As a boater, when you read or hear the words “DANGER,” you’d better pay attention.

Whale Cay Passage, just south of Green Turtle Cay in the Abacos, is one such place. In order to get to destinations further south in the Abacos all boaters have to travel through the Whale Cay Passage. The reason this can be so treacherous is that you have to leave the relative safety of the Sea of Abaco and the lee of the Cays out into the unprotected ocean waters.

As we sit in Green Turtle Cay Club Marina we anxiously watch the weather and saw an opening for Sunday when the winds were forecasted to be 10 to 15 knots. The waves seemed manageable as we entered the Whale Cay passage, maybe 2 to 3 footers that we were going straight into. As we made a gentle turn to starboard to head south into the unprotected waters we found the waves to be 3 to 4 footers coming onto our port side. The good news is that the waves were gentle rollers, far apart and they were not breaking. The entire Whale Passage exposure is less then 4 miles, but it feels good to have it behind us. We lead a group of four boats, including a 44-foot Cheribini and a 55-foot Marlow, neither, it seemed, wanted to take the reins.