In order to get from Treasure Cay to destinations north/south in the Abacos a boater has two choices to travel through the Whale Pass, which is totally exposed to the ocean for about 4 miles.

Going on the outside of the pass, into the ocean (we took this going south back in February) or the Don’t Rock passage where you head out towards the Don’t Rock (rock) and make a sharp turn to portside (going north). The passage through Don’t Rock is shallow with a sandy bottom and has to be taken at high tide with reasonably calm waters.

When we left for the passage all indications were positive however once we entered it the waves kept getting bigger and bigger and before we knew it we could not turn back even though we desperately wanted to. So we pressed on riding the cresting waves which reached at least ten feet several times. These were the largest waves we’d ever been in and our Fathom 40, Kismet handled them well, better than we did actually. The captain showed calmness under pressure and got us through the whole ordeal, safe and dry. The only casualty, besides our shattered nerves, was one boat hook. The entire passage lasted about thirty minutes but it was a VERY LONG thirty minutes.

For an example of how unnerved we were, this is the ONLY photo we have of the event. The last thing Lisa wanted to be doing was taking photos and if you know Lisa this is saying a lot. If you look to the very left of the photo below (taken from the pilothouse window on the starboard side) you can see the wave starting to crest and we are going right into it.