Around the Whale

 Ever since we arrived at the Bluff House on Green Turtle we have had an eye on the weather since we want to spend the holidays in Hope Town on Elbow Cay. Hope Town has a bit more happening than other places in the Outer Islands thus making for a better experience. Especially on New Years Eve.

 We did manage to get the dink in the water yesterday and head over to New Plymouth. The Sea of Abaco had laid down in the afternoon so this was an uneventful ride in the dink. From my point of view New Plymouth is looking better in and around the harbour. Perhaps everyone has been busy with paint as well as patching up here and there. It just seemed a bit brighter this year. Sadly groceries were a bit on the cher side compared to the other outer islands.

 Over the five days leading up to our departure from Green Turtle we spent (probably) a total of an hour a day checking and rechecking various sites to see how the weather models were progressing as time went on. Throughout our 5 night stay the preoccupation was "how will the Whale look tomorrow". We based our criteria for departure on light winds for a couple of days along with lower swells either locally generated by the wind or, distantly generated in the Atlantic. With the winds we had upon arrival it was a no brainer we were going to be on Green Turtle a bit. We needed to be patient and let things lay down. 

 We could have gone around yesterday in the morning and in fact several of the boats left White Sound either for Dont Rock or the Whale Channel out to the Atlantic. I gave a call out to some folks that were traveling around the Whale and they reported it was "do-able, not a bad ride" but the forecast indicated improving conditions on the Atlantic over night so we sat it out. The additional wait paid off and we were rewarded with mild swells once out side Whale Cay all the way to Loggerhead Channel. The only time things were remotely dicey was when we crossed over the bar at the North East end of Whale Cay.  Here we were greeted by 4 foot rollers at about a 3 second interval but thankfully the bar is narrow and we were through this in short order. Once out in the Atlantic we found ourselves in 2-3 with about a foot of chop on top. It was a following sea as well which made for a decent ride.

 Once around the Whale and into Loggerhead Channel the water settled down and I was able to engage the autopilot through Bakers Bay to Orchid Bay. This part of the ride was very comfortable because now the apprehension of being out in the Atlantic was over, and all we had in front of us were the submerged steel pole that were used to mark Loggerhead Channel for the cruise ships that never came. Originally Loggerhead was dug out for cruise ships. The idea was to provide a stop for them that encouraged the local economy. It's a shame it didn't work out, but in another sense perhaps that's a good thing. A review of what has happened in Freeport and Lucaya might give pause to this sort of development in the future.  

 Anyway, we're safe in the shallows of the bank again and that is comforting. The only down side is that we have yet again disturbed Ray. On the upside, our buddy the green heron is still seeking out transom lights in his quest for bait fish snacks. I went to get a photo of him but the new camera has a distance sensing light that is kind of bright in the dark and it scared him away.

 I've loaded up the GPS data and we'll put more photos in the bucket when we arrive in Hope Town.