November 30 – December 1, 2012
At first we thought we were stuck at Lynyard Cay until the strong northeast winds subsided. From our stand point, and through the binoculars, we could see the reef at Little Harbour Cut, and it wasn’t pretty. There were large waves breaking over the reef. Many times, conditions like those, also create breaking waves in the channel itself, making an unsafe passage.
After deciding that we wouldn’t be able to go anywhere for quite a few days, we discovered a photo in our chart book showing Little Harbour Cut from the air. The only warning given was not to use this channel in strong southeast winds. Therefore, we decided to give it a try.
We planned for an early morning exit when the wind strength would be slightly less. The high tide would also be in our favor. Higher water means fewer breaking waves.
As soon as the sun broke the horizon, we motor sailed towards Little Harbour Cut. The closer we got, the larger the swells became. However, we could still see a clear passage to the open water.
While it was momentarily tense passing between reefs and coral heads in big swell, the passage through the cut was successful. As we pulled away from the Abacos, we could breathe a sigh of relief.
The day’s sail to Royal Island was an amazing sail. With a 15 to 20 knot northeast wind, and a 5 to 8 foot swell, we sailed for eight hours on a very comfortable beam reach.
The trip would have been almost perfect if we would’ve caught some fish like we thought we would, and if I had not gotten my fingers caught in a fast moving jib line. I was very fortunate to have only suffered minor rope burn and bruised knuckles.
