All the Rage.....
27 March 2009 | Great Guana Cay
Mike
Well, yesterday I (reluctantly) left Marsh Harbor to begin Island-Hopping my way back to the land of Bailouts, Stimulus and Dancing with the Stars. The weather here has been very windy and unsettled for the past week or so, making it not very suitable for traveling. They keep saying that it's going to improve and then, somehow, it doesn't. Don't get me wrong, its been sunny and warm, just a bit windy and rough on the water.
Yesterday, I sailed up to Great Guana Cay and picked up a mooring in Settlement Harbor. The plan is to wait here for a suitable weather window to get through the Whale Cay Passage and then continue north and west. Some fellow cruisers and I were planning to get through there today until we heard the passage reports on the morning Cruiser's Net. They said that all of the passages from the Sea of Abaco to the Atlantic were "raging."
A rage condition occurs when very large swells are coming from the Atlantic Ocean into the passages and then breaking at the opening. Those of you who are old enough to remember the TV show "Hawaii Five-O", picture the waves that they showed during the opening credits.
Back when cruise ships used to come into the Sea of Abaco, even they wouldn't attempt a passage when it was raging. Attempting it in my pretty little sailboat would be a great way to wind up swimming with Wilson through a sea of fiberglass splinters. Consequently, I'm going to be staying put for a while. (In my best Howard Golub voice..."Brave Shmave!")
However, there are worse places to be marooned than Guana Cay. There are three great bars here, Nippers, Grabbers and Pirates' Cove. I have to confess that I've already been to all three. Jerry, the owner of Pirates' Cove is a great guy. He provides free internet and telephone access to his customers. Since it looks like I'll have good internet access and little else to do, I'll try to get some more pictures up while I'm here.
Here's a picture of Settlement Harbor.