The Tongue of the Ocean: Great Harbour Cay to Green Cay

Grampa’s red snapper

We left Great Harbour Cay Marina as early as possible on Wednesday morning, Day 64. We either needed to head slightly west and south or travel clockwise around the north end of the Berry Islands. We decided that a run on the banks would probably be the more pleasant trip so we headed southwest sailing in a very flat sea. It was a glorious morning! We had decided during the night to head to Green Cay. Grampa had heard about Green Cay from a local in the Staniel Cay area.  Green Cay is an uninhabited island near the south end of the Tongue of the Ocean. The trip south would allow us to sail in the Tongue, a strip of very deep water that runs right down through the middle of the Bahamas, all night, again taking advantage of the weather and the extra hand to get south while we can. As we travelled south we headed into the well-travelled Florida-Nassau route and joined a parade of boats heading east towards the Northwest Channel. The Channel funnels lots of water off the banks and is known as a great fishing spot. We sailed right up to the point and had to turn the motor on briefly to stay north of the channel marker, and then sailed out into deep water and turned south, just as the fishing reels started to whine. Grampa hauled in a monster red snapper and provided a great mid-afternoon diversion.

We had a lively sail down the Tongue of the Ocean and as dark approached, with 20 knots of breeze, the Autopilot “Otto” was overpowered and needed a rest. We reefed the sail and continued on, arriving at Green Cay around noon on Day 65.

Finn watching Sail TV, portholes awash in the sea