another marina and found out the owners home phone number.  Ron called and spoke to his wife who said to just leave the motor on the dock and her husband will get to it on Monday.  (Apparently theft is not a problem on Green Turtle Cay because the motor was still there on Monday.)

We continued on towards Treasure Cay.  The only problem now was that the area between where we were and Treasure Cay was too shallow, about 2 feet deep.  The only way to get there was to sail out into the Atlantic and around Whale Cay.  This is the dreaded Whale Cay Passage.  The locals later told us that the Whale Cay Passage is one of the 10 most dangerous small boat passages in the world!

We started heading directly East to Whale Cay which we could just see in the distance.  The sea here is very shallow, about 4-5 feet deep.  The waves where gaining height as we powered on.  Just as we reached Whale Cay, a squall came in from the Northeast.  The next thing we knew the wind picked up to 25 miles an hour.  The rain came in torrents and was coming in almost horizontally, stinging any exposed skin.  Large rollers and some breaking waves of the 8 to 10 foot variety started coming at us from the East.  With fringe reefs on one side and the rocky shore of Whale Cay on the other, we tried to thread our way between to hard points of coral.  The wind shifted to the South and we were only able to go 2 miles/hour into the wind with Seaclusion's 26 horsepower engine humming at full throttle.  We were tossed like a cork and yet again everything below was now a flying object.  Ron was worried that we might not have enough fuel in the tank.  I took the wheel as he tried to add some from the spare diesel can.  With me holding his back so he could use one hand on the funnel and the other one on the can, Ron put in about two gallons.  It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get around Whale Cay.  Here we faced the toughest seas of the entire trip.  Slowly we made it around the cay and started back in towards Treasure Cay.  The squall passed and the late afternoon sun started shining through the clouds.  I could breath again...  I'll be happy never to go through the Whale Cay Passage ever again!

When we finally made it to Treasure Cay, the night was falling and there was Diane waiting at the dock.  We tied up the boat and headed for the Tipsy Seagull Bar and downed a few in a celebration of life and dry land.  This was followed by a lovely meal at Spinnaker Restaurant.

I slept the sleep of the dead again that night.  This was to be the last day of the adventure phase of the trip.  With Diane onboard we will only travel to close by Cays all in sheltered areas of the Abaco Sea.

Intro 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12  13  14

© 2001, Donald R. Swartz