What the Heck is Going On in The Abacos ?

[defever]

i assume sean did this...any more news?
News from the Abacos | Bahamas Chatter

[Ram]

This is quite common for North Man ‘o War Channel in the winter months- Ive went thru there and in places it was only 6 feet deep with waves higher I almost bottomed out- its a bad spot to go thru if theres a wind a blowing

[Hud3]

There doesn't even have to be wind blowing locally to get a rage going at those Atlantic-side passes. We were waiting at Great Guana Island for a rage to subside in the Whale Cay pass. There was no wind at all--the water was glass. The large swells causing the rage were generated by a big storm far to the north in the open ocean. When they reach the shallow Bahamas passes, they rise up and break. A sailboat was rolled over on her beam ends that day, and the husband thrown off. He was recovered by a nearby boat.

We went through the next day after listening to an "all clear" on the local VHF net. Again, it was glassy smooth with no wind. When we got to the north end of Whale Cay and started turning west, one of the crew said, "Hud, you might want to take a look at this!", pointing aft. It was a 10' breaker that came out of nowhere. We got a good surf out of it and managed to avoid getting carried onto the shoals.

[Beach Cruiser]

The low that eventually formed TS Sean sat just NE of the Abacos for days. Winds in the 20 - 25 kt range and sending very large waves our way. North Man-O-Cay channel is the deepest and widest in Abaco and usually the safest.

I am in Green Turtle for 2 weeks and the only boats that have gone through Whale Cay passage were a couple 60+ ft motor yachts.

[defever]

having been to the abacos only twice (and a long time ago), i can't see why most boats go thru whale cay cut. looking at the explorer charts, it looks like the shallowest depth on the inside route by no rock is 2 meters w/ other places up to 5 meters. can someone with local knowlege give me some info on this? thx.